Medialunas de Manteca

Method

1. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt and yeast, add the lukewarm milk, half the beaten egg and the vanilla and bring together into a dough. Knead on the worktop for 8 min until smooth, then knead in the soft butter a little at a time until fully absorbed. The dough should feel slightly tacky but barely stick to your hands. Cover the remaining egg and refrigerate it.

   Add in this stepPlain (all-purpose) flour 250 gSugar (for the dough) 40 gSalt ½ tspInstant dried yeast 1 tspLukewarm milk 110 mlEggs ½Vanilla extract ½ tspSoft butter (for the dough) 25 g

2. Flatten the dough into a 2 cm thick square, wrap it and refrigerate for 30 min. Meanwhile, put the cold butter between two sheets of baking paper and beat and roll it into a 12×12 cm square, then chill it. It should be cold but bendable without snapping.

   Add in this stepCold butter (for laminating) 120 g

3. Roll the dough into a square twice the size of the butter, set the butter on it diagonally and fold the four corners over to seal it in completely. Dust lightly with flour, roll into a 14×40 cm strip and fold it in three like a letter. Wrap and chill for 20 min. Repeat the roll, fold and chill twice more, three times in all. If butter breaks through, dust it with flour and chill for 10 minutes more.

4. Roll the dough 4 mm thick into a 15×42 cm rectangle. Cut it into 15 cm wide strips, then into long triangles with a 9 cm base, alternating their direction. Make a 1 cm cut in the middle of each base and roll up from the base to the tip without pressing, set them tip underneath and bend the ends slightly into crescents.

5. Space them out on 1 lined baking tray(s), cover loosely with cling film and leave somewhere warm (25 to 28 °C) for 1 h 30 min. Any warmer and the butter melts out. They're ready when almost doubled and they wobble when you shake the tray. Gently brush them with the remaining beaten egg.

   Add in this stepEggs ½

6. Syrup: put the syrup sugar and water in a small pan, bring to the boil on medium heat and simmer for 3 min until slightly syrupy, then turn off the heat.

   Add in this stepSugar (for the syrup) 40 gWater (for the syrup) 40 ml

   medium heat

7. Preheat the oven to 200 °C and bake one tray at a time for 13 min, until deep golden. Brush with the syrup the moment they come out so they turn glossy. Cool briefly on a rack and eat warm.

   oven