Protein Bread Roll Recipe – Say Hello to the Protein Mollete

When people think of ‘Mexican food,’ they usually conjure up images of Guacamole, Tacos, Quesadillas and Salsa. Some go ahead and categorize the Burrito too as ‘Mexican’ even though it’s more of a Tex-Mex (US-borne) invention. The same can be said of Nachos and Fajitas. But this post isn’t about which foods deserve the ‘authentic Mexican’ label, it’s about one type of food that doesn’t get the attention it deserves: the Mollete (pronounced moh-YEH-teh). 

Mollete hasn’t seeped into global imaginaries of Mexican (or Tex-Mexican) food. Maybe because, as a dish, it is just so plain not that pretty…  however it’s simple, quick, and delicious. Now, the traditional mollete is made with bolillos: American-football-shaped white bread rolls with a super soft and bready centre. Bolillos are great for molletes because, when you grill them, they get nice and crunchy, offsetting the creaminess of the beans and the umph of the cheese. The problem with molletes though is that they’re very carbohydrate-dense and not very high in protein. So, guess what we’ve got here?  A High Protein Mollette that is also gluten free!

Here’s how to make it:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup liquid egg whites
1/4 cup  unflavoured whey protein powder
1/4 cup instant buckwheat (OR instant oats)
1/8 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Blend together and then bake at 170 C (332 F) inside a silicone giant muffin tray for 30-40 minutes or until, when stabbed, your knife comes out clean

Macros per one bread roll (without the toppings):

165.4kcals
17.4g carbs (1.2g sugars)
22.1g protein
1.6g fat 
2.3g fibre

Macros per one bread roll (WITH 100g of refried beans and 10g of cheese):

282kcals
33g carbs
31g protein
3.7g fat
2.3g fibre

This recipe creates two bread rolls which you can let cool, slice in half, scoop out the centre and then stuff them with spicy refried beans! You can go even further and top with low fat cheddar cheese and paprika – Then just grill them for a good ten minutes.

You can obviously make the bread rolls and use them for any kind of sandwich too. We recommend slicing them horizontally into two (or even four) though and grilling them either before or after you add your toppings. This is because the beauty of this bread rolls shines the strongest when they’re grilled. You can also slice each bread roll into four and throw in your toasted for some protein toast! Up to you, play around with the recipe

PS – You can always top the toppings with even more stuff, like spinach and hummus.