Pandisal

A traditional breakfast bread from the Philippines, Pandisal is a soft, delicious roll bread that is good to eat any time. I give my wife full credit for this recipe, even though it was given to her by a friend. Her friend however, only gave her the ingredients and about two lines of instructions. She came up with the methods used here and perfected these beige blisters of delight.

Ingredients

• 6 cups "better for bread" flour
• 2 pkg yeast
• 3/4 cup lukewarm water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp corn oil
• 2 eggs

Directions

Combine evaporated milk and butter; heat to 110º-115º f. Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water, 110º-115ºf. Place 2 cups of flour, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp salt in large mixing bowl; mix to combine. Add yeast mixture and butter/evaporated milk mixture to flour mixture; gently mix to combine. Add alternately flour, one cup at a time, milk and eggs, one at a time. Continue to mix gently just to moisten the flour.

Using heavy duty electric mixer, knead on low, stopping after 30 seconds to scrape bowl and blade with greased rubber spatula. Continue kneading on low. Add 1 tbsp corn oil. Once again, stop after 30 seconds to scrape. Allow to knead on med-low, scraping sides as needed to ensure completely mixed; two more times should be enough. Do this for approximately 10-20 minutes.
Gently scrape dough down; cover loosely with plastic wrap and a towel. Allow to rise in a warm place free of draft for 40-60 minutes until doubled in size. Punch down dough slightly. (Dough will be very stick at this point, this is a good thing.)

Scoop out some dough (about the size of a scoop of ice cream) and roll in bread crumbs. Place on an ungreased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and a towel. Let rise about 40-60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375º f. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until light brown in color. Cool slightly. Serve warm, plain, or with your favorite jams. I like mine with peanut butter and honey. If they get too cool, you can reheat in the microwave or in a toaster oven.

Pandisal freezes well, so you could make these days or weeks ahead of time. Allow them to defrost at room temperature or reheat in the microwave.