Medialunas
Medialunas de manteca
Small, sweet, laminated butter crescents brushed with sugar syrup the moment they leave the oven. Argentina's breakfast and merienda pastry.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Medialunas de manteca.
- Prep
- 1 hr 30 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Rest
- 4 hr 30 min
- Total
- 6 hr 15 min
- Difficulty
- A bit of work
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Medialunas de manteca are Argentina's croissants: smaller, sweeter, softer and shinier. The dough is an enriched yeast dough with milk, egg, sugar, a little honey and lemon zest, laminated with butter in three folds, rolled thin, cut into long triangles and rolled into tight crescents. After a long proof they bake hot and fast, and the moment they come out of the oven they are brushed with almíbar, a simple sugar syrup that soaks in and leaves them sticky and glossy. They are a project: plan on most of a day, or make the dough the night before. Keep everything cold while you laminate.
What you'll need
15 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Dough
- Lamination
- Almíbar
- To finish
Ingredients
Dough
Lamination
- Butter, unsalted, cold200 g
To finish
- Egg, beaten1
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Mix the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Add the milk, water, egg, soft butter, honey, vanilla and lemon zest and knead for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Flatten it into a rectangle, wrap, and chill for an hour or overnight.
75 min
Step 2
Put the cold butter between two sheets of baking paper and beat and roll it with a rolling pin into a 15 cm square about 1 cm thick. It should be cold but bendable; chill it briefly if it goes soft.
10 min
Step 3
Roll the dough into a 30 cm square, set the butter on it like a diamond, fold the corners over to enclose it and pinch the seams. Roll into a 20 x 60 cm strip, fold it in three like a letter, wrap and chill 30 minutes. Repeat the rolling and folding twice more, chilling 30 minutes each time.
120 min
Watch: If butter breaks through or the dough feels greasy, stop and chill it for 15 minutes. Warm butter melts into the dough and you get bread, not layers.
Step 4
Cut the dough in half and keep one half in the fridge. Roll the other into a strip about 20 cm wide, 70 cm long and 4 mm thick, and cut it into tall triangles with a 10 cm base, 12 or 13 to the strip. Nick the middle of each base, roll up snugly from base to tip without stretching, bend the ends round into a crescent, and set them tip-down on lined trays. Repeat with the second half.
25 min
Step 5
Leave to proof somewhere warm but not hot, 24 to 26°C, for 1.5 to 2 hours, until nearly doubled and wobbly when the tray is nudged. Heat the oven to 200°C and brush the medialunas gently with beaten egg.
105 min200°C
Step 6
Boil the almíbar sugar and water with the strip of lemon peel for three to four minutes until slightly syrupy, and keep it warm. Bake the medialunas for 12 to 15 minutes until deep golden, then brush them with the hot syrup as soon as they come out of the oven.
15 min200°C
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 196 kcal
- Protein
- 3.2 g
- Carbs
- 24.8 g
- Fat
- 9.4 g
- Saturated fat
- 5.7 g
- Fibre
- 0.7 g
- Sugar
- 8.8 g
- Sodium
- 104 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Wheat
- Milk
- Eggs
- Vegetarian
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 11 November.
Substitutions
Butter for laminating → Lard or rendered beef fat
Makes medialunas de grasa. Shape them straight rather than curved, add a pinch more salt to the dough and skip the syrup.
Tips
- Make the dough in the evening and laminate in the morning. The long cold rest makes it easier to handle and gives more flavour.
- Shaped, unproofed medialunas freeze well. Thaw them overnight in the fridge, then proof, glaze with egg and bake.
- Split and filled with ham and cheese, then warmed, they become the café standard medialuna de jamón y queso.
History & culture
Café con leche with medialunas is the Argentine breakfast, and three medialunas with coffee is the standard café order. They come back at the merienda, the late-afternoon snack, and on Sunday mornings someone goes to the panadería for a dozen. Bakeries also sell medialunas de grasa, made with beef fat, which are straighter, flakier, saltier and not glazed.
Crescent pastries came to Buenos Aires with European bakers in the late 19th century, alongside the rest of the facturas, the sweet pastries sold by the dozen. The story goes that the city's anarchist bakers' union of the 1880s gave many facturas their irreverent names, such as bolas de fraile, friar's balls. The medialuna's own name is plain enough: it means half moon.
Traditional — Argentine bakeries often laminate with margarine or bakery fat, which is easier to handle; butter is what makes them de manteca. Fresh yeast is the usual choice there, and 25 g fresh replaces the 10 g instant.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Medialunas take?
6 hr 15 min all in — 1 hr 30 min prep, 15 min cook, 4 hr 30 min rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 24 pieces. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
A bit of work.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Milk, Eggs. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian, Nut-free.
11 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Mixing bowl, Rolling pin, Chef's knife, Baking tray, Oven, Saucepan.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tsp.
How much sugar?
80 g of Sugar.
How much honey?
1 tbsp of Honey.
How much sugar?
100 g of Sugar.
What can I use instead?
Butter for laminating → Lard or rendered beef fat. Makes medialunas de grasa. Shape them straight rather than curved, add a pinch more salt to the dough and skip the syrup.
What should I watch for?
If butter breaks through or the dough feels greasy, stop and chill it for 15 minutes. Warm butter melts into the dough and you get bread, not layers.
Any tips from this recipe?
Make the dough in the evening and laminate in the morning. The long cold rest makes it easier to handle and gives more flavour. Shaped, unproofed medialunas freeze well. Thaw them overnight in the fridge, then proof, glaze with egg and bake. Split and filled with ham and cheese, then warmed, they become the café standard medialuna de jamón y queso.
Can I prepare this ahead?
Shaped, unproofed medialunas freeze well. Thaw them overnight in the fridge, then proof, glaze with egg and bake. Mix the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Add the milk, water, egg, soft butter, honey, vanilla and lemon zest and knead for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Flatten it into a rectangle, wrap, and chill for an hour or overnight.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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