Mini Conchitas | Detailed Tutorial

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Recently I posted a few videos on Tik Tok and Instagram about mini conchitas and y’all loved them! I will walk you through my recipe in detail so that you can make them successfully at home. These mini conchitas are ADORABLE, soft, packed with flavor, and are the perfect snack for any time of the day!

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The best way to tell someone you like them is with a conchita bouquet ❤️

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Birthday conchitas ☺️

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Let’s Begin by Addressing Some Common Questions

What are conchas? I’ve never tried them before-what do they taste like? Conchas are soft, sweet bread rolls (pan dulce) topped with a slightly crunchy and colorful streusel topping. The topping is scored to form beautiful designs. The most common design is a seashell which translates to concha in Spanish- hence their name. Although the topping is made with different colors, conchas have a vanilla flavor unless the different colors actually have flavorings in them such as strawberry and chocolate.

How are the designs made on top? The designs on top can be made with a knife, the edge of bowl scrapers, and most conveniently bread stamps. There are many options available on Amazon with different sizes and designs. I love getting bread stamps from www.breadstamps.com.

Are they still soft by the next day? Yes! If stored in an airtight container after they’ve cooled down these mini conchitas will remain soft for up to 3 days. After that you can pop them in the microwave for about 5 seconds to soften them up. It’s likely that these minis won’t last that long though! They never do at my house!

Equipment Needed:

• Stand mixer with dough hook, paddle attachment
• Scale
• Bowl scraper
• Food coloring of your choice. My all time favorite are the Master Elites™ by The Sugar Art. I love using powdered food coloring because a little bit goes a long way and they provide intense color to my baked goods. You can use affiliate code “dayalatreats” at checkout for 15% off your purchase. For these mini conchitas I used, “White” “Hot Pink” and “Red Rose”
• Knife or bread stamps
• Scissors
• Tortilla press (optional) to flatten out topping.
• Sheet pans big enough to space out the conchitas at least 1 inch apart.

Preparing the Dough

The dough will come together easier if the butter is very soft, the eggs are at room temperature, and the milk is heated between 120℉-130℉.

Use bread flour for soft and fluffy conchitas. You can use all-purpose flour (even cake flour) but the crumb of your conchitas will not be as soft and tender as it is with bread flour.

You can knead the dough by hand but using a hand mixer cuts down on time and it does all of the work for you. With the mixer it only takes about 9 minutes for the dough to come together.

Prepare the dough in the following steps: Place all of the dry ingredients and the butter in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook- combine for 2 minutes→add in the eggs and vanilla-combine for 2 minutes→add the warm milk gradually over a period of 2 minutes→knead the dough for about 3 minutes or until the dough starts coming off the sides of the bowl, it’s elastic and slightly sticky to the touch→Place the prepared dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with saran wrap. Use “stir” speed on your mixer throughout the dough making process.

Instant dry yeast is what makes the dough rise. Check the expiration date to make sure your yeast is not dead. If you add milk that is too hot you run the risk of killing your yeast and the dough won’t rise. Yeast likes warmth- if your oven has a proofing option use it (95℉.) If not find the warmest area in your house and leave your dough to proof there.

Allow for the dough to double in size before shaping it. This takes about 2 hours. If you live in a warm climate it may take less time. If you live in a cold climate it may take longer time.

Preparing the Topping

Making the topping could not get any easier. Same as the dough, the mixer does all of the work. Prepare the topping in the following steps: Place all of the ingredients in the same bowl where the dough was made and switch the dough hook to a paddle attachment→beat ingredients until they come together and form a play-dough texture→split topping into equal parts and add preferred food coloring→weight out the topping (4g-5g) for a total of 48 pieces of topping.

Keep the prepared topping chilled until its time to roll the dough. This makes the topping easier to handle when flattening it out with your hands. Use a tortilla press for a more efficient way to flatten the topping.

Shaping and Assembling the Conchitas

I use a 1 tsp to measure out about 10 g and use my scale to make sure it’s accurate (1). When all of the dough has been weighed I shape each piece of dough into a roll in between my palms or against the pan (up to you how to want to do it) (2) for a total of 48 pieces of dough.

Butter the sheet pans so that the conchitas don’t stick when they bake. Add some butter to the top of each roll as well so that the topping can stick. Flatten out the topping and place it on top of each shaped piece of dough (3). Score the topping of each assembled conchita with bread stamps or a knife(4). Proof the assembled conchitas for about an hour and a half or until doubled in size (5).

***You can get creative with the flavoring of the topping. For the pink ones I added a bit of strawberry powdered flavoring and for the red ones I added a small amount of cocoa powder which also helps to get a deeper brick red color.

