Bolillo Rolls

Bolillos are the crusty white bread rolls you find in every bakery in Mexico. They're the roll for tortas, and Mexicans dunk them in hot chocolate or mop up pozole and mole with them. I love them warm with a bit of butter, and they're as good as any bread I've baked.

Bolillo rolls are crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy in the middle, a bit like a small baguette. I bake a batch whenever we're having tortas, and they never last until the next day.

Jump to:

• What is Mexican Bolillo Bread?
• Why This Recipe Works?
• Ingredients You'll Need
• How to Make Bolillo Rolls?
• Recipe Tips From the Chef
• Variations
• Serving Suggestions
• Storage and Make Ahead Instructions
• Recipe FAQs
• Related Recipes
• Bolillo Rolls

Making Bolillos at home is easier than it looks. You don't need anything but flour, water, yeast, salt and a pinch of sugar. Your kitchen smells like a Mexican bakery for the afternoon, and the crust is better than any supermarket roll.

What is Mexican Bolillo Bread?

A bolillo is a small crusty white roll, about 15 cm (6 inches) long, with pointed ends and one cut down the top. It's the most popular bread in Mexico, and in some places it's called pan francés or pan blanco.

The bread came with the French bakers working in Mexico in the 1860s, and it spread under Porfirio Díaz.

If you'd rather watch than read, the short video below shows the shaping and the single slash along the top.

Why This Recipe Works?

• Steam in the oven gives you the thin, crisp crust, and a tray of hot water is all it takes.

• From weighing the flour to the cooling rack it's about three hours, and only 25 minutes of that is work.

• The dough is soft but not sticky, so it's a good first bread if you've never kneaded by hand.

• Mexican Bolillos freeze well, so you can bake all six and keep some for the next torta night.

Ingredients You'll Need

Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.

• Strong white bread flour - Look for at least 11 percent protein on the bag. It has more gluten than plain flour, which gives the chewy crumb and the crust. Plain or all-purpose flour works, but the rolls come out softer, with a thinner crust, so knead a couple of minutes longer.

• Water - Tepid, so it feels warm on your wrist but not hot. Hot water kills the yeast, and cold water makes the rise very slow.

• Sugar - Just a little. It gets the yeast going and helps the crust brown, and you won't taste it in the finished roll.

• Salt - It slows the yeast down so the dough rises steadily, and bread without it tastes flat. Don't put it straight onto the yeast when you mix.

• Fast-action dried yeast - It can go straight into the flour. The blooming step in the method is there to check it's alive, not a must. If you use fresh yeast, you need double the weight of the dried.

• Olive oil - Mexican home recipes usually add a spoon of lard or vegetable shortening, and I use olive oil instead. It keeps the crumb soft for a day longer. Sunflower or vegetable oil work the same way.

How to Make Bolillo Rolls?

Prepare the Dough

In a small bowl, mix the yeast and sugar with about 100 ml (scant ½ cup) of the tepid water.

Leave it for 5 to 10 minutes until it froths. Fast-action yeast doesn't need this, but it tells you the yeast is alive before you commit the flour.

In a large bowl, combine the strong white bread flour, olive oil, and salt.

Pour in the yeast mixture and the remaining warm water, about 200 ml (¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon).

Mix the ingredients in the bowl until they come together into a rough dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface.

Knead the dough for about 10-15 minutes until it becomes smooth, elastic, and no longer sticky. You can add a bit more flour if needed to prevent sticking.

Let the Dough Rise and Shape

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it with a damp cloth or plastic wrap, and let it rise in a draft-free, warm place for about 1 to 1.5 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

Punch down the risen dough to deflate it. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces, approximately 135 grams (4¾ oz) each.

Use an electronic kitchen scale if you want your bread rolls to be the same size.

Let them rest for another 15-20 minutes, as it will make the shaping much easier.

To shape your bolillos, roll out a dough ball into a small circle, approximately 5 inches (12 cm) in diameter, on a lightly floured surface.

Fold it in half like a taco and roll it up into a log. Push down with your little fingers at each end as you roll, so the ends come to a point. Mexican bakers call the points orejas, ears.

Pinch the seam closed underneath and put the rolls seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake the Bolillo Rolls

Preheat your oven to 230° C (450° F) with an empty metal tray on the bottom shelf. The tray is for water later, which makes the steam that gives the crust its shine and crisp.

Cover the shaped bolillos with a damp cloth and let them rise for about 45 minutes. They're ready when they look puffy and a finger pressed into the side springs back slowly.

Just before baking, dust the tops with a little flour. Make one slash down the length of each bolillo, about 1 cm (½ inch) deep. Hold a razor or a very sharp knife at a 45 degree angle for the cut. Mist or brush the tops with water.

