Those gorditas de nata are buttery, soft, and slightly sweet. Make them at home with our easy recipe and enjoy them freshly made with a cup of coffee, tea, or your favorite hot drink.
What are gorditas de nata?
Gorditas de nata recipe is a Mexican sweet treat that looks very similar to an English muffin with a slightly sweet taste and a subtle milky aroma.
The dough for these gorditas is made with wheat flour, Mexican nata, sugar, yeast, and egg. Once formed, they are cooked in a comal (Mexican griddle) until nicely cooked on the inside and crispy and browned on the outside.
It’s believed that gorditas de nata have originated in Pachuca, Hidalgo. Allegedly, one of the locals thought of selling them on the highway in bags of 5 and 10 pieces as a snack. The rest, as they say, is history.
They have become one of the most popular sweet foods in Mexico and the image of the people selling gorditas de nata on the street makes the perfect Mexican postcard because it doesn’t get more authentic than that.
What Is Nata?
Mexican nata is the main ingredient in the recipe, so it’s very important to understand what it is.
Nata comes from raw milk or fresh milk. It’s the film that forms at the top when the raw milk is cooked. It is used not only for gorditas de nata but also for cakes, meringues, sweet cream, and many other sweet recipes.
This ingredient, also known as clotted cream in English, is very easy to find in supermarkets. Particularly in places with an established Hispanic community. And is also possible to make it at home with heavy whipping cream, half cream, and butter.
If you can’t make the nata at home or you can’t find it in your location, here are a few options to replace it.
- English clotted cream.
- Mascarpone cheese.
- Kaymak (Turkish cream)
- Crème fraiche.
- Whipping cream (whipped to the point it starts to become butter).
Whatever you decide to use, the good news is that the recipe turns out just as delicious as made with traditional nata.
How To Make Gorditas de Nata
This is easily one of the simplest recipes you’ll ever make and it’s so satisfying. The gorditas are warm, fluffy, and deliciously sweet. It’s the perfect dessert or snack! Without further ado, let’s get into the recipe.
Make the preferment
In a medium bowl place the milk, yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 3 tablespoons of flour. Stir well to form a runny and smooth mixture.
Allow the mixture to rest in a warm environment for about 15 minutes or until is foamy and doubled in size.
Make the dough & proof
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the remaining flour, sugar, and the preferment dough you made before. And then add the egg, Mexican nata (or mascarpone cheese), vanilla extract, salt, and butter.
Knead at medium speed until a smooth and elastic dough forms. Make sure the dough doesn’t stick to the bowl, if it does, you need to keep kneading until you see the dough is no longer sticky.
Slightly oil your hands and remove the dough from the bowl, form a ball, and place it in a large bowl that’s been coated with butter or oil.
Cover the bowl with cling film or with a kitchen towel and a plastic bag. Leave the dough to proof until doubled in size (from 1 to 3 hours, depending on the room temperature).
Make the gorditas
Slightly flour a working surface and transfer there the dough. Flour also a rolling pin and roll the dough into a sheet about ¼-inch (1 cm) thick.
With a 2.75-inch (7cm) round cookie cutter, cut the dough to form the gorditas.
Carefully, as you cut them, place the gorditas in a lightly floured baking sheet (I used a baking mat). Reshape the dough scraps and continue to cut out additional rounds until all dough is used.
Second proof
With cling film, loosely cover the gorditas and allow them to proof in a warm humid environment for 30 minutes.
After the resting time, the gorditas should have raised a bit and look like the photo below:
Cook
Heat a comal or iron-cast pan over medium-low heat until smoky hot. Carefully, add as many gorditas fit in the pan and cook for one minute or until you’ll see the bottom starts to get brown and crispy.
Flip and keep cooking for another 5-6 minutes to make them puff and cook evenly on the inside.
Note: This is the most important step as you don’t want your gorditas to be raw on the inside or to burn on the outside, so keep an eye on the temperature of the pan adjusting the heat to keep it constantly at medium-low.
When you’ll see they are golden brown on the top and bottom sides, place them in a basket or a bowl nicely wrapped with a kitchen towel to keep them warm and soft.
How To Eat
Enjoy these Mexican clotted cream cakes in the morning for breakfast or as a snack in the afternoon with our recommended hot drinks below:
You can also open them up and spread cajeta, jam, or Nutella!