How to Create Heart Shaped Conchitas

It may seem difficult but shaping the dough into a heart is very simple. Once the dough has been shaped into a roll, take the scissors and cut a slit right down the middle, a little bit farther than half way (1).

Pinch the other side that doesn’t have the slit and shape it into a v (2). Flatten the heart on the sheet pan (3). Next, flatten out the topping and use a heart shape cookie cutter to cut out a heart shape (4) Place the topping onto the flattened heart (5) If you don’t have a heart shape cookie cutter, place the topping on the dough and cut off the excess. Make the design on the topping just as you would on a regular concha (6).

See a video tutorial on mini heart conchitas in the following video:

Baking the Conchitas

Preheat the oven to 325℉. If you proof the assembled conchitas in the oven make sure you take them out while the oven preheats.

DO NOT over bake your conchitas, they will become hard and dry. Optimal baking time is 13-16 minutes. If baking two trays at a time rotate the trays to ensure even baking. The conchitas are ready when their bottoms are golden brown.

***Some baking trays conduct heat differently than others. Some of my baking pans make my conchita bottoms very golden brown and there’s others that don’t. As long as your conchitas have some golden color as the one pictured above they are ready.

Now that You’ve Learned How to Make the Mini Conchitas

Enjoy a few because you deserve them! I suggest pairing them with your favorite hot drink.

Hide them from your family… kidding! But do make sure they are stored in an airtight container (or a very well sealed ziplock bag) so that their softness lasts longer.

Watch the dough making process here: Mini Conchita Hot Chocolate Bombs Tutorial.

The dough needs to rest 2 hours after its  prepared and the assembled conchas need to rest about 1 hour and a half before baking.  

How to Make Mini Conchitas | Detailed Tutorial

Recipe by dayalatreatsCourse: Dessert, SnacksCuisine: Mexican

Servings

48

Mini Conchitas

Prep time

20

minutes

Baking time

15

minutes

Resting time

Assembly

40

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

These mini conchitas are ADORABLE, soft, packed with flavor, and are the perfect snack for any time of the day!

The concha dough

• 250g Bread Flour

• 63g Granulated Sugar

• 4g Instant Dry Yeast

• 2g Salt

• Dash Ground Cinnamon (a little bit less than 1/4 tsp)

• 58g Butter(a bit softer than room temperature)
  

• 50ml Eggs(room temperature)

• 2g vanilla

• 68g Milk(warm)

• The Topping

• 58g Butter (room temperature)

• 70g AP flour

• 70g Granulated Sugar

• 1/4-1/2 tsp Vanilla

• Powdered Food Coloring

Directions

• Gather all needed materials and weigh out needed ingredients.
• Place all of the dry ingredients and the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Let that incorporate for 2 minutes.
• Add the vanilla and eggs and combine for 2 minutes.
• Warm the milk in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds or until it reaches 120℉-130℉ and gradually add it over the course of 2 minutes.
  
• Knead the dough for 3 minutes. When ready place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover with saran wrap and let it rest for 2 hours or until doubled in size.
• While the dough rests, prepare the topping by placing all of the ingredients in the same bowl where the dough was prepared, switch the dough hook to a paddle attachment.
• Beat ingredients together until they form a play dough like texture.
• Split the topping into 3 equal parts and add food coloring plus any preferred flavorings.
• Weigh out 48 4-5g pieces of topping and chill until the dough is really to be rolled.
• Once the dough is ready, weight out 48 10g pieces.
  
• Grease the baking trays with butter.
• Roll each piece of dough in between your palms until it forms a perfect round. *If wanting to shape them into hearts refer to the section in this post under How to Create a Heart Shaped Conchitau
• Grease the top of each shaped piece of dough, place the flattened topping on top, and gently press down.
• Score the top of each assembled conchita with bread stamps or a knife.
• Let the assemble conchitas rest for an hour and a half or until doubled in size.
  
• Preheat the oven to 325℉.
• Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.
  
• Once cooled down store in an airtight container.

Recipe Video

Notes

• The recipe is in grams because I find it easier to measure out my ingredients this way and it creates consistent recipe results. I will include cup measurements here: For the dough- 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tsp yeast, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 cup butter, 1 large egg, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup milk. For the topping- 1/4 cup butter, about 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 tsp vanilla. Keep in mind that if you use cup measurements you may not get accurate results with the recipe.
• Freeze any remaining topping for up to a month to use later or flatten it out and bake it to use as a topping for ice cream or yogurt. You can bake it on the same sheet pan so it can bake along with the conchitas.