Ube Pandesal (Pan de Sal)

This ube pandesal recipe is absolutely delicious! Give the classic Filipino breakfast staple an exciting and delicious twist with the new ube cheese pandesal with ube halaya! Fluffy and soft bread mixed with the sweetness of ube, a dollop of ube halaya jam and oozing with cheesy goodness. It’s the perfect bread roll breakfast recipe!

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This new take on a Filipino favorite is becoming a big hit in the world of baking. The bright vibrant purple color from the ube combined with the creaminess of the cheese, this pandesal immediately made a huge impact on the modern Filipino culture.

As the saying goes: Out with the old and in with the new!

If you haven’t heard of ube, it is a purple yam. Ube is quickly growing in popularity, in large part, due the beautiful purple color. From ube donuts, to ube pancakes, to ube bread, ube cookies, ube bars and ube crinkles, ube is popping up everywhere!

For generations, Pinoys have incorporated ube with different dessert varieties such as ice cream, cakes and milkshakes!

But this new ube pandesal bread roll is taking the internet by storm, giving the old classic pandesal a sweet new take.

Pair these ube pandesals with some warm coffee, hot chocolate or a Cardamom Latte in the morning as the perfect way to start your day!

I’m all about sharing my favorite breakfast recipes so be sure to check out my Air Fryer Banana (delicious on yogurt), Almond Milk Pancakes, Oat Flour Pancakes and Bacon Cinnamon Rolls for the best breakfast a family could ask for.

Why you should make this ube pandesal recipe

• You can make regular ube pandesal for a delicious and fluffy roll. You can also make ube cheese pandesal with ube halaya jam! Mix and match with this ube pandesal recipe.
• Ube cheese pandesals are soft, fluffy, delicious with creamy, oozy cheese and jam inside! The best mouth-watering ube-flavored bread rolls filled with creamy cheese and baked to perfection.
• This ube cheese pandesal recipe is simple, easy and unique! Impress your family and friends with this crowd-pleasing new ube bread recipe. Hello purple!
• It makes a fantastic on-the-go breakfast that will stay soft and fluffy until the very next day!

Pandesal ingredients

Flour: I recommend using bread flour or first-class flour. You may use white all purpose flour as an alternative if bread flour is not available but the outcome will not be as soft and fluffy. I would not recommend whole wheat flour.

Sugar: White granulated sugar is recommended but you can use brown sugar if needed.

Yeast: Rapid-rise yeast is required to allow the dough to rise.

Butter: Unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter, omit the salt from this recipe.

Milk: Whole milk is recommended. However, you can also use 2% milk or a milk alternative (soy, almond).

Ube Extract/Flavoring: Ube extract can sometimes be tricky to find in grocery stores. It is available in some specialty Asian grocery stores. I purchase this Ube Extract online from Amazon. 

Some recipes use ube powder, but I find that the extract works well.

Egg: Large regular or organic egg.

Vanilla Extract: Any brand of good quality vanilla extract.

Salt: Kosher salt is recommended.

Breadcrumbs: You can use panko bread crumbs or finely textured plain breadcrumbs.

Cheese: You can buy pre-cut mini cheese cubes. You can also buy a block of cheese and hand cut them. Use any kind of cheese you enjoy. Cheddar, quick melt cheese, cream cheese and brie cheese all work well with this pandesal recipe.

Ube Halaya (Purple Yam Jam): You can buy ube halaya online or in a specialty section of many Asian grocery stores. If you cannot find ube jam halaya, adding a jam that you enjoy adds a nice sweet element.

You can use strawberry or orange marmalade. You can also simply spread your jam on your ube pandesal roll (instead of inside the roll prior to baking).

How to make ube pandesal

In a large bowl, pour in warm milk, melted butter, egg, vanilla, ube extract/flavoring and yeast. Mix the wet ingredients well before proceeding. 

Next, add in white sugar, salt, and bread flour (recommended) or all purpose white flour.

Tip to Measure Flour: When you measure flour, do not scoop it out directly as that can lead to using more flour than is needed. To correctly measure your flour, give the flour a stir with a fork or a whisk to loosen it. Spoon the flour into cup until it is heaping, then gently level with the flat side of a knife (don’t apply pressure downward) or loosely shake off excess.

Mix all the ingredients together until it forms a dough. 

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 20 minutes. This allows everything to relax making it easier to knead. 

Place the dough on a kneading board (cutting board or other clean surface). You may then lightly grease your hands and the kneading board with a bit of oil to help with the stickiness. Then knead the dough for about 7 minutes. See notes for tips on how to knead dough.

Once done, tuck the ends of the dough underneath to form a smooth ball. Lightly grease the bowl with oil before placing the dough in. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let the dough rise for 2 hours or until it doubles in size. 

