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You are here: Home » Recipes » Christmas & New Year's

Day of the Dead Bread | Pan de Muerto

Published: Oct 22, 2012 · Updated: Sep 25, 2020 by Mely Martínez

JUMP TO RECIPE

Pan de Muerto, no one can resist this delicious bread. Pan de Muerto is a key element in the Day of the Dead Altar, along with the Chocolate, tamales and many other traditional dishes. In Mexico, day of the Dead Bread is usually sold at bakeries and supermarkets since the middle of October.

Pan de Muerto - Day of the dead Bread recipe - Easy step by step tutorial to make Day of the dead Bread, the Mexican Pan de Muerto.

Pan de Muerto

Few Mexican breads are as closely linked to tradition as the famous Pan de Muerto.

Pan de Muerto (“Bread of the Dead”) is a traditional Mexican sweet bread that is commonly made during Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos). It is very important during this season, and the meaning behind it is as rich as its flavor.

During the Day of the Dead holiday (Oct. 31 – Nov. 2), Mexicans honor their loved ones who have passed away, and leave them offerings (“ofrendas”) at their gravesites or at altars made at home. Although this tradition is originally rooted in the central and southern parts of the country, families now celebrate the holiday all throughout Mexico, and even in other countries, too.

The offerings left for the dead usually consist of what that person enjoyed when they were alive. In addition to the deceased’s favorite food and drink, a loaf of Pan de Muerto is also placed as an offering. So, besides being a delicious sweet bread, what makes Pan de Muerto unique is its special role in this important ceremony.

Because of this, pretty much every bakery in Mexico prepares Pan de Muerto during this season, and some even sell it as early as September! Everyone loves to enjoy a thick piece of Pan de Muerto during this time of the year, even if they do not observe Día de Muertos.

Day of the dead bread. Step by step recipe tutorial to make Pan de Muertos.

Pan de Muerto meaning

A lot of people often ask what the Pan de Muerto represents, and what its shape means. The bread represents an offering made to the departed loved one. While the family members are the ones who eat the Pan de Muerto physically, it is believed that when the spirit returns during the Day of the Dead, it can be nourished by the “essence” of the bread (and any other offerings that have been left for it).

As for the shape, there are countless differing stories and explanations, but most will tell you that the pieces forming a cross are meant to symbolize the bones of the dead. On top of the bun is a small ball or nub, which some say is a teardrop, representing the tears shed for the dead. Others say it represents a skull, while still others say it represents the heart.

Pan de muerto - Day of the Dead Bread easy recipe tutorial. Mexican recipe.

Indeed, the interpretations for the symbols are many, as are the different ways the bread is decorated. Pan de Muerto can be found covered in white sugar, red sugar, sesame seeds, sprinkles, or simply brushed with an egg wash.

The bread comes in different forms, too. Depending on the area, you might find Pan de Muerto shaped like figures of people, animals, or in a crescent moon shape. The ingredients and flavoring of the bread can change, as well, but most of the time it is a yeast-heavy bread flavored with orange and/or anise.

Day of the Dead Bread recipe

As is the case with other staples of Mexican gastronomy, there are many variations and styles of Pan de Muerto, but for this recipe, we’re going to make the most typical kind.

Let’s start baking!

Today’s Pan de Muerto recipe is from Norma, my blogger friend in México City, author of the blog “La Cocina de Norma”, and a great baker that so generously took the time to explain in detail this recipe in an easy step-by-step process. I am so glad to have her as a guest.

Pan de Muerto Recipe

This sweet bread shaped like a roll and topped with sugar also has some “bone decorations” made out of the same dough representing the bones of the dead. Some people will eat it while visiting the graves of the relatives long gone as well as other food that was their favorite while they were alive. If you want to see more pictures of this celebration check HERE.

Altar Dia de Muertos Mexico in my kitchen

This Pan de Muerto recipe makes 16 small rolls or 2 large pieces of bread.

