Aunt Sophie's Spanish Outdoor Oven Bread

Every couple of years I end up pulling out the old family recipe cookbook. It was put together for a family reunion in 1984. I learned how to drive a stick shift there, that summer, I was 12 - the good ole days right? It was a small town after all.

Every time I pull out the book I usually have a purpose, on a mission looking for an old familiar. Until today. It has turned into quite the snowstorm outside so I decided I want to bake today, fill the house with the smell of bread. I initially went to allrecipes.com, then the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, but then I came across the cookbook. Simply titled The Benavidez Family Cookbook. I flipped to the bread section, past the tortillas, the sopapillas and bunuelos that are so familiar to me to a recipe with a curious title.

I read through the recipe titled Spanish Outdoor Oven Bread... hmmm. I decided to read through, I saw that I had all the ingredients I would need, still not completely convinced though. I skimmed down the page to see that my Grandma's Aunt Josie submitted it, I made her sisters tortillas recently. So what got me? The last line of her recipe read "You have never eaten a better bread in your life". OK - Fully convinced, I went to work.





Ok, so I put the bread in the oven and left for the store. I told my husband to watch them and to pull them out when the oven beeped. Let me just tell you that when I came back all 3 boys and Daddy has mouths and fistfuls of bread... they were eating it plain, no butter even. I was like "it's that good"? I seriously love bread but it always needs butter. However I tore of a chunk and WOW - it really didn't need butter or anything, it was delicious! Nice hard crust too, not to crumbly. It really was the best bread I have eaten, and yes I did end up putting butter - almost heaven! So good, HIGHLY RECOMMEND - Go make it right now - go!

The Recipe - notes on bottom indicate amounts halfed
(Click to Enlarge)

Grandma's Family Recipe Tortillas

Aunt Josie's Tortillas

My Grandma Sadie never wrote down her recipes... Her tortillas were a family staple, I miss them. This recipe is from her Aunt Josie.
3 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. shortening
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
Put flour in a bowl, add baking powder, salt and mix well. Add shortening and into flour until well mixed. Make a hole in the middle. Add milk and hot water and mix and knead until smooth. More water may be added if necessary. Dough should not stick to hands. Roll dough into balls just larger than golf balls, roll flat with rolling pin and cook on hot griddle. Flip and pick how well you want them done. Smooth on butter and enjoy!

mix

knead

form into ball, roll into circle (not like this weird shape I am just now noticing!)

the first couple were too puffy and oily more like bunelos -
we ate these with homemade 3-berry syrup

Finally, no oil on griddle, rolled thinner - these were good!