You don’t have to choose between biscuits or dinner rolls when you make our Maque-Style Mexican Bisquetes. While bisquetes are common in Mexico, our recipe was inspired by a particularly memorable version from Maque Bakery. Tall, fluffy, buttery and with a hint of sweetness, this recipe pairs well alongside a main dish or can be eaten plain, without accompaniments.

Are both yeast and baking powder necessary?

One of the unusual things about these rolls is that they use two different leavening agents. Unlike American biscuits, which are primarily baking powder-raised, or dinner rolls which are yeast-raised, these use both. In our development tests, we found that using baking powder alone gave us expansion and spread, but not quite the right texture in the crumb. In our yeast-only tests, the crumb’s texture was tighter, but the bun didn’t have enough lift. Combining the two was the perfect solution to achieving the right height, texture and flavor.

One of the unusual things about these rolls is the use of two different leavening agents. Unlike American biscuits, which are primarily baking powder-raised, or dinner rolls which are yeast-raised, these use both. In our development tests, we found that using baking powder alone led to expansion and spread but not quite the right texture in the crumb. In our yeast-only tests, the crumb’s texture was tighter but the bun didn’t have enough lift. Combining the two was the perfect solution to achieving the right height, texture and flavor.

Don’t be afraid of bread flour

Bread flour has a higher gluten content than all-purpose or pastry flour, and bakes up into a chewier product. While using it for these tender buns might seem like a misstep, it actually works out well.

There are a couple main gluten shorteners in this recipe—eggs and butter. Those ingredients keep the chewiness in check. The fat in the butter and egg yolks coats and seals off some of the gluten proteins, preventing them from interacting with water and keeping the protein strands short. To do this, we use a method called “reverse creaming.” The butter is worked directly into the flour and other dry ingredients, unlike in a cookie or brioche recipe where the butter meets the flour much later. The reverse creaming method and high fat content in the recipe keep gluten development low.

It might seem like we’re battling gluten at every step, but the higher gluten levels in the flour allowed us to strike a balance between structure and tenderness by pairing bread flour with these shorteners.

How to shape and score the dough

Scooping sticky dough out onto a well-floured counter can be challenging. You want to get as much of the dough out of the bowl as possible, which is certainly easier after the dough has chilled in the fridge, but some of it will stick. If you have a lot of dough residue stuck to the sides, I recommend using a hard plastic or silicone bowl scraper. These flat, slightly curved tools are cheap and indispensable if you make a lot of yeasted breads. If you don’t have one at just this moment, you can use a silicone or rubber spatula.

To get the traditional bisquete shape, use a circular biscuit cutter to cut them out. Gather any remaining dough scraps to make more biscuits. Arrange them on a kitchen parchment-lined baking sheet and use a smaller circular cutter to score a small circle in the center. Don’t cut all the way through like you would with a doughnut, but it’s important to break through the dough’s surface by about a 1/4-inch. Make too shallow of an indentation, and the dough will seal up with the egg wash. A proper score mark will prevent the top from doming, making for a flatter top and even rise. Cover the rolls and allow them to proof for about an hour.

When the bisquetes are ready to bake, egg wash them. Bake them at 400°F until well risen and browned on top. Our bisquetes are best served warm or at room temperature, so they need only a few moments to cool before you dive in. Their flavor is slightly sweet but still flexible; you could easily enjoy our bisquetes with bacon and eggs or butter and jam.

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Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Allie Chantorn Reinmann is a Digital Staff Writer for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street. She’s a Thai-American chef who earned her diploma for Pastry and Baking Arts at The Institute of Culinary Education and worked professionally for over a decade honing her craft in New York City at places like Balthazar, Bien Cuit, The Chocolate Room, Billy’s Bakery and Whole Foods. Allie took her know-how from the kitchen to the internet, writing about food full-time at Lifehacker for three years and starting her own YouTube channel, ThaiNYbites. You can find her whipping up baked goods for cafés around Brooklyn, building wedding cakes and trying her hand (feet?) at marathon running. She’s working on her debut cookbook and lives in Brooklyn, NY.