Put the baking sheet in the oven and pour a cup of hot water into the tray on the bottom shelf. Shut the door straight away. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the rolls are deep golden and sound hollow when you tap the bottom. If you have a thermometer, the inside should read 96° C (205° F).

Cool the bolillos on a rack for 15 to 20 minutes before cutting. The crust sets and crisps as it cools, and the inside is still steaming until then.

Recipe Tips From the Chef

• Weigh the flour and the water. Cups are unreliable with bread, and a little extra flour changes the dough.

• Don't knead in extra flour to stop the sticking. Scrape the dough off the worktop with a dough scraper instead, as too much flour bakes into a dense, hard roll.

• Knead until the dough is smooth and springs back when you poke it, about 10 minutes by hand. A dough that tears instead of stretching needs a few more minutes.

• Let the first rise go until the dough has doubled, and give the second one its full 45 minutes. A tight, under-risen roll bakes small and dense.

• Pale rolls usually mean the oven wasn't hot enough. Check it with an oven thermometer, and don't skip the water mist before they go in.

• In a humid kitchen hold back a little of the water. At high altitude use a bit less yeast and watch the rises, as they go faster.

• For bakery-size rolls divide the dough into eight pieces, and for mini bolillos into 16. Start checking the small ones at 18 minutes.

• If you haven't got a cloth to cover the shaped rolls, brush them with a little oil. It stops them drying out during the second rise.

Variations

This is the plain bolillo you get in any bakery. These are the changes Mexican bakers and home cooks make to it.

• Overnight dough - Make the dough the night before and let it rise in the fridge, covered, for up to 12 hours. Take it out an hour before shaping so it warms up, then carry on with the recipe. The slow rise gives the rolls more taste.

• Bakery taste - Mexican bakeries start with a masa madre, a piece of dough left to ferment the day before. Mix a small handful of the flour with the same amount of water and a pinch of the yeast. Leave it covered on the counter overnight, and add it to the dough with the rest of the ingredients. The rolls come out with more taste and a more open crumb.

• Lard - Swap the olive oil for a spoon of lard or vegetable shortening, the way most Mexican home recipes do. It keeps the crumb soft for longer.

• Whole wheat - Swap up to half the flour for whole wheat, and add a splash more water. The rolls are denser and a bit chewier.

• Teleras - Shape the same dough into flat ovals. Press two lines along the top with a chopstick or the handle of a wooden spoon. They're softer and wider, and they're the roll for a torta in Mexico City.

Serving Suggestions

In Mexico a bolillo is mostly a torta roll. Split it and scrape out a little of the crumb. Fill it with grilled meat, cheese, avocado and salsa, or with my Steak Picado.

Dipped in red sauce and fried, with potato and chorizo inside, it's a pambazo. Split and toasted with refried beans, cheese and salsa on top it becomes molletes, the classic Mexican breakfast.

Stale ones go into Capirotada - Mexican Bread Pudding at Easter, or into torrejas, the Mexican French toast.

Plain, it's the bread for soup and saucy stews. In Mexico that means sopa de fideo, mole or a pot of beans.

At my table it goes with Butternut Squash Soup, French Onion Soup, Harira Soup or Red Lentil Soup.

Torn into pieces, it's the right bread for scooping up Baked Brie, the sauce from Marry Me Chicken Pasta or Baked Feta Cheese with Honey.

For breakfast, toast a split bolillo on a dry pan with butter, the way it's done in Mexico. Have it with coffee, or dunk it into hot chocolate.

Butter, sugar and cinnamon on the toasted side is a Mexican childhood treat. Try it with Kaymak and Strawberry and Rhubarb Jam.

It's the right bread for dipping into Kiymali Yumurta - Turkish Ground Beef and Eggs.

Storage and Make Ahead Instructions

Bolillos are at their best the day they're baked. Keep leftovers in a paper bag or wrapped in a clean cloth at room temperature for up to 2 days.

A plastic bag or an airtight box keeps them soft but turns the crust leathery. Don't put them in the fridge, as they go stale faster there.

To bring the crust back, mist or brush a roll with water. Put it in the oven at 180° C (350° F) for 5 to 7 minutes, or 10 to 12 minutes from frozen. Split ones can go in the toaster or on a dry pan. The microwave is the one to avoid, as it makes them soft and chewy.

To freeze, cool the rolls fully and wrap each one in foil or cling film. They keep in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.

Recipe FAQs

Related Recipes

For more crusty homemade bread recipes why not try:

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below, tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram, and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.

I hope you enjoy making these Mexican Bolillo Bread Rolls as much as you enjoy eating them! 🙂