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Colombian almojábanas
Cheese bread rolls
Almojábanas: soft, round Colombian cheese breads of corn meal and curd cheese, eaten with hot chocolate
Few Bogotá breakfasts beat a warm almojábana torn open next to a cup of hot chocolate. Bakeries across Cundinamarca and Boyacá, and especially roadside stops near Chía and Sopó, bake these pale, puffy rolls from fresh cuajada and fine corn meal, so they are springy, moist and salty-sweet inside with a thin, lightly browned crust. They are gluten free by nature. Cuajada is curd set with rennet, usually animal-derived; use vegetarian curd or ricotta drained very well. Too much corn meal is the mistake most people make: the almojábanas come out dry and heavy. The dough should feel soft and slightly tacky. Chef's tip: they are best within an hour of baking; reheat leftovers briefly in a hot oven, never the microwave, which makes them rubbery.
- Total time
- 45 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 12
Ingredients
- 1 ⅛ lb cuajadafresh curd cheese, squeezed dry (or ricotta, drained overnight); traditionally made with animal rennet; use a vegetarian (microbial-rennet) cheese
- 3 ½ oz queso campesinoor mild feta-style cheese, finely grated; vegetarian rennet
- 5 oz precooked white corn mealmasarepa
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp saltless if the cheese is salty
- 1 oz buttersoft
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp whole milkas needed
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 400°F and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Step 2: Crumble 1 ⅛ lb cuajada and 3 ½ oz queso campesino into a bowl and knead with your hand until smooth and creamy, with no lumps.
3 minStep 3: Add 5 oz precooked white corn meal, 1 tbsp sugar, ½ tsp salt, 1 oz butter and 1 egg and knead into a soft dough. Add 3 tbsp whole milk a spoonful at a time until it feels smooth and slightly tacky but not sticky.
3 minStep 4: Rest the dough for 5 minutes so the corn meal can hydrate, then divide into 12 balls of about 65 g.
5 minStep 5: Roll each ball smooth between your palms, flatten slightly and set on the tray with space between them.
Step 6: Bake until puffed and pale gold on top, with golden bases.
22 minStep 7: Rest for 5 minutes and serve warm.
5 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 15 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does colombian almojábanas take?
- About 45 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 12 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
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