Portuguese Sweet Bread Recipe (Massa Sovada/Pão Doce) 

Now you can make Portuguese sweet bread right at home! Also called pão doce (sweet bread) or massa sovada (beaten dough), this light and fluffy homemade sweet bread is best served warm with butter. This recipe is easy to follow and makes 2 loaves or 16 rolls.

Living in New England has its perks and having a local Portuguese bakery is a major one. Growing up, we always had Portuguese sweet bread in our home. My grandmother didn’t bake bread, but she did know quality. We’d walk to the bakery with her to buy it on weekends, which seemed like just as much work to me.

A lot of people associate sweet bread with Easter, but my Cape Verdean family didn’t need a special occasion, just coffee or tea with some milk.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
• Tools & Ingredients
• Recipe steps with photos
• Serving Suggestions
• ❓FAQ’s
• ⭐ Other recipes you’ll love
• Portuguese Sweet Bread Recipe (Massa Sovada/Pão Doce) 

❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe

• Portuguese sweet bread has the perfect taste and texture—it’s light, fluffy, and just sweet enough. The enriched dough is made with eggs, milk, and sugar, giving it a soft, tender crumb and rich flavor. It reminds me of brioche, just a tad sweeter. If you love brioche or challah, this is the bread for you.
• Clear instructions and step-by-step photos guide you through each step of the process. Take a minute to read through the entire post before jumping to the recipe card—it’ll make everything go more smoothly.
• Quality ingredients = consistent results! I highly recommend a using a high quality flour, and unexpired yeast to get a proper rise and the right consistency.  Make sure you measure the flour properly by spooning the flour into a measuring cup and leveling it off without packing it down.
• Stays fresh frozen for up to 3 months, just make sure to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store it in a freezer bag.
• Never baked with yeast before? I show you how to proof active dry yeast (dissolving it in warm liquid with a little sugar to help it activate). Or, you can skip that step and use instant yeast instead.

Tools & Ingredients

You don’t need any special tools or equipment, but if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, use it! If you don’t have either one, don’t worry, this recipe involves some kneading by hand anyway. All you’ll need is a large bowl, spatula and a flat, clean surface.

• Dry ingredients: All-purpose flour, granulated sugar, and salt form the base of the dough. Use a high-quality flour if you can—it really makes a difference in the texture.
• Active dry yeast helps the dough rise and gives the bread its soft, fluffy texture. It needs to be dissolved in warm milk first—this is called “proofing”, which I explained briefly above. If proofing the yeast feels too complicated, use instant yeast instead—just mix it right in with the dry ingredients and make sure it’s not expired.
• Wet ingredients: whole milk, large eggs, and softened uusalted butter add richness and moisture to the dough. You can use salted butter, but it might affect the taste slightly. Don’t omit the salt that’s listed in the ingredients! Salt helps with formation of gluten which gives dough elasticity. Some people like to add vanilla extract or lemon zest for flavor, it’s not something I do, but some people swear by it.
• Other ingredients: cooking spray grease your bowls and pans, and egg wash (1 egg mixed with 2 teaspoons of water) to give the bread it’s golden brown crust. If you want to use butter instead of spray to grease your baking pans, you can. 

Refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities and measurements.

Recipe steps with photos

You can follow along closely and refer to the visuals, or scroll down to the recipe card. If it’s your first time, I suggest reading through all of the steps before starting. 

Combine wet and dry ingredients and proof the yeast

Step 1: Use a stand mixer with paddle attachment to combine the eggs, butter, sugar and salt together. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a fork to cream the butter and then mix in the sugar, salt and eggs using a whisk. Set this mixture aside.

Step 2: Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it reaches 115°F. Pour half of the milk into the butter/sugar and egg mixture, and the other half into a cup. Mix 1 teaspoon of sugar into the cup of milk then add the yeast. Mix and let sit for 10 minutes. It will foam and expand in volume.

Note: If the yeast mixture doesn’t foam or expand as shown in the photo above, it’s no good. You’ll need to start this step over with fresh (unexpired) yeast and new milk.

Form the dough and let it rise

Step 3: Add the proofed yeast/milk to the bowl with the wet mixture. Replace the paddle attachment with a dough hook. Turn your mixer on low speed and add ½ cup of flour to the bowl at a time. A ball of dough will form on the dough hook. Shut the mixer off and transfer the dough to a floured surface. Knead the dough by hand for 7 full minutes.

Step 4: Shape the kneaded dough into a ball. Transfer the ball of dough to a greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place (like an oven set to 170 degrees) for an hour and a half.

Forming and kneading the dough by hand: put the flour in a large mixing bowl and create a well in the center. Pour the wet mixture in and use a rubber spatula to combine the ingredients. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes.

Shape the loaves or rolls

Step 5: Remove the dough from the oven. The dough should have roughly doubled in volume. Remove the plastic wrap/kitchen towel and punch the dough down to release the air. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a ball.

Making rolls: Leave the dough in the bowl to keep it covered so it doesn’t dry out. Portion the rolls into equal pieces, placing them on a kitchen scale if you have one. Each roll should weigh 2.5 ounces (or look about the same size as the others).

Shape each loaf or roll into a tight ball by cupping your hands while turning against a flat surface (refer to the photo above). It’s the same shaping method whether you’re making loaves or rolls.

Brush the tops and bake

Step 7: Pre-heat your oven to 375°F (make sure the oven is empty, you don’t want to pre-heat the oven while the dough is rising in it). Make the egg-wash by mixing 1 whole egg with 2 teaspoons of water. Gently brush the egg wash over the rolls using a pastry brush.

Step 8: Bake the sweet bread at 375°F for 25 minutes. Use your oven light to watch the color of the bread closely. Check the color around the 15-20 minute mark. If it’s starting to look too dark, place a sheet of foil over the bread and continue baking for the remaining 10-15 minutes.

Let the bread cool and slice it

Step 9: Let the bread cool fully in its pan for 30-40 minutes. Remove the rolls/loaves by flipping the pans over. Slice the loaves using a serrated knife. Separate the rolls by cutting them with a knife or pulling them apart with your hands.

Serving Suggestions

Sweet bread is best served warm with:

• Soft butter and a cup of milk, hot coffee or tea
• Your favorite soup, caldo verde, canja, or homemade tomato soup
• Your favorite Easter or holiday dishes
• You can also turn stale sweet bread into croutons or french toast! You can dry the bread out by slicing and leaving it uncovered for a couple of hours.

❓FAQ’s

⭐ Other recipes you’ll love

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