Papo Secos ~ Portuguese Rolls

I grew up with these crusty rolls. They were delivered daily before breakfast along with one giant version, our daily bread. Warm. Crusty. This was our bakery white bread. My mom baked everything else but these.

When my daughter started eating table food (pre-teeth and before words), she’d point to the papo secos and say “uhm…uhm…” Then, when she could talk, she’d call them pãozinho, the Portuguese word for “little bread,” and shake all over with excitement.

She still calls them pãozinho and up until last month, we only had them for very special treats from a Portuguese bakery so that we could look forward to the ones baked in the Azores during our yearly visits. Those were so special. They don’t home deliver anymore but you can get them from the bakery still warm almost any time of day.

With the physical isolation craze of baking and numerous social network posts sporting papo secos, plus the ugly chance we may not be able to visit the Azores this year, I also jumped on the homemade papo secos bandwagon. My first attempt was quite successful, but I found the shaping to be somewhat challenging and the crust to be short-lived. When I read this recipe, I just knew that I could get the shaping right.

Although I want to believe it was the wording in the recipe that provided the “click” in my understanding, it’s possible that I had already been somewhat “primed” from previous recipes. This recipe also only had a crusty exterior for about 60 minutes then softened. Although not crispy, the crust was chewy crusty when compared to the interior which was light yet dense with very even crumb. This might have been from using all purpose flour since I neither had access to bread flour or vital wheat gluten to convert my AP flour to bread flour. However, I must say that the combination of this bun with the bifana did take me back to my years when I lived in the Azores and the light yet slightly dense interior was perfect for sopping up the bifana juices! Yum!  Nevertheless, this recipe creates a roll that I’m pleased to call pãozinho! 

This is a time-consuming recipe but it isn’t difficult at all and the results are worth every minute.

Bread recipes can be daunting and working with dough can be challenging, but this dough was a joy. It came together and kneaded nicely in the mixer. By the time the kneading was done (I did 15 minutes), the mixing bowl was clean. It rose right on schedule (popping the bowl in the oven with the light on is the way to go) and was easy to work with when forming the balls and then the rolls. Instead of just rolling the dough to form balls, which didn’t seem to “tighten the ball,” as the recipe says, I used my thumb to press it in as I rolled it and that led to nicely shaped and tight dough balls. The forming instructions looked complicated at first glance but made sense when I was working with an actual dough ball.

The dough was quite airy and while I wouldn’t call the rolls dense, they weren’t as light on the inside as I expected. But they had a really nice crumb and, yes, a crusty exterior. As the recipe said, the crust got crisper after letting the rolls sit out for a few hours. But I started these in the morning and had one for lunch so I didn’t wait for that! They really did taste just like the Portuguese rolls we get from the grocery store.

Who doesn’t love a good homemade roll? The dough was so quick and easy to bring together. My Kitchenaid literally did all the work.

The dough was slightly sticky, smooth, and elastic and yes, it thwacks the sides of the bowl clean! Rising times were spot on. When it came time to shape the rolls, I reread the directions a few times and it made sense while I was doing it. Shaping took no time at all. The rolls were done and had nice color in 18 minutes—crusty outside and light and fluffy inside. However, once they cooled, the outer crust was no longer crunchy. I am sure popping them in a hot oven will re-crisp them perfectly.

Just remember to turn the oven down once you add the water for steam. I forgot on my second batch until they were mostly done, but honestly, they were a touch darker, but still moist and tender inside.

I was really surprised at how well these turned out for me. Either this is the ultimate bread recipe or I’m just finally getting good at yeasted breads. No matter which, these are delicious and pretty quick to make. And mine even looked (mostly) like the photograph! These baked up with a beautiful golden crust and an incredibly fluffy interior.

My measurements yielded 12 rolls, meaning that there were 2 “free agents” for me to slather with butter and eat immediately. They do develop a much nicer crusty finish after sitting out for a while, but I dare you to wait that long before eating just one. Or, in my greedy case, two. The biggest problem I’ve found with bread rolls is that they aren’t sturdy enough for filling with anything substantial. These, however, hold up so well because of the outside crust that I filled them with pork bifanas and they didn’t fall apart or get soggy at all.

I found all the measurements and timing accurate. My dough was definitely doubled after 1 1/2 hours, both times. As the author suggests, I often put my dough in the oven with the light on and it works like a charm. Instead of using a towel to hold the formed rolls, I used my metal baguette tray and it held all 12 perfectly. I cooked 6 at a time, using my cast iron sheet pan.

Absolutely lovely! These buns are soft and tasty. We made pulled pork sandwiches and these were able to hold all the wonderful juices and not fall apart. I’m convinced that taking the time to make your own bread is worth the effort! These are far better than any bread I’ve ever purchased at a Portuguese bakery. I may have to double the recipe next time!

I found 35 revolutions to be a bit much. I gave it about 10. I placed my dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment and dusted with flour. I hate washing kitchen towels covered in flour! I covered them with plastic wrap. Later, when I returned my buns back to the dusted parchment-lined baking sheet and didn’t bother to “prop them up,”  they held their shape just fine.

I don’t have a baking stone. I used the same baking sheet lined with parchment that my buns had been proofing on to bake with. I poured water into the metal tray, popped the baking sheet in the oven, and quickly closed the door. Yes, the buns were on a “cold” baking sheet, but they didn’t seem to suffer! Plus, I didn’t have to wrestle with a baking peel and try to get the buns onto a stone without losing them to the back of my oven. Mine took 30 to 35mins to bake to golden brown, so they took a bit longer because they weren’t on a hot stone, but I would bake them this way again and recommend my method which was far easier than what was written.

The exterior was soft (crusty isn’t really an appropriate name for these buns) with some nice big air bubbles. The inside was light and airy but the crumb was dense (it didn’t have big holes).

The flavor of these were outstanding and I will absolutely make them again.

These rolls were definitely soft and delicious. They had a chew to them. They came out delicious. The directions for shaping were easy to follow. I saw David’s rolls on his Instagram and his look like mine (which was a relief for me!) I toasted them up the next day for dinner and man oh man were they scrumptious!!! They also freeze well too.