This dairy-free Concha recipe will take you step-by-step through how to make this soft and pillowy Mexican sweet bread at home. They taste exactly like the lightly sweetened bread roll with the crunchy topping you find at your local Mexican bakery—but dairy-free!

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The last time Armando and I were in Mexico City we ate and we ate and we ate.

Our last stop before heading to the airport was to Maque Cafe, a sweet little breakfast spot where the servers weave through the tables on the tree-lined street with overflowing trays of pan dulce.

I’ve wanted to recreate the conchas we had there for the longest time. They had the most bouncy, springy crumb with a crunchy, delicate topping. Ideal for dipping into hot chocolate or atole.

I wanted to recreate all this but also make them dairy-free so Armando could enjoy them right along with me.

If you’re not concerned with making them dairy-free you can always swap the vegan butter/vegetable shortening with unsalted butter and the plant-based milk with whole milk.

Should we jump in?

what is a concha?

Mexican conchas are one type of pan dulce or sweet bread that are enjoyed for breakfast, dessert, or as a snack.

They start with a lightly sweetened, yeasted bread roll that is topped with a crumbly flavored topping.

The topping is almost like sugar cookie dough, just without any egg, and can be any number of flavors and colors.

The most traditional are white (vanilla) and brown (chocolate).

ingredients

The ingredients list for making conchas is pretty basic. I used freeze-dried fruits to make different flavored toppings but that is optional. Here’s what you’ll need:

• All Purpose Flour
• Plant-based milk (I used vanilla soy milk)
• Granulated Sugar
• Large eggs
• Active dry yeast (more on that below)
• Kosher salt
• Plant-based butter (my favorite brand is Miyoko’s) or vegetable shortening
• Vanilla extract
• Baking powder
• Freeze-dried fruit for the flavored topping (optional). I used freeze-dried raspberries, blueberries, and mango.
• Cocoa powder for chocolate topping

how to make the concha dough

Before you start this project, make sure to give yourself plenty of time.

The dough will need to rise for a few hours before forming into the rolls and a couple hours more before baking.

To get started, combine the dough ingredients (except the plant-based butter) in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.

Mix on low until combined, then increase the mixer speed to medium and slowly start adding the butter a little at a time, letting the first piece of butter mix completely into the dough before adding the next.

After the last piece of butter has been combined, let the dough continue kneading for 8 minutes.

Grease a large bowl. Transfer dough to the bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 4-5 hours.

how to make the topping

To make the topping, add all the ingredients (except the flavorings) to the stand mixer. And beat until combined.

A lot of conchas recipes use food coloring to make the different shades of toppings but I thought it would be fun and more delicious to use freeze-dried fruits.

You can completely skip this step and make all the topping vanilla flavored or make half vanilla and add cocoa powder to the other half to make them chocolate.

If you want to try using the freeze-dried fruit, grind 1/4 cup of the fruit in a clean coffee grinder or food processor until it is a very fine powder.

Knead this powder into 1/2 cup of the topping with your hands in a small bowl until well combined.

how to assemble and bake

Once the dough has doubled in size, now it’s time to form it into rolls.

The most accurate way to make rolls of even size is to weigh the dough (I use this handy scale) and then divide that number by 12. For me, I got about 38 ounces total, which meant rolls about 3 ounces each.

If you don’t have a scale you can eyeball it, but you want to end up with 12 rolls.

To form the rolls

I thought this method that Joy used to form her conchas was just brilliant. Here’s how she did it:

Take one piece of dough and pinch all the ends together at one end to create a firm, round ball with a nipple on one side.

Flip the ball nipple-side-down on the counter and gently roll the ball to flatten it. As Joy described it, “like you are playing air hockey”.

Place the rolls on two baking sheets giving them plenty of room in between. Beat the remaining egg and brush each roll with egg wash. 

Now for the topping

The easiest way to get an even topping layer is to use a tortilla press.

If you don’t have one you can roll the topping with a rolling pin into a 1/4-inch thick circle.

Decorate the rolls

Gently form the topping around the top and edge of the roll.

You can buy a stencil to create the design on top or use a sharp pairing knife like I did to create the design.

Go with the traditional shell design or anything else you want to try—have fun with it! Cut through the topping, but not the roll. Repeat with remaining topping and rolls. 

Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise another 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350°F. Place rolls in preheated oven and bake 25-30 minutes.

a word about using yeast

I have found that the longer, slower rise when making yeasted doughs results in a much more flavorful bread.

To achieve this, I don’t activate my dry yeast before mixing it with the flour and other ingredients.

Typically a yeasted dough recipe will have you warm the liquid to about 105°F and sprinkle the yeast on top which wakes the yeast up and gets it to start doing its work of releasing carbon dioxide. In other words, activating it.

I skip this step and simply combine all the ingredients together. I still warm the milk—this will assist in getting things going— but don’t have it sit with the yeast just mix it in with the other ingredients.

The result is a very slow rise, giving the dough lots of time to ferment and become more complex and flavorful.

If you are in a hurry however, you can warm the milk, sprinkle the yeast on top. Let it sit 5-10 minutes or until it becomes creamy and bubbly. Then proceed with the recipe. This should cut the rise time in half.

more mexican breakfast recipes to try!

• Jugo Verde {Mexican Green Juice}
• Authentic Mexican Chilaquiles with Scrambled Eggs
• Masa Harina Pancakes with Strawberries
• Churro Bacon Waffles
• Sweet Potato and Chorizo Quiche
• Tres Leches French Toast Casserole
• Green Chilaquiles with Fried Eggs

don’t be self-conchas

Making conchas is fun! I hope this step-by-step recipe has given you the confidence to give it a try. When you do, don’t forget to snap a pic and tag me on Instagram @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno so I can see or leave me a comment below (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating) ! Also, make sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!

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