A soft pastry roll with a sweet and crunchy sweet-paste filling baked in crispy breadcrumbs, the SEÑORITA BREAD RECIPE is the perfect sweet but not too sweet treat.
Fall in love with your first bite and be prepared to bake more and often for a sweeter morning!
Yields: 16 rolls
Prep Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr Total: 1h 40 mins
What is Senorita Bread?
Senorita Bread is a Filipino soft bread roll sprinkled with crispy breadcrumbs and soft, sweet buttery filling. So a sweet and crunch outer layer and a soft filling tasting nutty but totally nut-free. This is the perfect snack for kids to enjoy at school since it’s totally safe for other kids suffering from nut allergies.
It is said that the Filipinos inherited the bread from techniques used in Spanish cuisine. These sweet little rolls made their debut in the States thanks to Starbread Bakery in California which contributed to their popularity today.
Unfortunately, most of us who don’t live in Vallejo California don’t have the pleasure to taste these decadent pastries from the bakery around the corner. So let’s start baking!
Ingredients you need for Senorita Bread
- Milk: I used semi-skimmed milk but also plant-based milk such as almond milk and soy milk
- Sugar: Granulated or Caster sugar.
- Yeast: Try to stick with yeast that you have always used and check that it isn’t near the expiration date.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the first choice for such rolls but you can opt for a gluten-free flour according to your dietary needs.
- Salt: A little salt is enough for this bread.
- Butter: You can try this with butter, vegan butter, or even vegetable oil. However, butter kids this rich flavor that is difficult to replace with any other ingredient.
- Brown Sugar: I prefer to use brown sugar for the filling which sometimes I replace with maple syrup. White sugar can work as well.
- Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs are the special ingredient that makes senorita bread so crunchy This texture is what makes these rolls stand out from other pastries like croissants and cinnamon rolls.
How to make Senorita Bread Rolls?
STEP 1 – DOUGH
- Heat your milk a little making sure it’s not too hot as the yeast will die. If it’s too hot leave it to cool down a little.
- Melt the butter on the stove or microwave and then mix it with the milk and the yeast.
- In a big mixing bowl sift the flour and then add the sugar and salt. Whisk them well to combine evenly.
- With your hands or mixer, mix the dough for around 5 minutes and it starts pulling away from the hook.
- On a lightly floured surface knead the dough to form a smooth ball.
- Put the dough ball to rest in a large mixing bowl lightly greased with oil and cover with a damp cloth. Wait for an hour or more if necessary until it doubles in size.
STEP 2 – FILLING
- You can prepare your filling while you wait for your dough to rise. Melt the butter and add the sugar (or maple syrup), stirring continuously. Continue until the sugar is completely dissolved in the butter.
- Now add the milk and flour and simmer until the sauce begins to thicken.
- Stir in the breadcrumbs and let the filling cool and get thicker while cooling.
STEP 3 – BAKING
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper
- Punch your dough and divide it into two balls.
- Roll each ball into a log and cut it into 8 pieces. You will end up with 16 pieces at the end. Roll them into balls and allow them to rest for 15 minutes.
- With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a rectangle, adding a teaspoon of filling making sure not to moist the borders. Roll the dough tightly sealing the bottom so that the filling doesn’t get out.
- Brush each roll with the melted butter, roll them in the breadcrumbs and transfer to the baking tray.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the rolls start turning golden brown.
Senorita Bread Rolls Recipe - Filipino Spanish Bread
Ingredients
Senorita Bread Dough
- 1 cup Milk warm (Can be replaced by Almond or Soya Milk)
- ¼ cup Sugar
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2¼ tsp Dry Yeast
- 1 tsp Salt
- ¼ cup Butter melted
Buttery Filling
- ¼ cup Butter
- ½ cup Brown sugar
- 3 tbsp Milk
- 2 tsp All-Purpose flour
- ½ cup Breadcrumbs
Outer Coating
- ¼ cup Butter *for brushing the senorita bread
- ½ cup Breadcrumb
Instructions
Dough
- Heat your milk a little making sure it's not too hot as the yeast will die. If it's too hot leave it to cool down a little.
- Melt the butter on the stove or microwave and then mix it to the milk and the yeast.
- In a big mixing bowl sift the flour and then add the sugar and salt. Whisk them well to combine evenly.
- With your hands or mixer, mix the dough for around 5 minutes and it starts pulling away from the hook.
- On a lightly floured surface knead the dough to form a smooth ball.
- Put the dough ball to rest in a large mixing bowl slightly greased with oil and cover with a damp cloth. Wait for an hour or more if necessary until it doubles in size.
Filling
- You can prepare your filling while you wait for your dough to rise. Melt the butter and add the sugar (or maple syrup), stirring continuously. Continue until the sugar is completely dissolved in the butter.
- Now add the milk and flour and simmer until the sauce begins to thicken.
- Stir in the breadcrumbs and let the filling cool and get thicker while cooling.
Baking
- Preheat your oven to 180° C.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper
- Punch your dough and divide into two balls.
- Roll each ball into a log and cut into 8 pieces. You will end up with 16 pieces at the end. Roll them into bolls and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
- With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a rectangle, adding a teaspoon of filling making sure not to moist the borders. Roll the dough tightly sealing the bottom so that the filling doesn't get out.
- Brush each roll with the melted butter, roll them in the breadcrumbs and transfer on the baking tray.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the rolls start turning golden brown.