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A plate with sliced pan sobao.

Pan Sobao (Soft Sweet Bread)

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  • Author: Salima Benkhalti
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 3 hours
  • Yield: 2 loaves 1x
  • Category: bread, side dish, appetizer
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Puerto Rican, Latin, Caribbean, American
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

This Pan Sobao is deliciously soft and fluffy; it’s perfect for making sandwiches or french toast from scratch. Made with instant yeast and bread flour, this subtly sweet Puerto Rican bread comes together in under 3 hours. There’s truly nothing better than a fresh loaf spread with butter!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp instant yeast
  • 1 1/4 cup warm water (between 120-130°F)
  • 1/3 cup vegetable shortening, melted
  • optional: butter or additional vegetable shortening to finish

Instructions

  1. Make the dough: In a large mixing bowl combine bread flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Whisk together before pouring in the warm water and melted vegetable shortening. Knead everything together until a consistent dough forms, about 5 minutes.
  2. Let the dough rest: Cover the dough and let it rise on the countertop for 1 hour.
  3. Work the dough: Punch the dough down to deflate any air pockets then transfer to a clean flour dusted surface. Knead for a minute before dividing in half. Roll half of the dough out into a flat rectangle shape then roll into a log. Tuck the ends under. Repeat for the second half.
  4. Rest and bake the bread: Arrange the loaves of dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Rest for 1 hour. Spray or brush the loaves with water then bake at 350°F until golden brown on the outside, about 25-30 minutes.
  5. Optional: Brush with butter or shortening straight out of the oven.