Chocolate & Vanilla Conchas
A fun twist on the classic brioche cookie topped with a vanilla crust and stuffed with chocolate chips.
Growing up in the midwest was so cool because of how many walks of life you run into. I grew up Italian, so my family mainly made Italian American food. We always invited all the neighbors to come over and eat when we did big shindigs and we got to share in food together. My neighbor’s Mom was from Mexico and she made such delicious food, but my favorite thing she made were conchas.
Every Christmas, she would make trays of these crunchy soft cookies and I had never had anything like it. Our friend Raquel would invite us over as they were baking and the first batch we’d warm off the tray. Couldn’t eat these without a hot mug of cocoa.
There may be a lot of steps to this traditional Mexican pastry, but it is very straight-forward and with proper planning can be executed fairly simply. The main focus is the brioche bread recipe. Give yourself time to get the dough mixed and proofed. Once the dough has been mixed and proofed, you have time to get both sugar cookie batters done and rolled into a log. The secret to the signature swirl is twisting the logs together to create a marbled pattern. Refrigerate this dough immediately.
After the dough proofs, it’s time to divide the dough up evenly and form them into their signature bun shape. Use your the side of your hand anchoring your pinky-finger and thumb to help your shape each dough ball into a smooth ball. This will make sure you end up with cute rolls. Spread room temperature butter all over these rolls to keep them moist and then let them proof again, covered, to get light and airy.
The last step is to form the sugar cookie tops. Roll out one piece of marbled sugar cookie into a tortilla sized round using a rolling pin. If the dough is sticky, use some powdered sugar to help roll the rounds. Slap each round of cookie batter onto the brioche rolls and using a seashell concha cutter, press into the batter to form the signature pattern. You can use a knife if you don’t have one of these. Let the brioche rise again until jiggly, then bake until lightly golden with a crusty top and soft interior. You will love these!
Chocolate & Vanilla Conchas
For brioche:
- 3 tablespoons warm water
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup evaporated milk
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips
- Melted Butter, for finishing
For cookie topping:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Preparation
- Mix the warm water and yeast to let yeast bloom, set aside for 5 minutes.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add bloomed yeast mixture, butter, sugar, milk, salt, vanilla, and eggs until combined.
- Add flour to the mixer and mix for 7 minutes on medium speed. The dough should be soft and very smooth.
- Add dough to a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap to let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Mix the cookie topping using a hand mixer blending the butter and sugar in a bowl until creamed thoroughly together 2 - 3 minutes. Scraping down the sides with a spatula between each minute.
- Fold in the flour and vanilla extract to the butter mixture until a dough forms. Divide the dough in half and knead one with cocoa powder. Roll each dough into an 8 inch log and place each log next to one another and twist around. Roll mixture into a larger smoother 8 inch log and cut 12 even pieces using a knife or bench scraper. Set aside.
- Divide your proofed dough into 12 even pieces and roll into balls, then place onto a parchment-lined sheet tray, brush with melted butter, and cover with a tea towel. Repeat until you have 6 on each sheet tray.
- Use your hands or a rolling pin to roll each piece of sugar cookie topping around 6 inches or to fully blanket each piece of sweet dough. Top each ball with a blanket of sugar cookie, then use the concha cutter to make a shape in each.
- Cover and let conchas rise for another 30 minutes.
- Preheat a 350 ºF oven and bake for 18 - 20 minutes on the middle rack until lightly golden.
- Enjoy with coffee or hot cocoa.