Puerto Rican Pan Sobao is a sweet bread that is soft and chewy. Now you can make this bread just like it is made on the island without ever leaving your home! The best part is that you don’t need a stand mixer! If you are part of the diaspora, then this recipe will be heaven for you!
Let me clarify that as a Puerto Rican, I might be a little biased, but the most delicious bread you can make is Pan Sobao. Almost no pan sobao gets home intact. Because the best part is taking a piece on the way home!
Pan Sobao, or as some people call it, pan de manteca, is a delicious sweet Puerto Rican bread. Just as sweet as the Puerto Rican mallorca.
The authentic pan sobao is made just like any other bread with flour, water, yeast, and salt. No eggs or milk is used! But we make it sweet by adding sugar and soft by adding manteca! It has a very soft crust and is very chewy inside.
In Puerto Rico, pan sobao is sold everywhere from bakeries to gas stations, but it is nice to make it yourself. It goes well with a good amount of guava butter spread.
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Why This Recipe Works
This is the perfect bread recipe because it is very versatile. You can use it for or with many recipes like:
- For sandwiches- Make a sandwich with a pernil recipe.
- As a topper- To put on top of any chicken brochetas or pork kebabs.
- As party food- Puerto Rican party sandwiches.
- As a scoop- Great to scoop my shrimp soup Puerto Rican style.
Recipe Ingredients
- Water- In this recipe, we use water that is 110°F to help the yeast stay warm and to dissolve the sugar.
- Shortening- In pan de manteca, lard used to be used as the fat but nowadays bakers tend to substitute it with shortening, butter, and even oil.
- Yeast- We use instant yeast in this recipe so no need to proof the yeast.
- Sugar- We use sugar which will be responsible for giving it that delicious taste pan sobao should have.
- Salt- We use a little bit of salt in this recipe just to balance the sugar.
- Flour- Bread flour is the best flour to use in this recipe.
How to Make Pan Sobao
- Photo 1: First, mix the water, sugar, yeast, and shortening together. You have to mix until you see that the sugar and the yeast have dissolved.
- Photo 2: Mix the salt and flour. This is to make sure the salt is well distributed. No need to sift the flour.
- Photo 3: Add the dry mix to your wet ingredients. I like to add dry to wet to avoid any big dry lums at the bottom of your bowl.
- Photo 4: Mix everything until you see no more liquid.
- Photo 5: Now knead your dough for 15 minutes. This is a very important step to ensure you form all the necessary gluten.
- Photo 6: Roll your dough into a rectangular shape that is about 10 inches long and 6 inches wide.
- Photo 7: Roll the dough to make a cylinder. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Photo 8: Proof your dough for 1 ½ hours and bake.
Recipe Tips
- Weigh all the ingredients for better precision and to make sure you get a great final recipe. If you don’t have a scale then I suggest you use the spoon method for measuring the flour, which consists of filling your measuring cup with a spoonful of flour and then removing any excess from the top with a butter knife.
- The best way to store pan de manteca is in a plastic wrap, freezer bag, or an airtight container. I usually just leave it in the microwave without covering it and it stays the same.
- You can reheat this bread in the microwave and, depending on how you want to eat it, in a pan. You can also heat it in your oven for 4 minutes at 300°F but keep an eye on it so it won’t burn.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, You can make pan sobao with butter but is best to use lard or shortening. You should use stick butter, not the butter that comes in a tub. The reason for this is that tub butter usually has a high water content.
The best flour to make pan sobao is bread flour because of its protein content. I use King Arthur bread flour because of its consistency but you can use any brand. I have used all-purpose flour too but it doesn’t make as big of a bread loaf.
The best way to proof your bread is in the oven. This is because the oven can maintain the heat or cold pretty well. Make sure your oven is off but with the light on and place your bread in the oven.
When made at home, unfortunately, it won’t last more than 4-5 days because it has no preservatives or bread enhancers. You can store it in your fridge or freezer for a longer use time. Then you just heat it when ready to eat.
Recipes To Try With Pan Sobao
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Puerto Rican Pan Sobao
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoon shortening 21g
- 6 ounces water (110°F) 170g
- 3 ½ tablespoons sugar 52g
- 1 ½ teaspoon instant yeast 6g
- 2 cups bread flour 280g
- ½ teaspoon salt 4g
Instructions
- In a large bowl add the shortening, water, sugar, and yeast. Mix until you see that all the sugar has dissolved.
- Mix the salt into the flour. Add all the flour to your wet mixture and mix until there is no more water visible. This should take about 3-5 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a flat surface and knead for 15 minutes. At first, the dough will be sticky but do not add flour. Keep on kneading.
- Cut the dough into 2 pieces. With the help of a rolling pin, flatten each piece into a rectangular shape of about 10 inches long and 6 inches wide. Roll each dough piece into a skinny cylinder. Place each roll into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Place your bread to proof in the middle rack of your oven with the light on for 2 hours. Once the bread has been proofed, remove it from the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Bake your bread for 22 minutes. Remove from oven and enjoy.
Stephenie says
Thank you so much for trying the recipe 😊. I am really happy it came out great!
Lucy says
Girl!!!! I have tried making this bread at least 8 times with other recipes. I finally did it! It’s perfect! I did 4 rolls and they are beautiful! Thank you for this easy to follow recipe.
Stephenie says
Hola Haydee, I don’t have a recipe for pan de agua yet but will definitely include it in my must do list! Thank you for the visit.
Haydee M Sheen says
Hola, do you have a recipe for pan de agua? I will try the pan sobao, pan de agua is my favorite. Thank you.
Stephenie says
Hola Drea gracias por leer el post que mira que se que esta larguito pero hey no puedo dejar afuera los detalles. Dejame saber como te quedo.
Drea says
Lo leí completito y me encantó. Especialmente la parte que dice que el pan sobao no dura lo suficiente para guardarlo por más tiempo.
Ahora me falta tratarlo. Vamos a ver cómo me va.