How to make Mantecadas
Mexican muffins, called Mantecadas in Mexican bakeries. They are easy & quick to make sweet bread.
Sweet bread has a culture of its own in Mexico and is a tradition that has been embraced and deeply loved for generations. We have primarily Spain and France to thank for that, as their influence is why we have such a passion for sweet pastry and pieces of bread plus a love for that classic combination: coffee and bread.
The shapes and flavors of Mexican sweet pieces of bread amount to more than a thousand, each one with its unique and sometimes picturesque names, like: bows, braids, kisses, brides, bicycles, stones, baldies, lovers, bricks, yoyos, and rails, just to mention a few. We obviously cannot forget to mention the famous “Conchas”, which resemble a seashell and come in many flavors.
Among these baked treats are yeast pieces of bread, puff pastries, cookie-type pieces of bread, and cake-like pieces of bread, like these delicious bread “Mantecadas”, which are really quick and easy to make in your oven. They’re perfect for having a late afternoon coffee with, or for a weekend breakfast in bed, or even for when you have last minute visitors coming over for a cup of coffee or tea.
Mexican bakers are usually men that have learned the trade from one generation to another; some arrived at the baking business as an apprentice, starting their career in bread making from there. Thanks to the internet and social media, I’ve met quite a few of these men, called “panaderos” in Mexico. Some have many years of experience and are now teaching the younger aspiring bakers in Mexico, as they want the Mexican Traditional Bakery to be preserved. They are always happy to share their expertise with me and answer my many questions about baking, and for that, I am very thankful.
But there are also many newcomers, the young bakers, who graduated from culinary school and have fallen in love with bread making, like my friend Hector M. Oliva Balderas, a young man only in his mid 20’s who’s opened his own bakery in the small town of Teotihuacan. Being a baker is hard work, but that doesn’t stop him from his dream of keeping the tradition of artisanal bakery alive. He even delivers his bread on his bicycle a couple days a week. I hope that there’ll be more young people like him out there keeping our customs and traditions.
I’m so proud of this young man. A promise for the future of Mexican bread making.
How to make Mantecadas
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 400F. Place muffin paper liners in muffin pan. (Please check the ingredients list below)
- Sift together flour, baking powder and yeast in one medium size bowl, and set aside. Place egg and sugar in a large bowl and whisk until sugar has dissolved.
- Add milk and the flavoring of your choice and mix.
- Incorporate the oil in a gentle stream and whisk again to form a homogenous mixture.
- Slowly stir in the dry ingredients plus the pinch of salt, mixing gently until you have a very uniform batter. Do not over mix. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes.
- With the help of a pitcher or a ladle, pour the batter into the already prepared muffin pan. Fill it up just a little bit below the edge. See picture above.
- Carefully place in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for about 5 minutes on a cooling rack. They keep well for 2 to 3 days when stored in an airtight container.
HOW TO MAKE MANTECADAS RECIPE
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 125 grams of sugar ½ cup + 1 tbs*
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla or orange essence**
- 1 tsp orange zest optional
- 125 grams of All Purpose flour 1 cup minus 1 tbs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 pinch of salt
COOKING UTENSILS NEEDED:
- Bowls whisk, measuring cups and spoons, muffin paper liners, muffin pan, pitcher or a ladle to pour the batter.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Place muffin paper liners in muffin pan.
- Sift together flour, baking powder and yeast in one medium size bowl, and set aside. Place egg and sugar in a large bowl and whisk until sugar has dissolved.
- Add milk and the flavoring of your choice (vanilla, orange essence plus orange zest) and mix.
- Incorporate the oil in a gentle stream and whisk again to form a homogenous mixture.
- Slowly stir in the dry ingredients plus the pinch of salt, mixing gently until you have a very uniform batter. Do not over mix. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes.
- With the help of a pitcher or a ladle, pour the batter into the already prepared muffin pan. Fill it up just a little bit bellow the edge. See picture above.
- Carefully place in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for about 5 minutes on a cooling rack. They keep well for 2 to 3 days when stored in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
¡Buen provecho!
Mely,
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Mines didn't turn out great … it's dark .. and i dont know if substituting the oil for 2/3 butter and then adding 2 more tbs of baking powder instead of the yeast did it .. but it was not good … looks like it overflowed with butter and it was not enough flour ? .. HELP please ! I want to make this for my mother in law… 🙁
Jewls
Hello Jewls,
Baking is a similar to chemistry if you change some of the ingredients you won't get the same results. Please follow the recipe as directed and you will have beautiful muffins.
Happy Baking!
🙂
Las hice y quedaron riquísimas, mejor que en la panadería y la mejor receta, Gracias.
Mely, las hice siguiendo la receta pero quedaron muy planas. Que puedo estar haciendo mal?
Hola Diana,
Pueden ser varias cosas, que la levadura o el polvo de hornear ya no estuvieran frescos, que el horno no estaba a la temperatura adecuada, que se haya abierto el horno mientras se horneaban. Trata de prepararlas de nuevo, es una receta muy sencilla y a veces no nos percatamos que algo no este del todo bien al prepararlas.
saludos!
