andrejthechef
ArgentinaBreadBreakfast

Medialunas con Café con Leche

Argentine medialunas de manteca: buttery laminated crescent rolls brushed with sugar syrup, served the traditional way with a cup of café con leche.

prep
5 h
cook
18 min
total
5 h 18 min
serves
8
level
hard
Three glossy glazed Argentine medialunas on a white plate next to a large cup of café con leche on a dark wooden café table

Medialunas (literally half-moons) are the standard breakfast pastry at cafés in Buenos Aires, typically ordered with a café con leche. There are two kinds: medialunas de manteca, which are made with butter, a little sweet and glazed with sugar syrup, and medialunas de grasa, which are made with lard and are drier and saltier. This recipe is for the butter version. They are the Argentine cousin of the croissant, smaller, softer and sweeter.

The dough is enriched with milk, eggs and sugar, then folded around a block of cold butter to make layers. Keeping the butter cold, and the kitchen cool while you roll, is what separates flaky layers from a greasy bun. The glaze goes on while the pastries are still hot from the oven: it soaks in and sets to the glossy, lightly sticky finish.

Medialunas con Café con Leche is one of the best breakfasts from around the world.

method

  1. Mix the flour, 60 g sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add the 2 eggs, vanilla, 200 ml cold milk and the soft butter, and knead by hand or in a mixer with the dough hook for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap, flatten into a rectangle and chill for 1 hour.

  2. Place the 200 g cold butter between two sheets of parchment and pound and roll it into a 15 cm (6 in) square. Chill until firm but still pliable, about 20 minutes.

  3. Roll the dough on a floured surface into a 30 cm (12 in) square. Set the butter on it turned like a diamond and fold the corners of the dough over to enclose it, pinching the seams shut. Roll into a rectangle about 20 x 60 cm (8 x 24 in), fold in thirds like a letter, wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Repeat the roll and fold once more, then chill for 30 minutes.

  4. Roll the dough to about 4 mm (1/8 in) thick and trim the edges. Cut tall triangles about 12 cm (5 in) at the base. Make a small notch in the middle of each base, then roll each triangle up from the base to the tip, and bend the ends in to form a crescent. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, tip tucked under.

  5. Proof in a warm spot, no hotter than 26°C (80°F), for 1.5 to 2 hours until the crescents are puffy and wobble when the tray is shaken. Hotter spots melt the butter out.

  6. Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Brush the medialunas with the beaten egg and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until deep golden. Meanwhile, simmer the 100 g sugar and water for 3 minutes to make a thin syrup.

  7. As soon as the medialunas come out of the oven, brush them generously with the hot syrup so it soaks in and gives a glossy finish. Cool for 10 minutes. For the coffee, steam or heat the milk and pour it into cups with an equal measure of strong coffee, about 3/4 cup of each per cup of café con leche.

chef's tips

  • If butter starts to leak or the dough feels soft while rolling, stop and chill it for 20 minutes. Cold butter is the whole point.
  • The shaped, unbaked medialunas can be frozen. Thaw them overnight in the fridge, then proof for 1 to 2 hours before baking.
  • The pastries are best the day they are baked. Warm them in a 160°C (325°F) oven for 4 minutes to refresh them the next day.