Bolillos

Method

1. knead12 min
   everything to a smooth, supple dough
   flour + warm water + yeast + sugar + salt + lard worked until it passes the bread chapter's windowpane stretch — leaner than the donut dough, richer than the baguette; the little lard is the Mexican signature, softening the crumb the way the French loaf refuses to
2. proof75 min
   covered, doubled
   the bulk rise — then divided into six, and each piece flattened, rolled tight, and the ends pinched and rolled to POINTS: the torpedo with tapered tips is the bolillo's silhouette, and the tight roll is what gives the crumb its swirl
3. proof40 min
   shaped rolls, seam down, until puffy
   the second rise on the pan — then one confident lengthwise slash down each roll's spine, deep and angled, the cut that opens into the bolillo's signature ridge
4. bake22 min
   425°F WITH STEAM — a pan of hot water on the floor of the oven
   the steam pan is the crust: moisture delays the surface's set so the rolls spring fully, then bakes off and leaves the thin crackling shell that shatters under thumbs — the same physics as the baguette entry, at torta scale; baked to deep gold and hollow-tapping
5. rest20 min
   on a rack, crackling audibly as they cool
   the cooling crackle is the quality check the panadería trusts — then the torta test: split lengthwise, it should crackle then yield without shattering into shards; halved and griddled with butter tomorrow, it is molletes' foundation, the second life every bolillo plans for