Ensaymada is a Filipino sweet pastry. This is said to be a variation of the Ensaimades, a similar bread that uses pork lard as an ingredient that originated in Majorca (the largest island of Spain).
In the Philippines, this pastry is available in any neighborhood bakery and the well know bakeshop chains as well. This is one of my favorite mid-afternoon snack and I usually have it with brewed coffee.

Try this yummy Ensaymada recipe.
Ingredients:
5 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup butter, melted
¾ cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
3 pieces raw eggs
1 pouch rapid rise yeast (about 2 ¼ tsp)
1 cup fresh milk, warm
Watch the cooking video:
Cooking procedure:
1. Combine warm milk, yeast, and ½ cup sugar and stir until yeast and sugar dissolves in milk. Set aside to let yeast activate (approximately 10 minutes)
2. In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients starting from the flour, sugar, and salt then mix thoroughly.
3. Add the eggs, 1/2 cup butter, and activated yeast mixture (these are the ingredients that we combined in number 1) to the mixed dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are evenly distributed and a dough is formed.
4. Knead the dough until texture becomes fine.
5. Put the dough back on the mixing bowl and cover the top with cloth. Allow the dough to rise for 2 hours.
6. Put the dough on a flat surface and flatten. Punch the dough lightly to release the air inside.
7. Using a dough slicer, divide the dough into four pieces.
8. Roll each piece until shape becomes cylindrical.
9. Cut the cylindrical dough into individual serving pieces (1 serving piece should weigh at least 80 grams).
10. Put the sliced individual serving piece in a flat surface and flatten using a rolling pin.
11. Combine ¼ cup melted butter with ¼ cup white sugar. Using a brush, paint the mixture on the flattened dough. Make sure to paint only the center part of the flat dough.
12. Sprinkle some cheese over the painted area then seal the dough by folding opposite directions and rolling it until a long cylindrical shape is formed (about 14 inches in length).
13. Start forming the spiral Ensaymada shape by crossing the two opposite ends of the dough. The first end should be placed under dough while the other end should be inserted in the middle. (see video for better comprehension)
14. Place the dough in a baking tray with wax paper and cover with cloth. Set aside to rise for another 45 minutes
15. Pre-heat the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Remove cloth on top of the tray and bake the dough for 15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
16. Remove the baked Ensaymada from the oven. Using the remaining melted butter and sugar mixture, paint the top of the baked ensaymada and sprinkle additional cheese.
17. Serve hot. Share and Enjoy!
Get a FREE copy of the Panlasang Pinoy eCookbook Volume 1 



Hi po sa Panlasang Pinoy, tinatry ko pong gawin itong ensaymada kaya lang same as Alma it was too sticky, it stick on my fingers so I add more flour little by little then it just doing fine. My other problem is my yeast mixture did not rise. I really wonder what happened. I did follow the ingredients measurement. I also wonder on your cooking procedure # 1, the 1/2 cup sugar, is it really 1/2 cup of sugar to put on that mixture #1? I watched your video pero nilagay mo kasi kaunti lang.
Maraming maraming salamat po sa inyong mga recipe. Nakatulong po sa akin ng sobrang sobra. God bless!
Hi kuya salamat po talaga sa recipe nyo nakakatulong kayo.itong ensaymada po naka dalawang beses na po akong nakabake yong pangalawang beses nilagyan ko po nang raisens at talagang masarap ang kinalabasan kuya,suggest kasi nang asawa ko na lagyan ko nang raisen…thanks poo ulit
hi kuya,, just wanna ask if i could use”quick rise yeast instead of rapid rise? what’s the difference ba by the way? and how warm would be the warm milk in this recipe? kc i read all the reviews and u said na dapat di too hot ung milk kasi i’ll leads for live orgnsm to die… hoping for your kind reply, this will be my first ensaymada to be baked.. thanks again…
Hi Kuya. Snubukan ko pong gawin itong ensaymada kaya lang po matigas po yung bread at hindi po sya kagaya ng ini-expect kong soft & sweet na klase. Nasunod ko nmn po ang measurements at procedures. Kaya lng noong pinoporma ko na para syang rubbery at di ko na ma seal ang gilid kaya meron lumalabas na cheese. Ano po kaya ang mali doon? Ang ganda din nmn ng bula ng yeast. God bless po.
Hi Panlasang Pinoy!Great and simple procedure to follow. I’ve used the breadmachine though coz’ I’m not good in kneading. I have done it for the first time and it turned out well. It smelled and really taste yummy. I Will do some more and share it with my friends. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Hi Ruth,
If you use the bread machine, how did you put in order? Is it the same as the order was the ingredients listed?
Looking forward to hear from you. Thanks.
hi there. i would just like to ask RE the difference between the RAPID RISE yeast that you used in your ensaymada recipe and the INSTANT dry yeast..i am planning to do the ensaymada its just that whats available in my location is just instant yeast. thanks much and i hope you can help me with this. cheers.
hi rowe,
i used instant dried yeast wala kasing rapid rise sa min pero the result was just the same…r u from uk?
i tried this and only did half as it was a bit too much for me. the only modification i did was instead of plain flour, i mixed strong bread flour and plain flour and im glad i did it as the bread was very soft and melt in your mouth…it was a defo hit at home, well done kuya and thanks for sharing the recipe ^_^
hi po pwede bang i upload pano lutuin ang itlog ng pugo? yung binalutan sa orange flour. saka paggawa ng sauce (yung brown sauce) favorite ko kasi yun. sobrang miss ko na kc yun saka love din
ng mga anak ko.
