Cocoles de Anís
10 cocoles
This Mexican anise bread is pillowy, aromatic, and slightly sweet. Enjoy in the morning with a cup of hot chocolate or coffee or as a treat in the afternoon spread with butter.
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- ⅓ cup ground piloncillo (or packed brown sugar)
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup lard (or shortening or butter)
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- ½ Tablespoon ground anise seeds
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 small egg
- Sesame seeds (as needed)
Instructions
- Place flour, piloncillo, sugar, yeast, ground anise seeds, cinnamon, and salt into a large bowl. Mix to combine.
- Add lard and water, and knead until you’ll have a smooth and elastic dough.
- Make a ball with the dough and place it in a greased bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm environment until almost doubled in size (about 1 hour).
- Lightly flour a working surface and transfer the dough there. Divide the dough into 10 pieces.
- Shape each piece into a ball, then roll each ball forth and back while lightly pressing the outer edges to form a sort of sausage with pointed ends.
- Flatten the dough with a rolling pin to give it a diamond shape.
- Place the rolled pieces on two greased baking sheets. Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm environment to raise for 30-40 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 360°F/180°C
- Combine the egg with a tablespoon of water to make an egg wash.
- Brush each cocol roll with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until nicely golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes, then transfer the sweet rolls to a cooling rack and let them sit until cool down completely.
Notes
- Click on the "metric" link if you want to use a kitchen scale for this recipe and ensure better results.
- Don’t feel tempted to add more than 3 extra tablespoons of flour than the recipe calls. The dough should be slightly sticky. Give it time to rest and it will develop the gluten and become less sticky.
- Cocoles last up to 4-5 days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1 cocol | Calories: 298kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 66mg | Potassium: 71mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 22IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 3mg