Store and Reheat
Place the sweet gorditas in a container with an airtight cover, store on the kitchen countertop for up to 4 days. To keep them fluffy, you can also wrap them individually with cling film.
Reheat in a griddle over medium heat for a couple of minutes, flipping them two or three times to warm them up evenly.
More Mexican Sweet Treats
Hungry for more? Here, enjoy those sweet treats for breakfast or merienda.
- Sweet Pumpkin Tamales.
- Cortadillos Pan Dulce.
- Mexican Sprinkle Cookies.
- Pumpkin Empanadas.
- Coyotas Cookies.
Gorditas de Nata
Ingredients
- 3 â…” cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup Mexican nata (read notes for subbing)
- 2 Tbsp butter 30
- ¾ cup sugar
- â…“ cup whole milk
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp yeast
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Add milk, yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 3 tablespoons of flour in a medium bowl.
- Stir to form a runny mixture.
- Allow the mixture to rest in a warm environment for about 15 minutes or until is foamy and doubled in size.
Make the dough & proof
- In the bowl of a stand mixer add the remaining flour, sugar, and the preferment dough you made before.
- Add the egg, nata, vanilla extract, butter, and salt.
- Set the medium speed and knead until a smooth dough forms.
- Slightly grease a large bowl with butter or oil.
- Oil your hands with a bit of oil and remove the dough from the bowl.
- Quickly form a ball and place it in the bowl.
- Cover with cling film and allow to proof until doubled in size (from 1 to 3 hours, depending on the room temperature).
Make the gorditas
- Slightly flour a working surface and transfer there the dough.
- Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough into a sheet about ¼-inch (1 cm) thick.
- With a 2.75-inch (7cm) round cookie cutter, cut the dough to form the gorditas.
- As you cut them, place them in a lightly floured baking sheet.
- Reshape the dough scraps and continue to cut out additional rounds until all dough is used.
Second proof
- Cover the gorditas with cling film and allow them to proof in a warm environment for 30 minutes.
Cook
- Heat a comal or iron-cast pan over medium-low heat.
- Carefully, add as many gorditas fit in the pan and cook for one minute or until you’ll see the bottom starts to get brown and crispy.
- Gentle, flip gorditas and keep cooking for another 5-6 minutes to make them puff and cook evenly on the inside (read notes).
- Gorditas will be ready when golden brown on the top and bottom sides.
- Transfer them to a serving plate and wrap them with a kitchen towel to keep them warm.
Notes
- English clotted cream.
- Mascarpone cheese.
- Kaymak (Turkish cream)
- Crème fraiche.
- Whipping cream (whipped to the point it starts to become butter).
Nutrition Information
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I am excited to try the recipe.
Can I used Greek Yogurt as sub for Nata?
Hi Ann, yogurt has a different flavor and texture, but yes, you can use that as long as you don’t care the small changes in those two (they’re delicious anyway). In my opinion and because I’ve used it before, best substitute is Mascarpone cheese.
Living in San Diego CA, I go to Tijuana a bunch. These tasted better than the ones I just got while waiting in line to cross back over the border. I made this recipe today with a cup of whipped heavy cream that was whipped (in stand mixer) till it was almost butter, kinda like small curds, instead of the clotted cream. The texture was more soft and creamy than the “real” ones I just got and the flavor was sweet just like it should be. 100% authentic tasting like you got it from a high end bakery in TJ. If you like sweet breads, you’ll love this recipe for Gorditas de Nata.
Hi Paul, thank you for your kind words. We are so glad you enjoyed our gorditas de nata recipe :)
So am I crazy does it say use warm milk? I didn’t see that so didn’t do that end ended up wasting everything because it didn’t work. That’s my fault for not being very savvy in the kitchen but I’m so disappointed. I couldn’t figure out what went wrong them was like oh duh 😫😫😫😫😫😫😫
My grandma made these for me when I was little. It is very hard finding nata in the US. Love this recipe and will definitely try it this weekend.
I love all the recommendations you gave to replace nata.
Hi Liz, I hope you can find nata and give the recipe a try. I made a bunch of gorditas the other day with whipped cream, I whisked the cream until it became almost butter and used that, the flavor was very similar!
Wonderful recipe, the step by step make it so easy to follow. I was intrigued by the look of those gorditas de nata as they looks indeed very similar to english muffins.