@Natureloverish: It did happened to my ensaymada too because I melted the butter. Next time do not melt the butter so that it will not stick to your fingers. Hope this helps.
@Panlasangpinoy: Thanks a lot for the recipes that you’ve shared with us. I learned a lot of recipes because of what you’ve share. Thanks again!
Hi Red it happened to mine too, sticky rin xa. gnun na rin pala ggwin ko hind ko na xa imemelt.. thank u red.
nuon naluluto na ako ng ensaymada pero nakalimutan ko na yung measurements matagal na kasi. ngayun naglaruonuli ako
maraming maraming salamat po sa panlasang pinoy! napakarami ko pong natutunan sa inyo! before i dont know how to cook..pero nung na search ko po itong site na ito..ang dami ko na pong nalalaman na ibat ibang luto..and my husband is really happy too!he love philippines food..maraming salamat po sa panlasang pinoy napakarami nyo pong natutulungan!
Sir, good am, posible po b n pag gumawa ako ng Ensaymada haluan ko ng bread flour? Ano ang magiging texture nun pag ginawa ko yun? at kung puede siya samahan ng Bread Flour sino ang dpat n mas marami yun Bread or yun APF?
thanks.
hello chef,
hi how are u? gusto ko lang ishare i am so sad because i tried to make ensaymada but i failed twice, i saw ur video and followed all the instructions,kaso lang po when i try it i thought magging ok na ang ensaymada ko, but hindi pala i failed to activate the yeast, i thought it was activated yun pala hindi maxado kc hndi maxadong bumula as in konting bula lang i thought ok na un, haaay i wasted my ingredients po twice, buti nalang my husband is very supportive,. Im not blaming u guys im just sharing what i did. Ill make sure next time na maaactivate na nang mabuti ung yeast ko. i have a question would it be possible na kaya hndi na activate ang yeast ko kc mejo mlaki and wide ung bowl na ginamit ko, and i didnt measured it.? cguro po next time i will use smaller bowl para sa milk and yeast ko.
haaay goodluck nalang po sakin 3days in a row na akong gumgwa ng ensaymada hehe sana tomorrow OK na. hehe thanks PANLASANG PINOY u guys are so helpful sa mga recipe’s..
Thanks and more power to ya’ll…
I’ll gonna try this recipe for my baking class
hej.. Im making ensaymada now.. i hope it work. even its not same yeast as you use! Thanks alot for the recipes. We love it so much.. Its help alot since im so far from home. Godbless!
wla pa po bang recipe ng spanish bread???
hi,ask ko lng available ba sa pilipinas ung Fleischhmann’s rapideyeast na ginagamit nyo?pwede bang gawin na ung dough on the night put in tne fridge, then bake it the next morning.i wannt to give a try for pandesal and ensaymada.thanks and God speed!!!
Thanks niknok. We’ll post that soon.
hi there norway. Baking powder has a different property compared to yeast. Mag iiba ang texture kapag yeast ang gamitin mo. Di rin aalsa ang dough.
i just would like to help miss norway..you can find the yeast in grocery store sa flour section meron don..iba nga lang ang spelling..d2 sa sweden jäst ang spelling
Hi Alma, I’m not sure kung bakit nagkaganon despite na dinagdagan mo na ng 1 1/2 cups of flour yung 5 cups na existing (this totals to 6 1/2 cups) with just 1 1/2 cups of liquid. Kapag ganito yung mixture dapat hindi na sticky.
Were you able to mix the ingredients well? Kapag di kasi mixed masyado, pwedeng yung tuyong flour nasa inner part at di nakaka sipsip ng water kaya malagkit sa labas. We need to mix everything well (you could use a bread maker or any machine na may dough hook para masigurado nating mixed mabuti).
Napa-alsa mo ba yung yeast mabuti (dapat may bula na parang sa beer)? Medyo nagalala lang ako doon sa sinabi mong sikisk yung dough at parang nag bounce back yung rolling pin, ibig sabihin noon ay nasobrahan ng flour at walang moisture sa loob kaya di sumusunod yung dough sa movement ng rolling pin.
just wanted to comment on alma’s query. sometimes you do need to add some more flour, depending on the weather. also, making dough using volume measurements for flour instead of by weight (cups vs. grams) can be trickier, since flour (like brown sugar) can be packed into a cup. it also sounds as if the flour might have been kneaded a bit too much since it was stiff.
Thank you po sa reply Kuya!! Gagawin ko po ulit ng maingat na maingat ang recipe na ito. Siguro po ay yung yeast, may bula naman pero hindi masyado na kagaya ng beer. Susundin ko po lahat ng guidelines nyo. Thank you po!
joy, dapat bulang bula ang yeast pero don’t make the milk too hot dahil may tendency na mamatay ang yeast kapag nilagay mo ito sa hot milk (since living organism ito) and as a result hindi makaka produce ng CO2 and yeast na kailangan natin para umalsa ang dough. In relation to the wet mixture, you may try adding a little flour.
Thanks for your reply kuya,i tried the ensaymada 2 or 3 times already, it realy taste delicious but it’s not fluffy like yours and it turned hard when it cooling down.How can i make fluffy? Is it different the electric oven to gas oven? And also the weather where i lived is cooled (not winter cool only like Baguio weather).Also, the pandesal it isn’t worked well it turned hard after cooling down too.Please reply me kuya.Thanks again and God bless you always.