Marraquetas are bread rolls famous in Bolivia, Chile and other countries. In Bolivia they're also known as Pan de Batalla (Battled Bread). This bread is delicious for breakfast or an afternoon coffee!
Course Breakfast, Side Dish
Cuisine Bolivian, Gastronomia Latina, Latin American
Keyword Bolivian bread, Marraqueta, Pan de Batalla
Pour yeast in 1 cup of lukewarm water. Add 1 tbsp of sugar and mix. Let stand for few minutes to activate yeast.
Add 4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour to a bowl. Mix half a tbsp of salt with the flour. Finally add the yeast water into the bowl and start mixing with a large spoon. Once the mix has incorporated all the water, then add 1 cup of lukewarm water and mix thoroughly. Use your hands to turn the mix into a dough as demonstrated in the video below. Transfer the dough to a working surface, sprinkle flour to the bottom and top if needed. Work the dough for few minutes.
Add the dough to a clean bowl, dust the surface lightly with flour. Cover with a wet, clean kitchen towel. Place the bowl in a warm area in the kitchen or by a sunny window. Dough will take 1 hr and 15 minutes or longer to double in size. It's important to wait until the dough doubles in size.
Once dough has doubled in size, pour it in the working surface again. Elongate it and then cut it in about 10 fist size dough balls. Work each piece of dough slightly, then shape and place in a baking tray with parchment paper.
Cover the rolls with the kitchen towel and let rise for a 2nd time. This time I let the dough rise for about 25 minutes. Towards the end of the rise, pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F.
Score each piece with a sharp knife or razor from top to bottom along the longer side. Prepare 1 cup of cold water with half a tbsp of salt, mix until salt dissolves. Brush with dough piece with this water/salt mix.
Add baking tray to pre-heated oven in the middle rack. Add a smaller baking dish with boiling water in the oven as well. The steam from the boiling water will help create the bread crust. Lower temperature to 425 degrees F. Bake for about 15 minutes or until breads are golden brown. Turn oven off once done.
Cool the marraquetas in a cooling rack. Then place in a bread bowl covered with a towel and serve warm with coffee!
Video
Notes
Adjust dough as needed with an extra tablespoon of water or flour as you are working it.