Cocol is a traditional Mexican bread dating back to the 1500s, made with wheat flour, eggs, and aniseed tea. It is the oldest bread recipe in Mexico and has a unique diamond shape. The recipe was developed to honor an exiled Catholic priest named Padre Miguel Pro.
Cocol is an authentic Mexican bread that dates back to the arrival of the Spanish in the New World during the 1500s. The indigenous Aztecs were unfamiliar with the breads that were important parts of European diets at the time, and the Spanish soon introduced them to methods of mixing and baking bread dough. The first versions of coconut bread were made with wheat flour that the Aztecs did not initially use for their meals but instead processed to feed the growing number of Spanish soldiers. Cocol bread has the distinction of being the oldest bread recipe in Mexico due to this meeting of the Aztec and Spanish cultures.
Some of the first ingredients of cocol were simply water, wheat flour and eggs. A later recipe was developed to honor an exiled Catholic priest named Padre Miguel Pro who had such a special fondness for this type of bread that he developed a tendency to sign all his correspondence simply “Cocol.” This recipe calls for the bread to be flavored with salt and sugar, as well as aniseed tea prepared instead of water. It is also one of the first sweet Mexican bread recipes that called for the use of active dry yeast in order for the bread to rise to the desired texture.
The process of mixing the dough for this type of bread typically involves combining the required amounts of yeast and flour first. Many expert bakers claim that the best-flavored Mexican bread is made with the freshest active yeast possible, so newcomers to this type of bread baking should generally check yeast expiration dates before purchasing. Once these dry ingredients have been blended, the aniseed iced tea is stirred. Eggs are usually beaten into the last dough and the dough is then kneaded to the required thickness. The average recipe for this sweet bread makes about 15 servings of chocolate in most cases.
A feature of this traditional Mexican bread is its unique finished shape. A diamond-shaped loaf usually has four sides that may be equal or slightly elongated, depending on the baker’s preference. Cocol’s shape helps distinguish this recipe from other Mexican breads, such as round picon or crescent-shaped bigote. This bread is often the favorite fresh-baked choice in authentic Mexican family-owned bakeries known as panaderias.
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