The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Mexican buns aka coffee cookie buns aka rotiboy buns

emkay's picture
emkay

Mexican buns aka coffee cookie buns aka rotiboy buns

The Chinese like soft and fluffy white breads. The whiter, the better. It might explain why something called Hong Kong flour exists. The HK flour is bleached and low in protein so that the resulting bread is super white and super soft. I don't really mind if my Chinese breads turn out white or not. So I just use what I have on hand which is Central Milling's Artisan Bakers Craft, a 10.5% protein, organic, malted, unbleached flour. The results are definitely more off-white than white. Soft and fluffy is easy. Enrichments such as butter, egg and milk will do the trick. Using a tangzhong aka water roux helps with the softness and keeping quality.

mexican_bun_crumb_1

This bun is a purely Asian creation. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with Mexico although buns with a cookie-like topping are reminiscent of conchas. I don't know who invented it first and I have no idea why the Chinese like topping breads with a cookie batter, but it's pure genius. The cookie melds with the bread dough and creates a thin, crispy, cookie-ish layer. Depending on the ingredient ratios in the cookie batter, the layer can be fused with the bread and cannot be peeled off. Or if the cookie batter is stiffer, the baked layer can be peeled or flaked off the bread and eaten separately which is the way I did it as a child when eating boh loh bao aka pineapple buns (which have no pineapple in it at all).

I used instant espresso powder in my cookie topping, but instant coffee powder can be used instead. You can leave out the coffee and have a plain vanilla topping. I used a tangzhong milk loaf for my buns. They turned out super soft, fluffy and shreddable. The topping was crisp on day one, but softened considerably by day two.

mexican_bun_proof

mexican_bun_swirl

mexican_bun_baked

I left a few without topping. The topping weighs down the bun a bit so the topped ones spread out instead of up.

mexican_bun_crust

The bottom of the bun.

mexican_bun_bottom

The crumb.

mexican_bun_crumb_2

mexican_bun_crumb_3

Bakers' percentages for the bun dough

100% flour*, 75% whole milk*, 10% sugar, 12.5% egg, 1% instant dry yeast, 1.5% salt, 10% butter

[* 5% of the total flour was used in the tangzhong. TZ ratio was 1:5 flour to milk.]

Bun dough recipe

To make the tangzhong: In a saucepan whisk 20 g AP flour into 100 g whole milk until it's pretty smooth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 149F/65C. It should be pudding like. Allow the tangzhong to cool before using it in the dough.

380 g AP flour

200 g whole milk, 85-90F

40 sugar

50 g egg

4 g instant dry yeast (SAF red)

6 g salt

40 g unsalted butter, softened

all of the tangzhong

  1. In a KA stand mixer, mix everything except the butter on speed 1 for 3 minutes.

  2. Add the butter and mix on speed 2 until all the butter is incorporated, about 2 -3 minutes.

  3. Bulk ferment at room temp until doubled, about 1 hour.

  4. Scale each bun at 55 grams. (I got 15 buns.)

  5. Proof on sheet pans at room temp for 30-45 minutes.

  6. Pipe cookie topping onto each proofed bun.

  7. Bake buns at 375F for about 15 mins or until golden brown. Best served warm.   

Coffee cookie topping

50g unsalted butter, softened

50g granulated sugar

50g egg, lightly beaten

70g AP flour

1 tsp instant espresso powder

1 tsp water

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

  1. Dissolve the espresso powder in the warm water and mix in vanilla extract. Set aside.

  2. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

  3. Beat in the egg until well combined.

  4. Beat in the espresso mixture.

  5. Add the flour and mix until just incorporated.

  6. Transfer topping to a pastry bag fitted with a round pastry tip.

  7. Store in the refrigerator until needed. (Can be made 2 day in advance.)

  8. Allow the topping to soften a bit at room temp for about 5 or 10 minutes before piping it onto the proofed buns.

 :) Mary

Comments

clazar123's picture
clazar123

I am always intrigued by the different ways to combine ingredients to make something different.

If you told me that a cookie on top of my bun would taste delicious, I would be very skeptical. But then I would wholeheartedly bite into a piece of coffee cake with a thick layer of buttery streusel and thoroughly enjoy it. I will have to try one of these next time I am at a Mexican (or Chinese) bakery!

Lovely writeup and pictures. Widening my horizons!

emkay's picture
emkay

clazar123- I guess a cookie topping on a bun is no more unusual than a lovely streusel on top of a coffee cake. Both are delicious!  

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Fantastic post.  May I feature it on the homepage for a bit?

