Weekend Baking Project: Red Masa Conchas

Directions

1. Bloom the yeast: Whisk the active dry yeast, 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar and the warmed milk in a small bowl. Once the yeast is foamy, you can add it to the dry ingredients. 

2. Add the dry ingredients, including the remaining granulated sugar, directly into your stand mixer bowl and whisk; attach bowl to your mixer. Pour in the bloomed yeast; using the dough hook attachment, mix on low. Once the yeast is mostly incorporated, add the eggs one at a time. At this point the dough will not exactly be homogenized but will be more of a shaggy flour mixture with some loose flour at the bottom of the bowl — don’t worry; once the butter is added it will come together. 

3. Turn mixer off while you prepare the butter: slice butter into thin pieces for easy incorporation into the dough. Set mixer on medium speed now and add the butter, a few pieces at a time. Initially, the dough will push up the side of the bowl while mixing, but as you add more butter it will sort itself out. After the last of the butter has been added, drop in the orange zest. Let the dough mix on medium speed for a good 7-10 minutes, or until the dough starts to make a slapping sound against the sides of the bowl. 

4. After 7-10 minutes, transfer dough to an un-floured work surface and knead by hand just an additional 2 minutes or so. Spray stand mixer bowl with a bit of cooking spray, add the kneaded dough back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Cover with a clean kitchen towel to help create a warm environment for the dough to rise in. Proof concha dough for 2 hours, or until doubled in size. 

5. While the concha dough proofs, make the cookie topping: In a mixing bowl, add all of the ingredients for the topping. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, cut the shortening or softened butter into the dry ingredients. Knead and gather the dough with your hands to fully incorporate the ingredients until you have a mixture that feels like Play-Doh. Wrap cookie topping with plastic and set aside. 

6. After about 2 hours, the concha dough should be ready. Line two half sheet baking sheets with parchment paper. Make an egg wash by mixing one egg yolk and a splash of water; set aside. Divide the dough into 15 pieces that weigh about 65 grams each. Cover all but one dough piece with a clean kitchen towel. Roll the dough piece on your un-floured work surface to create tension and shape the dough into a ball. Place on the prepared baking sheet and continue with the remaining dough pieces, spacing dough balls about 2 inches apart. 

7. Once all the dough pieces have been shaped into balls, flatten each with the palm of your hand. Brush the tops of each dough ball with the egg wash. 

8. Divide the cookie topping into 15 pieces that weigh about 25-30 grams each. (Any remaining cookie topping can be rolled and cut out into individual cookies, if desired. Bake at 350F for 9-11 minutes, depending on thickness.) Using a tortilla press and a piece of plastic wrap (a pie plate or small but heavy skillet will also work), flatten the topping piece, just like you would when making corn tortillas. Lay the flattened cookie topping on the surface of one of the concha balls now, pressing it down firmly. Repeat with the remaining topping pieces. 

9. Using either a concha cutter or a small paring knife, score the conchas, being mindful to cut through the cookie topping and not into the concha dough itself. Once all conchas have been scored, cover both baking sheets with clean kitchen towels and let rise one final time, about 1 hour to 90 minutes, or until the conchas are noticeably puffy and have risen to about double the size they were before. The scores on the cookie topping will have likely expanded and cracked a bit in places; this is fine and to be expected. Any cracks give each concha their own distinct personality. 

10. After about 1 hour into the final rise time, heat your oven to 350F. Once the conchas are done with their final proof, bake for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven. You are looking for the conchas to have risen and expanded even more while baking, and for their undersides to be golden brown. Any dough that’s been exposed from cracks in the cookie topping should have baked to a nice, warm brown.  

11. Let conchas cool on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. The ultimate concha experience is to eat them while warm, dipping them into hot coffee or champurrado, but they can be stored in an airtight container on your kitchen counter for up to three days.