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    Home » Yeast Bread » Cuban Bread

    How to make Cuban Bread without Lard

    Published: Oct 10, 2020 by Pavani · 11 Comments

    202 shares
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    This homemade Cuban bread recipe is easy to make and is a perfect accompaniment for Cuban breakfast with cafe con leche. Bread has a crusty-chewy crust with a beautiful light crumb inside.

    Stack of Cuban bread

    Cuban bread aka Pan Cubano is a simple white bread that is a staple in Cuban-American cuisine. Traditionally it is about 3-feet long, slightly flat and wide. It is the bread of choice to make authentic Cuban sandwich.

    I can easily find pan Cubano in grocery stores. But the drawback for me is that it has lard aka pig fat added in it. Apparently it adds a slight meaty taste that is characteristic to this bread.

    So, instead of buying I bake it right at home. I used King Arthur flour Cuban bread recipe. But adapted it to make it vegetarian. I substitute the lard with butter and add whole wheat flour for some extra fiber.

    Also instead of making into one long baguette, I make them into smaller rolls. These Cuban rolls are perfect to make Cuban Tostada, hoagie sandwiches or these cheese pizza stuffed sandwiches.

    Wooden board topped with halved roll

    Ingredients

    This easy Cuban bread recipe needs basic pantry ingredients.

    • All purpose flour - I use 50:50 ratio of regular white flour with white whole wheat flour.
    • Instant yeast
    • Sugar
    • Salt
    • Butter - I use unsalted butter but salted would work too. Use vegetable shortening to make the rolls vegan.
    Ingredients needed - details in the recipe card

    Instructions

    Combine all the ingredients for the bread in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix and knead until a smooth, supple dough forms; about 8~10 minutes by hand or 6~8 minutes on the stand mixer.

    Side by side collage showing the addition of butter and water to dry ingredients

    Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let rise for 1 hour or until the dough is puffy but not necessarily doubled in volume.

    Collage showing the kneaded dough

    Gently fold the dough upon itself and turn it upside down after 30 minutes; this turn helps in eliminating some of the carbon dioxide and redistributing the yeasts's food, both important for optimum yeast growth.

    Side by side photos of dough - before and after proofing

    Divide the dough into 6 pieces and shape each one into a log. Cover and let the logs rest for 15 minutes. Then shape each piece into a 8" long log that is tapered on both sides (this shape has a fancy name, batard -- say that with a French accent 🙂

    Forming the dough into small rolls

    Place the loaves on a parchment lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.

    Preheat the oven to 375°F. Brush or spray the loaves with water and using a sharp knife slash a long slit lengthwise down the middle of each loaf.

    Cuban rolls Before and after baking

    Bake the bread for 30 minutes or until they are golden brown. Remove onto a cooling rack.

    Hand holding split bread

    Tips

    • Use 4 cups of all purpose flour if you don't want to add wheat flour.
    • Use vegetable shortening instead of butter, to make this recipe vegan.
    • Leftover rolls can be stored well wrapped at room temperature for 2 days. For longer storage, freeze them wrapped in plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

    More bread recipes to try

    • Spinach Sandwich rolls
    • Vegan seeded challah bread
    • Cinnamon sugar pull apart bread
    • Whole wheat sweet rolls with mango filling
    • Long sandwich rolls
    • Zwieback bread
    • 100% Whole wheat bread
    Cuban Bread

    Homemade Cuban Bread

    Easy recipe to make Cuban bread right at home. It is a perfect accompaniment for Cuban breakfast with cafe con leche. Bread has a crusty-chewy crust with a beautiful light crumb inside.
    Author: Pavani
    Print Pin Rate
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Prep Time: 20 mins
    Cook Time: 30 mins
    Rising Time: 2 hrs 15 mins
    Total Time: 3 hrs 5 mins
    Course: breads
    Cuisine: cuban
    Servings: 6 loaves

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups All purpose flour
    • 2 cups Whole wheat flour
    • 2¼ teaspoons Instant Yeast
    • 2 teaspoons Sugar
    • 4 tablespoons Butter
    • 1¼ cups Water

    Instructions

    • Combine all the ingredients for the bread in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix and knead until a smooth, supple dough forms; about 8~10 minutes by hand or 6~8 minutes on the stand mixer.
    • Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let rise for 1 hour or until the dough is puffy but not necessarily doubled in volume.
    • Gently fold the dough upon itself and turn it upside down after 30 minutes; this turn helps in eliminating some of the carbon dioxide and redistributing the yeasts's food, both important for optimum yeast growth.
    • Divide the dough into 6 pieces and shape each one into a log. Cover and let the logs rest for 15 minutes. Then shape each piece into a 8" long log that is tapered on both sides.
    • Place the loaves on a parchment lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.
    • Preheat the oven to 375°F. Brush or spray the loaves with water and using a sharp knife slash a long slit lengthwise down the middle of each loaf.
    • Bake the bread for 30 minutes or until they are golden brown. Remove onto a cooling rack.

    Notes

    • Use 4 cups of all purpose flour if you don't want to add wheat flour.
    • Use vegetable shortening instead of butter, to make this recipe vegan.
    • Leftover rolls can be stored well wrapped at room temperature for 2 days. For longer storage, freeze them wrapped in plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 136kcal
    Tried this recipe?Mention @cooks_hideout or tag #cookshideout!

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    202 shares
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Saswati

      September 23, 2015 at 10:09 am

      The Cuban bread looks beautiful ....have to take part in those marathons to get the feel of blogging...am so excited.

      Reply
    2. Usha Rao

      September 23, 2015 at 4:05 pm

      Haha, that is true, we never know what goes into the commercial products we buy in store.

      Reply
    3. Srivalli

      September 24, 2015 at 5:35 am

      Wow the way you dish out breads amazes me Pavani..this recipe looks doable to me, will bookmark for sure!

      Reply
    4. vaishali sabnani

      September 24, 2015 at 10:40 am

      The bread looks light and spongy..I feel like picking it right from the screen..too good.

      Reply
    5. Srividhya Gopalakrishnan

      September 25, 2015 at 7:36 pm

      OMG. you did everything from scratch???

      Reply
    6. Sapana Behl

      September 25, 2015 at 8:16 pm

      The cuban bread looks so tempting.Bookmarked.

      Reply
    7. Nivedhanams Sowmya

      September 27, 2015 at 5:24 pm

      The Cuban bread is looking rustic and tempting

      Reply
    8. Kalyani

      September 29, 2015 at 4:31 am

      very well done !!

      Reply
    9. Sandhiya

      September 29, 2015 at 4:56 am

      Wow..The bread looks so rustic and it's really tempting to bake some..

      Reply
    10. The Pumpkin Farm

      September 29, 2015 at 11:12 am

      sounds like a simple recipe..will try especially to make the tostadas

      Reply
    11. Vincent Penoso

      March 20, 2016 at 10:54 am

      whole wheat instead of all purpose?......butter instead of lard-sorry it is not Cuban bread or even close. nice recipe though.

      Reply

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    202 shares