Cakes & Breads
Mexican Coffee Buns
Knead a soft milk bread dough, wrap each piece around a cube of salted butter, rise, pipe a coffee, butter and flour topping over the tops and bake at 180°C for 15–18 minutes until crisp; about 2 hours 45 minutes for 12 buns.
Mexican coffee buns are soft, milky bread rolls with a cold knob of salted butter hidden inside and a crisp, cookie-like coffee crust piped over the top. Despite the name, they come from the bakeries of Southeast Asia, where they are sold warm with a cloud of coffee smell around the shop. As they bake, the topping melts down over the bun and sets into a thin crackly shell, while the butter melts into the hollow middle. Eat them warm on the day they are baked.
- Serves 12
- Prep: 40 min
- Cook: 18 min
- Total: 2 hr 45 min
- Cuisine: Malaysian
Ingredients
Dough
- 400 g bread flour
- 50 g caster sugar
- 7 g instant yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 200 ml lukewarm milk
- 40 g butter, softened
Butter filling
- 60 g salted butter, cold, cut into 12 cubes
Coffee topping
- 60 g butter, softened
- 60 g icing sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp instant coffee
- 1 tbsp hot water
- 70 g plain flour
Method
- Mix the bread flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add the egg and milk and mix to a shaggy dough, then knead for 10 minutes until smooth.
- Add the softened butter and knead for 8–10 minutes more, until the dough is soft, smooth and stretches thin without tearing. Cover and leave in a warm place for 1 hour, until doubled.
- Punch the dough down and divide it into 12 pieces of about 60 g. Flatten each piece, put a cube of cold salted butter in the middle, wrap the dough around it and pinch firmly to seal. Roll into a smooth ball.
- Set the buns seam side down on two lined trays, 8 cm apart. Cover and leave to rise for 40 minutes, until puffy.
- Meanwhile, make the topping. Dissolve the coffee in the hot water. Beat the butter and icing sugar until pale, then beat in the egg a little at a time and stir in the coffee. Fold in the flour until smooth. Spoon it into a piping bag with a 5 mm hole.
- Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Pipe the topping in a tight spiral over the top half of each bun, starting at the centre.
- Bake one tray at a time for 15–18 minutes, until the topping has spread down the sides and is dry and crisp, and the buns sound hollow when tapped. Cool on the tray for 5 minutes and serve warm.
Tips
- Seal the butter well: if the seam opens, the butter leaks out and fries the base of the bun.
- Crisp topping: the crust is crispest within 2 hours of baking. Reheat leftover buns at 160°C (325°F) for 5 minutes to crisp them again.
- Kneading by machine: a stand mixer with a dough hook takes about 6 minutes before and 6 minutes after adding the butter.
- Storage: keep buns in an airtight box for 1 day, or freeze them for up to 1 month and reheat from frozen at 160°C (325°F) for 10 minutes.
Questions
Why are they called Mexican coffee buns?
It is simply the name the bakeries gave them; the buns do not come from Mexico. They are a Southeast Asian bakery favourite, known for the crisp coffee crust on top.
Why is there butter inside the bun?
A cube of cold salted butter is sealed inside each bun. It melts while baking and leaves a buttery, slightly salty hollow in the middle.
Why did my coffee topping not turn crisp?
It needs enough flour and a full bake. Bake until the topping is dry and lightly cracked, and eat the buns within 2 hours, or reheat at 160°C for 5 minutes.
Can I freeze Mexican coffee buns?
Yes. Freeze them for up to 1 month and reheat from frozen at 160°C for 10 minutes so the topping crisps again.
Are these Mexican coffee buns halal?
The recipe is pork-free and lists no alcohol. It is not halal-certified: check that the yeast, butter and instant coffee carry halal certification.
A Dada Cooking original recipe. Quantities are metric first, with US amounts in brackets.