Capirotada is a Mexican bread pudding that’s popular in Latin America during Lent. In my household though, we enjoyed capirotada year-round, especially in the winter when my mom would make it as a dessert. I always looked forward to her capirotada, and it wasn’t until I was in college that I tried different variations of it. I tried capirotadas that were smothered in honey or covered in sprinkles, but as someone who doesn’t like sweets too much, I was not a fan. What makes this capirotada recipe special is that it’s sweet but also savory, as you’ll see by the ingredients and the recipe my mom shared with me for how to make capirotada. Depending on the weather, you can eat capirotada warm or cold. Regardless of the temperature, the taste is amazing!
Why You’ll Love This Mexican Bread Pudding Recipe
- Comforting – Capirotada is a bread pudding with fruits, nuts, and cheese that’s warm and comforting.
- Filling – Because of the bread and peanuts, capirotada is actually pretty filling, so I always have to remind myself to make room for dessert after dinner!
Recommended Tools for This Recipe
- Cutting Board – This capirotada recipe will involve slicing several ingredients that we’ll then layer in a stock pot. As such, a large cutting board will be super helpful in preparation.
- Steamer Pot with Lid – A pot like this will have a divider to keep the sugar water from making the rest of the ingredients too soggy.
Capirotada Ingredients
- Bolillo Bread – Also known as Mexican dinner rolls, this bread is soft and fluffy on the inside with a crispy exterior. The bolillos will become even softer when they soak up the piloncillo water we’ll prepare at the beginning of our recipe.
- Butter – We’ll add butter to toasted bolillo slices to make this capirotada recipe more savory.
- Bananas – Sliced bananas will be layered throughout our capirotada.
- Mozzarella Cheese – Aside from adding flavor, the mozzarella cheese will let us know when the bread recipe is ready as it will have fully melted.
- Peanuts – Using unsalted peanuts will give our capirotada a slight crunch and texture, so that it’s not just soggy. We’ll add the peanuts to boil with the sugar and water to soften them lightly.
- Piloncillo – We’ll boil this raw form of pure cane sugar with water and soak the rest of the ingredients in it.
- Cinnamon – Along with the piloncillo, cinnamon will add spice to our water.
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Capirotada Recipe (Mexican Bread Pudding)
Description
This sweet and savory capirotada recipe layers ingredients you love into a warm and comforting dessert that can be enjoyed during Lent or year-round!
Ingredients for Capirotada
How to Make Capirotada
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Boil water and spices
Bring water, piloncillo, cinnamon, and peanuts to a boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
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Toast bread
While your water and spices are boiling, cut the bolillo bread into 1/2 inch slices, butter lightly, and toast on a stovetop pan.
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Slice remaining ingredients
Slice bananas into 1/2 inch slices and mozzarella cheese into small squares.
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Layer ingredients
In a steamer pot with a division, add 1/3 of your piloncillo water. Layer ingredients into the pot. Start with bread, cheese squares, banana slices, and peanuts, then top off each layer with a ladle of your piloncillo water. Repeat until ingredients have run out.
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Cook
Place stockpot on medium-high heat for about 15 minutes, or until mozzarella cheese has melted. -
Let rest
Lest rest for 5 minutes, serve, and enjoy!
Note
- Have time to prep? Consider cutting your bolillo bread and mozzarella cheese beforehand, so that you can whip up this capirotada recipe quicker. (Note: Do not cut the bananas until you're ready to make this, as they'll brown quickly.)
- Free up your kitchen space by transferring any leftover capirotada from your stock pot to a smaller storage container.
- Enjoy capirotada leftovers cold or heat up in the microwave in 15-second increments.