After 2 hours, place the dough on a flat surface and divide it into 20 portions (each portion should weigh approximately 45g or1.6z). See notes for recommended food scale.

For ube pandesal without cheese, roll each pandesal portion into an even round ball.

***See instructions below if making ube cheese pandesal or ube cheese pandesal with halaya (purple yam jam).***

Roll each portion in fine textured breadcrumbs (dust them off) before arranging them on a parchment-lined baking tray.

Let ube pan de sal dough balls rest for another 30 minutes (to allow dough to rise).

Bake ube pandesal in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 18 to 20 minutes.

Take them out of the oven and allow a few minutes to cool before serving as the filling will be very hot. 

Food Scale: I highly recommend purchasing a food scale. It is super helpful especially when baking recipes need to be exact. I purchased this affordable digital food scale on Amazon and have used it for many years.

How to make ube cheese pandesal

Ube cheese pandesal

• For ube pandesal with cheese, flatten each portion into a circle (about the circumference of a baseball).
• Place 1 cube of cheese (about 0.5 x 0.5 inches) at the center of the dough and roll each one into a smooth ball, tucking the ends underneath to seal. Be sure to seal dough TIGHTLY or cheese will ooze out when it bakes.

Ube cheese pandesal with ube halaya

• Place ube halaya/ube jam (if desired) and 1 cube of cheese (about 0.5 x 0.5 inches) at the center of the dough and roll each one into a smooth ball, tucking the ends underneath to seal. 
• Be sure to seal dough TIGHTLY or cheese and halaya jam will ooze out when it bakes.
• Ube cream cheese pandesal is another delicious variation. The ube pandesal with cream cheese recipe is the same. Just substitute your favorite cream cheese.

What is pandesal?

Pandesal, or Pan de Sal, is a traditional bread roll that is popular in the Philippines. They’re yeast-raised bread rolls that are covered in bread crumbs and are usually soft, fluffy, and airy.

Filipinos often eat pandesal as it is or may dip them in warm coffee or hot chocolate for breakfast. Others prefer pairing them with melted cheese, butter, or chocolate.

Pandesals are best served warm fresh from the oven and are often enjoyed as part of a breakfast meal or during meryenda (mid-afternoon snack).

Pandesal baking tips

Be sure to use rapid rise instant yeast. It is much easier! However, if you use active dry yeast instead of rapid-rise/instant yeast, you must proof the yeast before pouring it into the mixture.

Water temperature for yeast proofing should be within 105-115°F otherwise it will kill the yeast.

Mix wet and dry ingredients well before leaving the dough to rest. Make sure there are no lumps of unmixed flour.

Pandesal dough is normally sticky. To provide ease and help with kneading, you may grease the kneading surface and your hands lightly with oil and 1 teaspoon of flour.

Check the dough using a windowpane test to see if dough is properly kneaded. To do a windowpane test, take a small portion of your dough and stretch it out. Well-kneaded dough will form a translucent film at the center without breaking.

For the best ube cheese pandesal, be sure that the dough portions should cover the cubed cheese completely otherwise the cheese will drip out after baking.

How to serve pandesal

Traditional pandesal is best served fresh straight from the oven and eaten as it is. In Filipino culture, pandesals are a staple for breakfast and local bakeries often start baking them as early as 4 o’clock in the morning. An authentic pandesal recipe is prized!

Pandesals are completely versatile when it comes to food combinations and can also be enjoyed without any fillings as these bread rolls are slightly sweeter than the regular ones.

If you make ube pandesal without cheese, they are super delicious warm from the oven with a spread of Homemade Honey Butter, Brazil Nut Butter, Pumpkin Seed Butter or Date Paste.

For breakfast, you may also enjoy these ube bread rolls paired with salted butter, Nutell hazelnut spread, a, a sunny-side-up egg, some bacon and more.

You can also try dipping one of these in some creamy coffee, hot chocolate, and warm milk for added flavor.

How to knead dough

Pandesal dough is quite sticky which means that if you don’t know how to properly knead the dough; you’ll end up with a messy countertop and dough sticking all over the place.

This is a very helpful video for a visual tutorial on how to knead dough.

Before kneading the dough, make sure you let it rest for about 20 minutes. This allows the dough to hydrate and properly absorb all the ingredients.

It will also allow you to work on the dough a little bit better once it absorbs all the moisture from the ingredients.

After 20 minutes, you can start kneading the dough. Slap the dough to the kneading board, fold it over in half, pick it up again and repeat. Do this multiple times for about 5 minutes or until the texture become smooth and elastic.

The technique to this method is to do it quickly without slowing down to lessen sticking on your kneading board.

FAQ and expert tips

Looking for other delicious breakfast or brunch ideas?

• 3 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins
• Air Fryer Bananas
• Honey Smoked Salmon
• Air Fryer Tater Tots

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