How to make Pan de Muerto

Please see complete Instructions on the print option:

JUMP TO FULL INSTRUCTIONS

 Day of the Dead BreadPan de Muertoreceta tradicional Day of the Dead Bread Day of the Dead Bread

  • Place the 4 eggs, margarine, salt and half of the sugar in the mixer bowl. Using the Hook attachment start working the dough for about 2 minutes. Note: I couldn’t find the hook attachment of my mixer but the hook is better for this type of job. Add the All-purpose flour in small amounts alternating with the water. Add the dry active yeast and mix until well combined. (Please check the ingredients list below)
 Day of the Dead Bread
  • Continue now by adding one at a time the butter, the orange zest, the rest of the sugar and the orange blossom essence, mixing well.

 Day of the Dead Bread Day of the Dead Bread Pan de Muerto

  • Get the dough out of the mixer bowl and place onto work surface; knead until smooth. Knead for a couple more minutes. Transfer dough to bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until it doubles in size. You can see the above picture where the dough is already raised.

 Day of the Dead Bread Pan de Muerto Day of the Dead Bread Pan de Muerto

  • Transfer the dough from the bowl onto the working surface, separate 300 grams of the dough to form the decorative bones later on. Cut the rest of the dough in 70grs. pieces or in two equal pieces if making 2 large pieces of bread.

Prepare 2 greased baking sheets, set aside.

Shaping the Pan de Muerto bread

 Day of the Dead Bread Pan de Muerto Day of the Dead Bread Pan de Muerto

  • Take one portion of the dough and place in the palm of your hand, we put our fingers in and add a bit of pressure and shape each piece into a tight ball rolling the dough on the surface. Place on prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart. Press the dough slightly, they should look flat like in the picture.
 Day of the Dead Bread


6. Now place the remaining 300 grams of dough we reserved onto the work surface, dusting with flour if needed, and knead until the flour is integrated perfectly.

 Day of the Dead Bread Pan de Muerto Day of the Dead Bread Pan de Muerto

Shaping the Pan de Muerto

  • We take small portions of dough and roll in small logs putting a little pressure with the fingers to form the bones. Once your bones are already formed. Brush each roll forming a cross on top of each bun with a mix made out of the remaining beaten egg with 1 Tablespoon of water, once we marked the cross with the brush we place the bones as it shows in the above picture, cutting any extra dough.
  • And finally, with the leftover dough form small balls, varnish the center of the buns where the bones come together and put the ball there as shown in the picture. Cover baking sheets with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until buns are touching and doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 Day of the Dead Bread Pan de Muerto Day of the Dead Bread Pan de Muerto

  • Add a pinch of salt to our mix of egg and water and brush the buns before placing in the oven. Transfer buns to oven and bake. Transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.

 Day of the Dead Bread Pan de Muerto Day of the Dead Bread Pan de Muerto

10. Once your Pan De Muerto bread has completely cooled, brush with the remaining butter and then dust with sugar.

Day of the dead bread recipe

Enjoy your delicious Pan de Muerto - Dead of the Dead Bread with a cup of hot Mexican Chocolate.

I hope you like the recipe and prepare it at home. Any questions, comments or complaints, I am at your service.

Have a great time baking.

Mexican Food Recipes

By Guest Author: Norma Ruíz: She loves bread making, enjoys confectionary, likes to learn about other cuisines and she is glad to see her family happy when they eat the delicious meals that she prepares for them.

In her blog you can find recipes from her own kitchen, her blogger friends, and online cooking forums, from which she learns something delicious every day, I hope that you all enjoy it.

Other Day of the Dead Recipes: Candied Sweet Potatoes, Day of the Dead Bread, Atoles, Tamales and more.

