Mexican Day of the Dead Bread Recipe

5 from 2 votes

We put a twist on this Bread of the Dead recipe for Dia de los Muertos and added cranberries to make a cranberry bread. If you want to make the traditional pan de muerto, leave out the cranberries.

Prep Time20

Cook Time45

Resting Time2

Total Time3 5

Course: Breads

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings:

Calories: 205kcal

Author: LittleCooksReadingBooks.com

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons anise seeds
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs beaten
2 teaspoons fresh orange zest
1 cup fresh, uncooked cranberries (optional)* coarsely chopped

FOR GLAZE

1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tablespoon fresh orange zest
2 Tablespoons white sugar for glaze

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and the butter until the butter melts completely. Remove from heat and add warm water. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of flour, yeast, salt, anise seeds, and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture. Add eggs and orange zest and beat until well combined. Stir in 1/2 cup of flour and continue adding more flour until the dough is soft. Add chopped cranberries (optional) and stir completely.
Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and stretchy when pulled.
Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size (about 1 to 2 hours)
Punch the dough down and pinch off a small portion. Shape the remaining dough into a large round loaf. With the dough you pinched off, make a ball on the top and then 4 long pieces coming off of each side of the ball (like a cross that goes across the top of the loaf - see picture). Place dough onto a baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until it has almost doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place bread on baking sheet and bake bread for 35 to 45 minutes, until lightly golden on top. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
FOR GLAZE: In a small saucepan combine 1/4 cup sugar, orange juice, and orange zest. Over medium heat, bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Brush over top of bread while still warm. Sprinkle glazed bread with white sugar.

Notes

Traditional Pan de Muerto calls for 2 teaspoons anise seed. We didn’t have any, so we substituted poppy seeds.

*We also added chopped, fresh (uncooked) cranberries, which is not traditional but we loved it. We will definitely make it with poppy seeds and cranberries again!

Nutrition