Soft and Buttery Pandesal (stays soft even the next day!)

Make your own soft, buttery, and chewy Filipino pandesal at home! This is your ultimate guide to making your favorite breakfast rolls. A beginner-friendly pandesal recipe with lots of tips and step-by-step photos on how to make pandesal.

Jump to:

• Soft Pandesal Ingredients
• Secret to Soft and Fluffy Pandesal
• How to shape pandesal the easy way
• Evenly sized Pandesal
• What is Pandesal?
• Why you will love this recipe
• Breadcrumbs for Pandesal
• What to eat with Pandesal
• Storage and Shelf-life
• Reheating
• Watch how to make Soft Pandesal
• Complete Recipe
• Comments

Soft Pandesal Ingredients

Yeast

The key to successfully making pandesal or any yeast bread for that matter is making sure that the yeast is alive and active. So, even if I'm using instant dry yeast or active dry yeast, I always proof in lukewarm water with a little bit of sugar.

Preparation: If you are new to yeast bread making, I highly suggest using a food thermometer to measure the temperature of the water. It should be at least between 105 and 110°F / 40 to 43°C. Touch it (before adding the yeast and sugar) so you'll become familiar with how lukewarm feels.

On your second or third bread, you probably won't be needing that thermometer 🙂

Flour

I find that using equal amounts of bread flour and all-purpose flour makes soft and chewy pandesal. Bread flour has higher protein content than all-purpose flour (usually 11-13%) giving the dough its stringy and elastic feature.

Preparation: While the yeast is proofing, whisk bread flour together with sugar and salt in the large bowl of your stand mixer. This ensures that the sugar and salt are evenly distributed before adding the liquid ingredients.

Egg Yolks

Using egg yolks instead of whole eggs is one of the secrets to making the softest and most delicious pandesal. Trust me on this!

Preparation: For tips on how to separate egg yolks from the white, please follow this link.

Butter

Use pure unsalted butter. This will give the pandesal a delicious buttery flavor and smell. 

Preparation:  Weigh on a food scale to get the exact measurement. Soften at room temperature for 30-40 mins before making you start baking.

Secret to Soft and Fluffy Pandesal

A well-kneaded dough is another secret to making your pandesal soft and chewy. Kneading the dough not only combines the ingredients but also increases its elasticity and further develops its gluten. 

Using a stand mixer with a dough hook is the easiest way to knead a dough. Kneading by hand could take up to 10-12 minutes and it is going to be a bit tiring especially if it's your first time.

Once the dough ingredients are combined, attach the dough hook to your stand mixer. Turn the mixer on to the lowest speed and mix until flour is incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Increase the speed, continue beating until the dough is SLIGHTLY STICKY and soft and pulling away from the edge of the bowl of a stand mixer. Give the dough a firm poke with your finger. If the indentation fills back quickly, you’re good to go. If it stays looking like a deep dimple, continue kneading.

Let the dough rise for an hour in a warm place or overnight in the fridge.

How to shape pandesal the easy way

1. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down to release the air.
2. Kneading it a few times by hand. This will help lessen the "yeasty" smell of the bread.
3. Form into a smooth ball, make a cut through the dough to the center.
4. Divide the cut dough again into two.
5. Shape into a small log as evenly as possible.
6. Divide into 4 portions. Repeat the same steps for 3 the remaining dough until you get 18 to 22 rolls.

I find that shaping the dough into small logs rather than one long log is so much easier to do for a non-professional home baker like myself.

Once the dough has been divided into portions, place it on a baking sheet or baking pan and let it rise for 45 mins to 1 hour covered with a towel. Bake in a pre-heated oven and enjoy!

Evenly sized Pandesal

If you want to accurately divide the dough into equal portions of the same size and weight, use a kitchen scale. Mine weighs about 50g each which creates a medium-size roll. Adjust based on your preference.

Shape into a roll by tucking under to create a smooth top. Press down, rotate to an even dough ball (see video). Repeat the process for each roll and place it on a baking tray.

What is Pandesal?

Pandesal, sometimes spelled out as pan de sal means "salt bread" in Spanish. It is one, if not the most popular bread in the Philippines. Many bakeries all around the country sell it. Some even make their own variation like malunggay pandesal which includes powdered moringa leaves and kalabasa pandesal which includes mashed squash.

What we're making today is a homemade version of this Filipino bread. It is an easy and forgiving recipe made of accessible ingredients that you can buy in your local grocery store.

Why you will love this recipe

• It yields the softest and most delicious bread. And it smells so good! Your house will smell like your neighborhood Filipino panaderia while baking. Don't you love that smell?
• The bread stays soft until the next day and even the next day after. I promise!

Breadcrumbs for Pandesal

I recommend using breadcrumbs with a finer texture. I often use Progresso plain breadcrumbs (this is not sponsored).

You can also use panko but I suggest doing the following before using:

1. Place breadcrumbs in a tray. Spread it evenly.
2. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 120c/248f until it's lightly toasted. Stir every now and then.
3. Pound into a finer texture by placing it inside a zip bag and pounding with a rolling pin. You can also use a blender or food processor.

What to eat with Pandesal

These Filipino bread rolls would not be complete without a slather of these spreads:

• butter or margarine with a sprinkle of sugar
• peanut butter
• strawberry jam, orange jam, pineapple etc.
• Filipino coconut jam (minatamis na bao)
• Kaya Coconut Jam
• cheese spread i.e. cheez whiz or cheese slices
• ube halaya (purple yam jam)

Enjoy it for breakfast or light snack to serve with hot chocolate, coffee, tea, or hot whole milk.

If you want pandesal to be a little more filling, serve with it ham, corned beef, fried eggs, spam/luncheon meat, and even canned sardines and tuna.

Storage and Shelf-life

Store left-over pandesal in the fridge for up to 3 days. Store in an airtight container or large zip bag, push out excess air before sealing.

Reheating

To reheat, bake the bread in the oven for 10 minutes at 350f/180c. To prevent the top from burning, wrap it in aluminum foil.

If using a mini-toaster/oven, use a lower temperature of about 120c to 130c. Bake for 1 to 2 minutes. The top can easily burn if the bread is too close to the heat source, so I suggest wrapping the bread with aluminum foil.

Frequently asked questions

Can I substitute bread flour with all-purpose flour?

Yes, but only do it when it's absolutely necessary like when you are badly craving for pandesal but can't find bread flour in the nearby store kind-of-situation 🙂

Bread made with all-purpose flour will vary in terms of structure, tenderness, and overall consistency but you will still be rewarded with a freshly baked homemade pandesal regardless.

What if my yeast did not bubble?

If yeast did not bubble, it means that it's inactive or has died because of too much heat. Make another batch and ensure that water is lukewarm. Adding an inactive yeast to flour will end up in a wasted batch of dough.

Check out my Beginner’s Guide: Baking with Yeast Bread for more tips on yeast bread making.

Can I use vegetable oil to make pandesal?

You can use vegetable oil to make pandesal. Use the same amount as the butter in this recipe which is ½ cup. It will also yield the softest bread texture without the butter flavor.

Can I use whole wheat flour?

You can use whole wheat flour for pandesal. Get the complete recipe here.

What does pandesal taste like?

Pandesal tastes like sweet butter rolls only coated with bread crumbs. It is soft on the inside with a coarse and toasted texture on the outside. Contrary to its name, it is anything but salty bread.

Watch how to make Soft Pandesal

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Complete Recipe

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