📖 Recipe

Pan de muerto - Bread of the dead

Pan de muerto recipe

Mely Martínez
Pan de Muerto Recipe, a step by step photo tutorial guided by Mexican Baker. You'll love the easy process and the amazing flavors from this bread. Learn about the traditions and history. 
4.89 from 88 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Resting Time about 1 hour each time. 2 hours hrs
Total Time 2 hours hrs 35 minutes mins
Course Breads
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 16 small rolls or 2 large breads.
Calories 228 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams 4 cups All Purpose flour
  • 2 Tablespoons active-dry yeast
  • 100 grams sugar ½ cup
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 80 grams butter at room temperature + 30 grs. to brush the bread after baking.
  • 80 grams unsalted margarine room temperature plus more for bowl and pans.
  • 4 large eggs room temperature
  • Orange zest from 2 oranges
  • 60 ml. warm water about 110 degrees
  • 1 teaspoon orange blossom water or orange essence
  • 1 large egg lightly beaten to brush the bread
  • Sugar to decorate the bread at the end.

Instructions
 

  • Place the 4 eggs, margarine, salt and half of the sugar in the mixer bowl. Using the paddle attachment start working the dough for about 2 minutes. Add the All-purpose flour in small amounts alternating with the water. Add the dry active yeast and mix until well combined.
  • Continue now by adding one at a time the butter, the orange zest, the rest of the sugar and the orange blossom essence, mixing well after each addition until soft dough forms.
  • Get the dough out of the mixer bowl and place onto work surface; knead until smooth, dusting work surface lightly with flour as needed if the dough begins to stick. Knead for a couple more minutes. Coat the interior of a large bowl with margarine; transfer dough to bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
  • Transfer the dough from the bowl onto working surface, separate 300 grams of the dough to form the decorative bones later on. Cut the rest of the dough in 70grs. pieces or in two equal pieces if making 2 large breads. (Making sure to separate 300 grams of dough to form the decorative bones.). Prepare 2 greased baking sheets, set aside.

Shaping the Pan de Muerto bread

  • Take one portion of the dough and place in the palm of your hand, we put our fingers in and add a bit of pressure and shape each piece into a tight ball rolling the dough on the surface. This is called “bolear” in Spanish (if, at first they do not look fine to you, do not worry you will achieve this with practice) Place on prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart. Press the dough slightly.
  • Now place the remaining 300 grs of dough we reserved onto the work surface, dusting with flour if needed, and knead until the flour is integrated perfectly (this is for the bones to decorate our breads).
  • We take small portions of dough and roll in small logs putting a little pressure with the fingers to form the bones. Once your bones are already formed (we need 2 for each bread). Brush each roll forming a cross on top of each bun with a mix made out of the remaining beaten egg with 1 Tablespoon of water, once we marked the cross with the brush we place the bones as it shows in the above picture, cutting any extra dough.
  • And finally, with the leftover dough form small balls, varnish the center of the buns where the bones come together and put the ball there as shown in the picture. Cover baking sheets with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until buns are touching and doubled in size, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Add a pinch of salt to our mix of egg and water and brush the buns before placing in the oven. Transfer buns to oven and bake until golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes, approximately, if making the small buns. If you are making the larger version the baking time will change a little. Remember that every oven is different, (when the bottom of the bread is golden it indicates that they are ready). Transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.
  • Once your Pan de Muerto bread has a completely cooled brush with the remaining butter and then dust with sugar.

Notes

Instructions are given to work the dough in the Electric Mixer but it can be done by hand.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Small rollCalories: 228kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 10gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 58mgSodium: 267mgPotassium: 416mgFiber: 5gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 478IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 53mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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  1. Sofia Huth

    November 02, 2022 at 9:56 pm

    5 stars
    . Thank you for the recipe, Mely. My bread doesn’t look as pretty as yours, but it is tasty. It is so good that I’ll be making another one this weekend.

    Reply
  2. Laura C Camacho

    November 02, 2022 at 6:10 pm

    I made bread for the first time, looks great!

