One of my favorite things to eat — I mean, I should really have stock in Nanding’s Bakery in Kalihi — are Spanish rolls.

Seriously, they are the perfect snack for anyone who loves — like me — bread, butter and sugar.

Spanish rolls are a popular yeast-raised bread — similar to pandesal — that originated in the Philippines. The dough is shaped into long, buttery logs — bastón — and rolled in a mixture of breadcrumbs and sugar.

I can — and have — eaten several in one sitting

I asked my mom — to me, the world’s greatest cook and baker — to try to make some for me. She loves making homemade bread, and I figured this would be a great project. We’d both benefit!

So she scoured the web, searching for a recipe for Spanish rolls, and found this one.

We tried it, it worked, and we’ve already made it twice!

Here’s the recipe:

Spanish rolls
Jane’s Kitchen

Dough ingredients:

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 pack active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup warm water
1 fresh egg, lightly beaten
4 T. butter, melted
4 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Ingredients for the filling:

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup bread crumbs and 2 T. sugar (for dredging)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a small bowl or cup of warm water, add the yeast and a teaspoon of sugar. Stir, then set aside in a warm place for at least 5 minutes until foamy.

In a mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients — flour, sugar and salt. To that add the warm milk, butter, egg and yeast mixture. Mix until it can be formed into a dough.

Place the dough on a on a lightly floured surface and knead for at least 10 minutes or until it becomes a smooth, elastic ball.

Put the dough on a grease bowl. Turn the dough once to cover all sides with grease. Cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place for at least 1 hour until it doubled in size.

While waiting for the dough to rise, you can start preparing the filling. In a bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup sugar until creamy. On another bowl, mix the bread crumbs and sugar. Set both bowls aside.

After an hour, knead the dough for at least 2 minutes then divide into four 16 equal parts. Flatten the doughs into a rectangular shape about 3×5 inches in size. Brush the dough with the prepared filling leaving about a half an inch from the edge without. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Roll the dough from corner to corner. Dredge the rolls into a bowl containing the breadcrumbs and sugar mixture. Place them (seam side down) on a greased or non-stick baking tray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Set aside for another 30 minutes.

Bake the rolls in the oven for least 20 minutes.