Muchas gracias por ésta super receta de mantecadas, las amo! Todas tus recetas y fotografías son maravillosas!
La levadura instantánea la tengo que activar o solo se le pone seca con los demás ingredientes
Hola Lucy,
Solo se le pone seca como indica las instrucciones. Happy baking!
Followed your exact recipe and they taste sooo good.Thank you
Hello Claudia,
I’m so glad you like them! Happy baking and provecho!
Unfortunately I have gluten sensitivity so I’d have to substitute the AP flour for GF flour, cross my fingers they come out good!
Hello Betty,
I hope it comes out ok for you. Happy cooking!
Love the recipes. Easy to follow
Hello Jim,
Thank you for trying the recipes and for stopping by. Happy cooking! Mely
If I don’t have yeast,can I use extra baking powder & how much
Hello Prema,
I had never try making them without the yeast. But you are welcome to try adding more baking powder.
Yummy! These look like treats my Grandmom used to buy at a Spanish bakery. I can’t wait to bake these for her.
Hello Collen,
I hope you make them soon, they are easy and quick to prepare.
I was wondering if you can use a stand mixer, or if it has to be done by hand? My whisk broke and I haven’t replaced it yet.
Hello Melanie,
I had never used my stand mixer to make mantecadas because they are really easy and quick to make. But, you can absolutely use it if you want to, especially if you are making a large quantity.
I just made these they look lovely and taste omg like the bakery back home in Texas. Live in CT haven’t found the bakery with similar taste. Followed to the t the recipe outstanding and easy to do. Had to adjust my oven time like in a comment before since I know my oven already timing is different on every recipes I make just have to keep an eye on it.love them Thank you Mel😋
Hello Micaela,
Thank you for trying the recipe for Mantecadas. Now, you have to try the recipe for Bread Pudding, it is another great hit with our readers.
Acabo de hacer la receta con mi niña de 8 años.. No puedo esperar a q salga del oven.. Gracias x compartir esta rica receta!! 😊😊
Hola Ivonne,
Espero me compartas foto de las mantecadas en Instagram. Y de tu niña también.
Ya las provamos y si salieron Como yo esperaba! Solo q no tengo idea como compartir foto 🤔
Hola Ivonne, estas en instagram? Puedes publicar la foto en tu cuenta o en tus historias. Y agregas @mexicoinmykitchen de esa manera la puedo ver yo tambien.
Si la pubique la pudo ver?
Hola Ivonne,
No
Hoola se debe utilizar yeast
Hola Eva,
si, tienes que usar levadura y polvo de hornear. Yes, you have to use yeast and baking powder in this recipe.
I’m actually very excited I came across this recipe. My grandmother who is 93 now, used to make this for the family. My grandfather who was blind had the the recipe in his head and would tell her how to make them. Unfortunately once he passed around 25 years ago, she hasn’t been able to make them.
Now I get to try them, thank you!
Hoola ya las hice hoy salieron riquisimas muy contenta graciss x la receta. Estoy tratando de ponerla en Instagram
Hola Eva,
Que bueno que te gustaron. Saludos!
Mely, quiero hacer más cantidad de mantecadas. Se pueden doblar las cantidades para tener las mezcla necesaria o será demasiada levadura y tendrán un sabor desagradable
Hola Ruth,
Si, se puden doblar las cantidades para hacer más mantecadas. De hecho en el blog tenemos la opciones de que cambien la cantidad que quieres hacer y te cambia cuanto necesitas.
Is it ok to bake these at a lower temp? They are yummy but the bottoms are way to dark.
Hello Michelle,
You can, but then the mantecadas will take longer to bake and I’m not sure they will raise the same. Do you have an oven thermometer installed in your oven to see it is working properly? They are pretty cheap, around 4 dollars, just to check the oven temperature.
I’m really glad I found this recipe. I have never tried mantecadas before, but I was surfing around Pinterest and saw the recipe. It looked pretty easy so I thought I would give it a try. The recipe was simple and clear, and I followed it exactly. I used just the vanilla extract, but I think it would have been amazing with the orange extract and zest. Not too much effort was involved. I think my cupcake pan must be a little smaller than yours because I got 8 instead of 6. Either way, the oven time and temp were just right. The muffins were Perfectly risen and perfectly golden. When we tried them they were moist and fluffy. My husband had trouble believing they didn’t have cornmeal though, he really thought they were a corn muffin. These were super delicious. Not too sweet, not too dense. My husband told me that these are his new favorite recipe and asked me to make them again tomorrow. Thank you for posting this!
Hello Candace,
Thank you for trying the Mantecadas recipe. I’m so glad your husband like them.
La mejor receta, gracias por publicarla, me trae recuerdos de cuando era pequeña .
Hello Olga,
So glad to know you like it and that it remains you fo your childhood. Muchas gracias por probar la receta. Que gusto saber que te trajo bonitas memorias. Saludos!