Traditional Sweet Bread – Yo-Yos (or Besos)

I recently found a classic Mexican sweet bread (pan dulce)  at a traditional Mexican bakery in Chicago (USA):

They are called yo-yos because they are formed from two circular pieces put together, looking like the toy; they are also called besos, which means “kisses”, because the two pieces are bound together, like giving a kiss to each other.  

Once back home in Canada, I wanted to make a batch right away.  The pastry is a buttery, soft cookie; the filling is some kind of red jam, usually strawberry or raspberry (I used the latter), which is also used to flavour and give a pink shade to the glaze; finally, the yo-yos are coated with shredded sweetened dry coconut.

Soft Cookie Sandwiches – Yo-yos (Besos)

Printable recipe:  Soft Cookie Sandwiches – Yoyos (Besos)

Ingredients

4 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt (a pinch, omit if using salted butter)
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups butter (at room temperature)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp lime juice (or lemon zest, or pineapple juice)
¼ cup milk
Glaze:
¼ cup red fruit jam: strawberry, raspberry
¼ cup water
2 tsp corn starch
Filling:
½ cup red fruit jam: strawberry, raspberry
Coating:
1 cup shredded sweetened dry coconut

Prepare two baking sheets by lining with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place butter and sugar in a mixing bowl (photo below, left).  Beat together until sugar dissolves, and the mix is fluffy and creamy; add eggs, one and a time, continuing beating (photo below, right):

Incorporate vanilla and other flavourings (I used lime juice):

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt (photo below, left).  Sift through a mesh, adding to the butter mix in three batches (photo below, centre), alternating with milk (photo below, right):

Continue folding all ingredients together with a spatula (photo below, left), then finish with hands, until it may be rolled into a ball, and dough is very smooth and not sticky (photo below, right):

Let it rest for ten to fifteen minutes.  It is a good idea to weigh the dough, and calculate how much each portion should weigh, since they will be sandwiched together so they will look tidier if the two pieces are the same size and shape.  My dough was 1,308 g (photo below, left) which is about 2.88 pounds (46 and a bit ounces).  For a dozen yo-yos, that is, 24 pieces, they would have to weigh 1308/24= 54.5 g (around 2 oz); I wanted them to be a little smaller, so that one whole sandwich would be close to the size of a cupcake, so I divided into 40 g portions, 1308/40=32.7 portions, or 16 sandwiches (the extra 0.7 of a portion is to help the cook cope with the Math, LOL.)  Each piece, once rolled into a ball, was about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in diameter (photo below, right):

Take each ball and drop it onto the prepared baking sheets, from a certain height, so they will flatten slightly when they plop on the sheet: 

Continue with all the balls.  I indeed ended up with 32 pieces, 40 g each, plus a smaller extra ball.  Adjust balls so that there is enough space between them, I had 15 on one tray (photo below, left), and 18 on the other (photo below, right):

Preheat oven to 350 ºF (180 ºC).  

Bake for 10 minutes, then switch bottom and top trays, turning around so the front of each tray faces back.  The pieces expand and flatten a little more, and some cracks may appear, this is normal:

Bake for another ten minutes, then check every 3-4 minutes, until the flat sides of the cookies are golden brown.  My batch took 28 minutes.

Remove from oven, and slide off trays onto cooling racks:

While the pieces cool down, prepare the glaze.  Mix jam, water and corn starch in a sauce pan (photo below, left); whisk until well incorporated (photo below, right):

Cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until thickened enough that a mark is left at the bottom of the pan when scraped with the spoon (photo below, left).  Remove from heat and strain, to remove fruit seeds and any clumps (photo below, right):

Working with one cookie at a time, brush glaze on domed side (photo below, left); dip in shredded coconut, glazed side down, to coat dome (photo below, centre).  A piece, glazed and coated with coconut (photo below, right):

Repeat with all pieces.

Spread about two teaspoons of jam on the flat side of half of the pieces (photo below, left); form the sandwiches putting together each piece with jam, with another piece, without jam (photo below, right):

My batch made 16 sandwiches, plus the one extra half (note there is only 15 in the photo below, LOL):

Compared to the store bought yo-yo from Chicago (photo below, left), mine were smaller, and darker; the store bought was strawberry flavour, and it seemed to have some artificial colouring, while I used only raspberry jam (photo below, right):

 The coconut seemed to be shredded very finely; a few pulses in the blender would suffice to get this effect, but I prefer the regular shredding, this is to taste.

If eaten immediately, the glaze might be a little runny, and the cookies feel on the crunchy side.  After at least two hours, to overnight, the glaze has set, and the cookies are firm, but soft enough to slice without crumbling. When compared to the store bought (photo below, left) the homemade presents a more compact crumb (photo below, right):

This texture is shorter, from the high butter content, more true to old-fashioned yo-yos, while the store bought is closer to a muffin crumb.

I kept a few yo-yos, and packed the rest for a bake sale at my church:

They were very good with a cup of coffee,  but milk, tea or hot chocolate will work, too.

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I am bringing my recipe to Thursday Favourite Things #665 with Bev @ Eclectic Red Barn, Pam @ An Artful Mom, Katherine @ Katherine’s Corner, Amber @ Follow the Yellow Brick Home, and Linda @ Crafts a la Mode.

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I am sharing my recipe at  Full Plate Thursday #699 with Miz Helen @ Miz Helen’s Country Cottage.

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I am joining Fiesta Friday #542 with Angie @ Fiesta Friday, this week co-hosting with Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook.

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I am also sharing my recipe at What’s for Dinner? Sunday Link-Up #477  with Helen @ The Lazy Gastronome.