These telera rolls are a soft flat sandwich roll with a thin crispy crust. They are perfect for tortas (Mexican sandwiches).
Along with the bolillo, which resembles the shape of a baguette, pan telera is a popular sandwich roll for making tortas.
You can use these rolls to make any of your favorite sandwiches. One of my favorites is the torta Cubana, which is filled with meats and cheeses, along with other deli-style sandwich ingredients and Mexican sauces. The name Cubana refers to a street in Mexico City where this sandwich first appeared, and not Cuba.
You can also make a torta milanesa, which consists of a pounded, breaded, and fried cutlet of beef, chicken, or pork.
I tried it with a beef cutlet and dressed it up with avocado, shredded cheese, onions, pickled jalapeños, and fresh cilantro. The sandwich is very similar to a cemita sandwich, from the town of Puebla, Mexico.
P.S. Another trick for getting a lot of filling into the sandwich is to scoop out some of the bread from the top bun!
The telera roll, along with being flatter and rounder than a bolillo, is distinguished by two grooves pressed into the top of the dough. I used the edge of a wooden ruler to press the grooves into the dough, but you could also use a thin dowel, a plastic straw, or even the handle of a wooden spoon.
You actually press the dough prior to letting it rise, so you have to press down with certaintly so that the grooves will remain after the dough has risen and is baked.
You can use either lard, shortening, butter, or vegetable oil for the fat in the dough. If you use butter, be sure to melt it and let it cool, because butter contains water, which you want to somewhat evaporate.
You can brush these rolls with an egg wash before baking, or skip that step. It's up to you. I misted them with water.
More Mexican bread recipes:
- Birotes salados - these are sturdy sourdough rolls, native to Guadalajara, often used in tortas ahogadas, or "drowned sandwiches," so named because they are heavily dipped, bread and all (and sometimes the whole sandwich), in a spicy sauce.
- Conchas - Mexican shell bread, probably the most popular pan dulce in Mexican bakeries.
- Cemita rolls - sandwich rolls covered in sesame seeds native to Puebla, Mexico.
- Bolillos - The Mexican version of French rolls, also known as pan Francés.
Definitely give these soft on the inside and crispy on the outside rolls a try. You can use them for any sandwich or burger you like.
I also highly recommend using them to make the "other" Mexican street food, tortas.
Baking Bloggers: Baking of Mexico
This month, the Baking Bloggers are baking dishes with the flavors of Mexico.
- Baked Pork Enchilada Salsa Verde Casserole from Sneha's Recipe
- Bolillos from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Capirotada de Leche from Palatable Pastime
- Cheesy Corn Dip from Magical Ingredients
- Chicken Chili Tortilla Casserole from Food Lust People Love
- Creamy Caramel Flan from Making Miracles
- Mexican Chicken Bake (DASH Friendly) from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Tacos De Jocoqui (Sour Cream Tacos) from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
Telera Rolls (Pan Telera)
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 340 grams water (1 1/2 cups) water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon lard, shortening, or butter, melted and cooled
- 9 grams (1 1/2 teaspoons) salt
- 482 to 539 grams (4 to 4 1/2 cups) unbleached all purpose flour
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the yeast, water, honey, fat, salt, and 4 cups of the flour with the dough hook until everything comes together and you have a soft dough.
- Check the dough. It should be soft but not sticky. If it is sticky, add two more tablespoons of the flour and mix for about a minute, and test the dough. Continue to add more flour, two tablespoons at a time, until you have a soft dough that is not sticky.
- Continue to knead for an additional 6 to 8 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for an hour, until doubled.
- Turn the dough out onto your work surface, deflate it, and divide it into 10 pieces. Roll the pieces into balls and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rest for five minutes.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment (or grease the baking sheets). Place the balls on the baking sheets and flatten to about 1/2 inch thick. Lightly dust the tops of the dough with flour.
- Using a narrow wooden dowel, chopstick , plastic straw, or wooden ruler, press the tops of the rolls to divide it into thirds. Press firmly, but not all of the way through.
- Cover the rolls with oiled plastic wrap and let rise until doubled.
- In the meantime, heat the oven to 400 degrees F with two oven racks. Lightly mist the shaped dough with water. If you don't have a sprayer, you can use a pastry brush.
- Bake for about 22 to 25 minutes, switching and rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until the center reaches 190 degrees F.
- Cool the rolls on a wire rack.
Calories
228.09Fat (grams)
4.27Sat. Fat (grams)
1.83Carbs (grams)
41.02Fiber (grams)
1.60Net carbs
39.43Sugar (grams)
1.87Protein (grams)
5.62Sodium (milligrams)
361.77Cholesterol (grams)
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Beautiful crusted rolls, perfect for sandwiches!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Sneha.
DeleteThese look so perfectly tender - the perfect sandwich roll!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWhat perfect rolls and that sandwich made with them looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt is a darn good sandwich!
DeleteThose rolls look delicious. SO many Mexican breads out there that I didn't know. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteyeah, we always think of tortillas and not breads!
DeleteI've eaten tortas but never knew that the bread has a special name but duh. Of course it does! Yours are lovely, Karen!
ReplyDeleteThanks Stacy!
DeleteThat is beautiful rolls, I need to bake them I may make it with sourdough.
ReplyDelete