    Reply
  3. Helly

    November 02, 2022 at 3:21 am

    i live in the UK and make this recipe every year for my Mexican husband and kids. The flavours are great and it's the best recipe for technique I've found! I do have to make some adjustments as using the recipe straight always results in quite a dense bake. This could be an altitude problem - bakes need different temperatures and ratios art different altitudes and the UK is very low compared with say Mexico city.

    I replace the water with whole milk and bloom the yeast in the milk lukewarm with a tbsp of the sugar and add to the dry once bloomed. I also use all butter rather than the margarine. Adjust until I'm happy with the texture.

    My husband is very happy to get a taste of home every year!

    Reply
    • Mely Martínez

      November 02, 2022 at 10:48 am

      Hello Helly,
      Thank you for taking the time to comment and share your experience & tips with the Pan de Muerto recipe.
      Happy baking!

      Reply
      • Veronica Ybarra

        December 04, 2022 at 11:02 am

        5 stars
        I made this recipe for dia de los muertos, I followed all the ingredient instructions but mixed a bit differently. I also added more zest and added a full orange worth of juice to the mix. It came out with a really nice orange flavor. I put a few on my ofrenda and the rest me and my family ate. Awesome recipe!

  4. Suko

    September 17, 2022 at 6:04 pm

    3 stars
    I’d give a 4/5, bread came out nice but it was really buttery and oily from the butter and margarine, so the dough wasn’t able to work correctly like if it was regular bread, I’d say it needs more flour, at least a cup more.

    Reply
  5. John

    November 04, 2021 at 9:38 pm

    This turned out great, my Mexican wife was very happy. Soft and fluffy. I replaced the margarine with butter without any issue. Given that I made larger version I baked it for 23 minutes, probably could have done with 1-2 minutes less as it was not as moist as I had hoped.

    Reply
  6. Rachel

    November 03, 2021 at 9:37 am

    4 stars
    I was excited for this, and it came out ok, but not as expected.
    The instructions were odd to the point of me thinking it was an error (adding the yeast after flour and kneading in butter), but I followed then anyways. They didn't rise much and were pretty dense, but they had good flavor and were pretty tasty anyhow.

    Reply
  7. Casey Nolan

    November 01, 2021 at 8:25 pm

    I wasn't sure about this recipe at first since it's unlike any other bread recipe I've made before (and I've never made pan de muerto). But, the results was super soft, airy, and light, with a floral hint of the orange blossom. The dough itself was super moist but also not sticky, so I didn't have to add any extra flour while kneading and shaping. My only change would be to add a little more salt to the dough. Otherwise, they were delicious!

    Reply
    • Antonio Chavez

      November 03, 2022 at 5:36 pm

      3 stars
      It seems good, and I assume that it is tasty, but I am not a big baker and wasn't aware that you needed to soak the yeast or whatever. It didn't rise hardly so sadly I had to throw away the dough. It would be helpful for novice bakers if it specifically told you how to add the yeast.

      Reply
      • Veronica Ybarra

        December 04, 2022 at 10:59 am

        Yeast typically needs time to active. Once your done mixing your initial dough and set it aside for 45 minutes or until you see its 2-3x the size it initially was. I usually have my oven preheating so ill set the dough on top of the stove and cover the top with clear wrap so the heat helps out the process.

  8. Theresa

    November 01, 2021 at 3:11 pm

    5 stars
    I gave this recipe 5 stars, because our Mexican and Guatemalan employees said the bread was good, but thought it was heavier than it should have been. This was my first time ever to work with yeast and flour, so I took it as a compliment just the same. Maybe I miscalculated when I converted grams to Tablespoons. Anyway, it brought a smile to their faces because I tried!

    Reply
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About me

Hi, I'm Mely Martinez, a former Mexican school teacher, home cook, and food blogger. I moved to the United States about ten years ago, after living in Mexico my whole life. Now I love to share home-style recipes for authentic Mexican food.
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