It has been years since I've baked them but I have baked melon bread, which uses a similar combination of doughs. I should try it again now that I know about the Tangzhong method.

emkay's picture
emkay

Hi Floyd, I think it's similar to melon pan.  I would be so thrilled to be featured. Thanks so much!! -Mary

ExperimentalBaker's picture
ExperimentalBaker

Always buy them when I go Malaysia. There's a version with chocolate sauce inside the buns. It's heavenly.

Bookmarked and will try yours soon.

emkay's picture
emkay

A chocolate sauce inside sound so decadent. I might have to try making that. Thanks!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Don't know if i should put ice cream and chocolate sauce on it or butter and jam.  Bet it is good either way. these are way better than conchas.   Well done and

Happy baking

emkay's picture
emkay

Cookie bun does sound strange, doesn't it? :) And I like these more than conchas too. Thanks dab!

CAphyl's picture
CAphyl

Mary:  Thanks for sharing; the pics are fab.  Would love one of those buns right now.  Congratulations!  Best,  Phyllis

emkay's picture
emkay

Hi Phyllis, Thanks for the kind words. :) Mary

Isand66's picture
Isand66

I thought I commented on this a few days ago, but alas the gremlins must have struck again.

These look awesome Mary.

Thanks for sharing with us and congrats on the front page.

Regards,
Ian

emkay's picture
emkay

Hi Ian, No worries! Those gremlins are a pesky bunch. :) Mary

pantone_000's picture
pantone_000

Hi emkay! I too have been practicing Roti buns for some time now (but with a recipe from youtube). I have tried both the direct method and using a tangzhong. I noticed the softer texture with the tangzhong roti but it is not as noticeable with my family. Emkay, what is the diameter of your finished buns? Mine were around 2inches after filling was put inside and rolled to its final shape. I timed the second rise at around 40-45mins too. And then baked them 20min at a low 300F (I use a brick oven) and the final size is only at 3in diameter, thus the crumb was denser than what I expected it to be. I am afraid to let it rise for too long (at room temp, no option for retarding) for it may not have the strength for its oven spring. My tasters liked that it was a little bit dense though as it was more tummy-filling than if I had let it rise too much. Here they are:

After 2nd rise, piped the crust batter before it goes to the oven.

)

emkay's picture
emkay

Hi pantone_000, I scaled my bun dough at 55 grams each, but I don't have a diameter of the pre-proofed dough balls. Mine were unfilled. Each finished baked bun was 3.3 inches/ 8.5 cm in diameter.  300F for baking seems low to me, but I don't know how a brick oven compares to a domestic home gas oven.

I've never had a problem with tangzhong breads turning out dense which is one of the reasons why I like it. I have had dense enriched buns made from sponge starter doughs, but mainly because I underproofed either at the sponge step, or during the final shape proof. 

Hope this helps.

Mary

 

pantone_000's picture
pantone_000

Thanks Mary. I scale mine at 45g and then the filling (breadcrumbs, sugar, buter) at more or less 10g. I wonder how I can make those tangzhong Japanese breads that are as light as cotton without using any dough conditioner/softener. TZ method is good for homemade breads, but I also wonder if that would be practical for bulk bakes (eg. 4-5 or more batches).

emkay's picture
emkay

Although I've never made 3, 4 or 5 kg of dough with tangzhong added, there's no reason why it shouldn't work. The TZ can be made ahead of time and used just like any pate fermentee (old dough). 

Kaipea's picture
Kaipea

Those look beautiful! I have to try this, thank you~

Kaipea's picture
Kaipea

I did it! They filled the room with sweet coffee aroma. Mine didn't came out pretty, (might be because I didn't use a pastry tip?), but they were yummy. :D I'll try again soon!

emkay's picture
emkay

Hi Kaipea, I think your buns look great. The pastry bag and tip helps, but the topping melts and spreads in the oven so you can't really tell with the final product. Great job!!

didipaterno's picture
didipaterno

Hi emkay!

I have a few questions about the coffee cookie topping:

1) Can you use ground coffee instead of instant coffee powder?

2) How much warm water did you use to dissolve the espresso powder? 

Appreciate the response. Lookingto bake these soon

tarekrabei's picture
tarekrabei

Hay, thanks for the valuable subject, I've tried many times the original Papparoti/Rotiboy buns in Malaysia and Dubai but, now I can say that I've made a similar dough & buns (super soft) but I notice that the coffee topping flavor and smell doesn't become like the ones that i eat in Papparoti and Rotiboy !!! in other words the smell and flavor is like a specific type of cookies and not a vanilla or cinnamon or cacao powder, do you have any idea what materials should I add to reach the same flavor and smell ? please advice and thanks.

Toula's picture
Toula

I tried making it but the dough tend to be sticky ???and it dosent rise in one hr too
So what kind of yeast and flour is the best for getting the same result ?