Chilean Marraqueta Bread
With gratitude to Alvaro Guzman, lifelong Marraqueta baker in Santiago, Chile, who shared his technique, recipe and passion for this favorite bread of the Chilean people in a late-night zoom call translated by his good friend Sol Harris-Boundy here in Washington state. Baking and breaking bread brings us together like nothing else can. This bread is meant to be lovingly shared with friends and family.
Tested by Jerilyn Brusseau
Prep Time
3 hrs 10 min
Bake Time
16-18 min
Total Time
3 hrs 28 min
Yield
16 100-gram rolls
Ingredients:
7 cups (1000g) Sequoia flour
3½ teaspoon (20g) sea salt
3½ teaspoon (20g) Red Star active dry yeast
1 teaspoon (5g) granulated sugar
2¾ cups (650g) water, at 85-90°F
Canola oil, for brushing the pans and tops of rolls
Rose water, to spray the oven before and during baking, optional but highly recommended
Baker's Notes:
We strongly recommend weighing the flour and water on a gram scale for the most authentic crumb in Marraqueta bread.
This bread is eaten the moment it comes out of the oven! Chileans love this bread, from 7 am to lunch, to dinner and then to "once," the late-evening snack before bedtime.
Instructions:
- Weigh the flour and place in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add salt and stir to blend.
- Weigh the water in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the yeast and sugar to the water. Let stand for 5 minutes to dissolve.
- Slowly pour the flour/salt mixture into the yeast/water mixture, stirring with your hand to blend.
- Continue working with your hand until every bit of flour is worked in. Cover with a plastic wrap and let stand for 10 minutes. The dough will relax and be easier to work with, however, it will be sticky. Do not add additional flour.
- Turn the dough out onto a marble or non-stick surface. Begin kneading the dough and knead for 10-15 minutes until it is as light and smooth as possible.
- While kneading, stop a few times to lift the dough high off counter with both hands, letting one end hang down, then slap the dough on counter end-down, folding over itself. Repeat. This increases the dough’s strength to hold the shape of rolls.
- The dough should be soft and pillowy and no longer stick to your hands.
- Cover the dough lightly with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.
- With a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 100-gram portions.
- Round the dough portions into balls and place two together, lightly touching, on lightly oiled baking pans. Each pair of rolls should have room to double in size.
- Lightly brush the tops of rolls with canola oil. Cover the entire pan with plastic wrap so that rolls do not dry out. Let rise for 1 hour at ambient room temperature.
- After the first rising, take a round stick, about ¾-1" in diameter, and press hard in the center of Marraquetas to "split" them (see photo).
- Re-cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30-45 minutes until the rolls double in size again.
- While rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 425°F. Carefully lift the plastic wrap off the rolls.
- Before placing the rolls in the oven, spray the oven with rose water to create steam. After placing the rolls in the oven, spray the oven with rose water every three minutes for the first 10 minutes.
- Bake for the total of 16-18 minutes until the rolls are golden-brown.
- Remove from the oven, lift the rolls off the pan onto a cooling rack.
- Enjoy with avocado, with ham and cheese, jam or dulce de leche.
Baker's Notes:
We strongly recommend weighing the flour and water on a gram scale for the most authentic crumb in Marraqueta bread.
This bread is eaten the moment it comes out of the oven! Chileans love this bread, from 7 am to lunch, to dinner and then to "once," the late-evening snack before bedtime.