I was on the other side of town running errands and realized that I was close to this iconic Houston bakery. As ashamed as I am to admit, this was my first time visiting an Arandas Bakery. I grew up on their Taqueria Arandas, but I had never had their bakery products.
The storefront has that Arandas signature to it. The tile roofing, the peach like colored stucco exterior. The inside is spacious. They have trays that you use along with tongs to select the variety of the Pan Dulce offerings. They also have a special event section where you would order cakes for birthdays, graduations, weddings, etc. There is also a refrigerated section that offers Mexican sodas, American sodas, milk and juices. They do have a pretty big variety of Pan Dulce. You will find your usual Conchas, Maranitos and Turnovers here along with the harder to find Ojos, Marielas and Yoyos. During my visit, I selected some of the staples and the harder to find ones. Here are my thoughts:
Maranitos - I think this one disappointed me the most. Maranitos are supposed to have a strong molasses flavor and are supposed to be between soft and hard. The ones I tried today, were so dry that they were crunchy. The flavor was off and it had next to no molasses flavor. In fact, I found these to be overly sweet.
Conchas - Again, dry and way too firm. The streusel topping is made with margarine/shortening because it sticks to the roof of your mouth. If it were made with butter or a butter blend...the texture wouldn't be sticky, but more melt in your mouth. Margarine/Shortening has a higher melting point compared to butter and this is what yields that texture. The flavor was okay, but it lacked the rich Brioche like quality of a good Concha.
Ojos - Ojos are typically a Pan Dulce that is round. It has two parts to it: the crunchy ring that surrounds the circumference of the circle and the softer cake like center. I was starting to get the feeling that Arandas Bakery doesn't really like to flavor their breads. These Ojos were bland, flat and the center was chewy.
Galleta con Chocolate Sprinkles - Basically a cookie topped mini chocolate chips. This was probably the best of what I ordered. It was soft and sweet enough.
Overall, I am very disappointed. I had higher hopes for Arandas Bakery. Most of what I had was dry, bland and overly sweet. They do have wonderful customer service and a down home ambiance. I am skeptical that I will try them again any time soon. read more