Each bun is buttery, rich, soft, tender, and perfumed with the sweet scent of vanilla. The streusel-like topping of vanilla, lemon, or chocolate/cinnamon adds a sweet crunch to the brioche-like sweet bun. Enjoy your freshly baked Mexican Sweet Morning Buns (Pan de Huevo) with a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate for a special treat this weekend.

The smell of Pan de Huevo baking in the oven can whisk me back to my childhood when growing up in Detroit. It was a special treat to visit the Mexican bakery on Bagley Street near my grandparent’s home. Stepping into the bakery the smell of freshly baked sweet bread filled the air. The bakery was lined with tall white painted glass cabinets. Behind each door lay mounds of assorted sweet bread, buns, rolls, and cookies. Each one begged me to taste them. My mom would get a plastic tray lined with parchment paper and tongs and would walk around gathering an assortment of baked goods for us to enjoy. I was in pure joy as I nibbled away on my piece of sweet bread or cookie as I sat in the back of the station wagon on the ride back home.

Can I use a mixer?

Yes, you can use a stand mixer or kneading machine for any of my yeasted dough recipes. For this recipe, I recommend combining the milk, sugar, eggs, butter, instant yeast, vanilla, and half of the all-purpose flour with the paddle attachment. Beating the ingredients together on 2nd speed until well combined. When ready to add the remaining all-purpose flour and sea salt switch over the Hook attachment. Mix on 1st speed for 3 minutes or until the dough starts to come together, then turn the mixer to 2nd speed and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough will be soft and sticky but should be well-developed elastic and strong at the end of the kneading process. Then continue with the recipe, fermenting the dough for 1 hour before folding the first time. The goal of kneading by hand or machine is to develop the gluten for strength and elasticity in the dough. I knead by hand in my videos to show those who don’t own a stand mixer that you don’t need to have a machine to make yeasted dough.

The dough is so sticky!

Before you start my recipe for Pan de Huevo (Egg Bread). Know it is highly enriched with eggs, butter, and sugar. This makes for a dough that is very sticky when kneading and handling it. Don’t be deterred by how sticky the dough is throughout the kneading. Keep a plastic dough scrape handy to help with kneading and moving the dough around. There is no need for extra flour at any point while making this recipe. The dough will become less sticky as you ferment, degas, and stretch it. You can use a little vegetable oil on the work surface and your hands if the dough is sticking to much while pre-shaping into individual buns.

As with all baking recipes I recommend you weigh the ingredients for the Pan de Huevo. Weighing ensures you have consistent dough each and every time. As a baker, we are always striving to remove any variables from the process of baking.

The full instructional video for Pan de Huevo is at the bottom of this blog post. Follow this link to “LIKE” and “SUBSCRIBE” to my YouTube Channel “Just One Bite, Please?” http://www.youtube.com/c/justonebiteplease/

Equipment: (Shop my Amazon Page for Ingredients & Equipment)

• Mixing Bowls
• Measuring Cups & Spoons/Electric Bakers Scale
• Wooden Spoon
• Plastic Bowl Scrape
• Metal Bench Scrape
• Non-Stick Spray or Vegetable Oil
• Plastic Wrap
• Small Plate
• ½-sheet Parchment Paper
• 2 – ½-sheet Sheet Trays

Pan de Huevo 

• Measured             Grams              Ingredients
• ¾ cup                      170 g.              Milk (whole, room temperature)
• 4 each                    4 each               Eggs (large, room temperature)
• ½ cup                      ½ cup              Granulated Sugar
• ½ cup                      113 g.              Butter (unsalted, room temperature)
• 1-½ tsp.                       6 g.              Instant Yeast
• 2 tsp.                         12 g.              Vanilla Extract
• 4 cups                     567 g.              All Purpose Flour
• 1-½ tsp.                    12 g,              Sea Salt (fine)

Mixing the dough:

1. In the mixing bowl combine the milk, instant yeast, butter, sugar, eggs, and half the flour.  Beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and looks like thick pancake batter. Add the remaining flour and salt. Stir until the ingredients are combined and the dough becomes a shaggy mass. The dough will be very sticky.
2. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto the work surface. Knead the dough for 6 to 8 minutes. Using a plastic scrape to gather the dough from the work surface during the kneading.
3. Place the dough in a bowl that has been sprayed lightly with non-stick spray.  Cover the bowl and ferment the dough at room temperature for 1 hour.
4. After 1 hour. Lightly coat the work surface with oil.
5. Turn the dough out of the bowl and degas and fold the dough. (See video time stamp: 2:07 -2:15)
6. Return the dough to the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.
7. Ferment the dough at room temperature for 1 hour.

Pan de Huevo Topping

• Measured             Grams              Ingredients
• ½ cup                      113 g.              Butter (room temperature)
• ½ cup                      113 g.              Granulated Sugar
• 2 tsp.                        2 tsp.              Vanilla
• ½ cup                        80 g.              Powder Sugar (icing sugar)
• 1 cup                       136 g.              All Purpose Flour
• Lemon
• ¼ tsp.                      ¼ tsp.              Turmeric Powder
• 1 Tbsp.                   1 Tbsp.             Lemon Zest
• Chocolate/Cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp.                   2 Tbsp.             Cocoa Powder
• ½ tsp.                     ½ tsp.                Cinnamon
• 1 tsp.                      1 tsp.                 Vanilla

Mixing the topping:

1. In a mixing bowl combine the butter and sugar. Mix and beat with a rubber spatula until creamy
2. Add the vanilla and cream together.
3. Add the powdered sugar and cream together until well blended.
4. Add the flour and stir until the mixture looks crumbly.
5. Scrape the mixture out onto the work surface and knead the mixture until the mixture holds together and is smooth.  
6. Form into a log 6 inches long. Divide the topping into 3 pieces.  Leaving one piece plain wrap it in plastic wrap.
7. To the second piece add the lemon zest and knead to combine. Form it into a log and wrap it in plastic wrap.
8. To the third piece add the cocoa, cinnamon, and vanilla and knead to combine. Form it into a log and wrap it in plastic wrap.
9. Set aside until need to top the buns.

Shaping and topping:

1. After the 2nd hour of fermentation.  Lightly coat the work surface with oil.
2. Turn the dough onto the work surface and degas and fold the dough. (See video time stamp: 5:05-5:20)
3. Cover the dough with the bowl and rest the dough for 15 minutes.
4. After 15 minutes, uncover the dough and divide it into 12 pieces each weighing about 95 grams.  
5. Pre-shape each piece of dough into a round. Keeping them in order as you pre-shape them.
6. Re-shaped pieces of dough into a tight round, starting with the first dough you pre-shaped.
7. Place each round onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Evenly spacing each piece
8. Lightly oil your hands and gently press each bun with your fingers to flatten it.
9. Cover the buns with plastic wrap and let them rest for 15 minutes.
10. After 15 minutes, use a second sheet tray to gently press and flatten the buns out further. The buns are now ready to be topped.
11. Using a bench knife, divide each topping log into 4 pieces.  
12. Place the topping slices between two pieces of plastic wrap and flatten each piece into a disk using a small plate.
13. Place the disk onto each piece of dough.  
14. With a sharp knife cut shell designs or crisscross on the top of each roll. I used an apple slicer tool to mark the chocolate/cinnamon buns.
15. Cover with plastic and proof the Pan de Huevo for 1-½ hours at room temperature.
16. Preheat the oven to 350°F (176ºC) for at least 20 minutes before baking.  
17. Bake the fully proofed Pan de Huevo for 18-20 minutes or until lightly brown. Turning the pan halfway during the baking to bake the Pan de Huevo evenly.
18. Remove the baked Pan de Huevo from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Cool until just warm or room temperature before serving and eating with a nice cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.
19. Enjoy!

Note: Store the Pan de Huevo in a plastic bag for up to 3 days or freeze. Thaw to room temperature before eating.