Marraquetas, Chilean Bread or Pan Francés (French rolls) or Pan Batido (whipped bread) is the most classic Chilean bread.
Marraquetas are an everyday bread, not shared with guests but always present on the family table for breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner.
This recipe is adapted from a recipe from Peter Reinhart: Baguettes published in his book “Crust and Crumb.” You need to start the day before, but the result is fantastic and authentic to the Chilean flavors.
Recipe originally published in March 2016.
You may also like the recipe: Pan amasado (Chilean Country bread).
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Marraquetas, Chilean Bread
A fantastic yeasted bread.
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
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Scale
- 3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 2 2/3 cup cold water
- 1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- vegetable oil spray
Instructions
- Combine flour, salt, brown sugar, and yeast in the mixer, bread machine, or mixer bowl. Add water and mix until it forms a ball. Dump onto a floured counter and knead vigorously for 10 minutes. Place in a clean bowl, drizzle with vegetable oil, cover the bowl, and let rise for 30 minutes. Knead gently into a ball and rest 90 minutes or more in the bowl until doubled in size.
- Divide the dough into six equal portions and make balls with them. Sprinkle lightly with vegetable oil spray, put them in a large Ziploc bag, and let stand 30 minutes.
- Prepare two baking sheets, cover with parchment paper, spray with vegetable oil, and coat with semolina or cornmeal.
- To shape the Marraquetas: Make a ball and stretch gently by hand, trying to make an oblong shape. Make a cross with a wooden or metal rod (the handle of wooden spoon works, for example). Then again, sprayed with vegetable oil spray and placed in prepared sheet, put them in the plastic bag and let them grow for 15 minutes. Refrigerate overnight.
- The day after taking from the refrigerator must have grown between 50-75% of its original size, let it stand 1 hour at room temperature. Remove from the bag 15 minutes before placing them in the oven.
- Preheat oven to 475F or 245C with a pizza stone inside. Put an empty pie pan on the oven floor. Put 1 cup of hot water into the pie pan. Put the Marraquetas in the oven over the stone, leaving the parchment paper. Sprinkle the loaves of bread and the oven walls with water slightly. Repeat 2 minutes later. And then one minute later. Reduce oven temperature to 450F o230C.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan. Continue baking for 10 minutes or until well browned. Turn off the oven and leave in for 5-10 minutes, until they look dark and seem to not stand another minute in the oven.
- Remove and let stand on a rack for at least 30 minutes. Eat!
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Chilean
Keywords: marraquetas, chilean bread
Hi Pilar,
I made your recipe but I did something wrong… the bread came out dense and hard. Do you know what I could have done wrong? I don’t have a stand mixer, so I did it by hand. I look forward to hearing from you!
Hi Kathryn,
I’m sorry to hear that, my first thought is either the yeast got killed (too hot water), or the rising was not as expected, and need it (kitchen too cold). This bread is as difficult as a baguette, and all the details are important.
Also is very difficult to do the dough right by hand.
I spent two years in Chile and I loved the bread there. Especially marraqueta. I searched the recipe and found this one. I was all excited to make it and I looked at the prep time and total time and it said two hours and I thought sweet I can do this in time for dinner. Then later in the recipe it says to leave refrigerated overnight. I love the recipe and the bread but maybe make that quick “FYI” to readers that this recipe takes way longer than two hours. If you add up the times in the recipe minus the overnight part it is 4 1/4 hours of prep and cook. Thanks for the recipe. And the book!
★★★★★
Marraquetas do take a long time, like all yeasted loaves of bread. Total time, in general, is active time making the bread and cooking, which doesn’t account for downtime in recipes. I will put a note at the start. Thanks.
He tratado encontrar un receta para Marraquetas por 20 anos. Yo Vive en Chile hace 20 anos y extrano los sabores de Chile. Yo Compre su libro inmediatamente. Gracias para esto tesoro.
★★★★★
Thanks Nik for buying the book and welcome to the blog!
Hello, I have a few questions. Do you keep the bread on the baking sheets with the parchment paper on top of the stone or you do keep them on the parchment paper but remove the baking sheets and then place them on the stone? How do you keep the bag from sticking to the bread overnight in the refrigerator? While they are in the refrigerator overnight they rise ?
The baking sheet does NOT go into the oven. The parchment paper can go, and it’s helpful to place them there.
Lift the bag with something, the idea is to form a tent.
They rise very slowly in the fridge.