Filipino Breads and Bakery Favorites (2024)

Arguably the most famous and the most popular bread in the Philippines, pandesal is also one of the easiest to make at home. You’ll only need simple ingredients like all purpose flour, yeast, milk and bread crumbs that pandesal is known for.

If you want to mix things up, make a batch of ube cheese pandesal. It’s a delicious variation to the classic pandesal and is often filled with cheese, ube jam, or left plain. Good news is, it’s just as easy to make!

Ensaymada is a soft and tender Filipino bread roll filled and sprinkled with butter, sugar and cheese. It’s wonderfully sweet and salty and perfect for special occasions.

Ube ensaymada is another kind of Filipino sweet bread. Similar to cheese ensaymada but filled with ube jam or ube halaya.

Ube bread rolls definitely fall under the dessert bread category. These soft and fluffy buns are filled with ube and served with toasted coconut. Imagine your favorite cinnamon rolls, but ube!

Another pinoy favorite is Spanish bread. Despite the name, Spanish bread is as Filipino as you can get! Widely availably in local panaderias, it’s a sweet bread roll with a buttery, sugary filling that’s covered in bread crumbs then baked until golden brown and delicious.

Of all the types of bread in the Philippines, pan de coco is definitely in my top 3. They are sweet buns — they almost look like dinner rolls — with a sweet and sticky coconut filling. They’re easy to make and even easier to eat!

Ube bars or ube bar bread — also called alembong in some provinces — are slices of bread dipped in ube syrup then coated with coconut. You don’t need yeast to make the bread and you don’t need to knead the dough either. They are a breeze to make!

Pianono is usually sold in slices in your neighborhood panaderia, though you can also buy a whole roll from some bigger bakeries. The Filipino equivalent of a Swiss roll or jelly roll cake, it’s wonderfully light and filled with butter and sugar.

Taisan is the Filipino version of vanilla chiffon cake. It's incredibly soft and tender, light as air, brushed with butter and sprinkled with sugar and cheese. Simple but delicious!

Like pianono, egg pie is usually sold in slices but you’re treated to a whole pie on special occasions. Authentic Filipino egg pie is beautifully torched on top, has a creamy egg custard filling, on a simple pie crust. So good.

Bibingka cheesecake is the latest and greatest Filipino dessert mashup. Sweet and salty bibingka and creamy, dreamy cheesecake combine for a truly extraordinary treat. And it’s not just for Christmas! Treat yourself today.

Puto, or Filipino steamed rice cakes, are not only available in bakeries but in local markets and street vendors too (these are the best ones IMO). They’re soft and fluffy and available in a wide variety of flavors from plain white, puto cheese, putong ube, with itlog na pula, and more.

Ube hopia is a Filipino treat made of flaky pastry filled with ube or purple yam. You don’t need an oven to make them and they’re easier to make than you think!

Cheese bars are made with salty cheddar cheese for a unique, delicious, sweet and salty treat.The ones I used to buy were a little dense and bland though, so these cheese bars a fantastic upgrade. Still the cheese bars we know, but better!

Cheese cupcakes are made with condensed milk and cheddar cheese and is a popular Filipino treat. Perfectly sweet and salty with a light and tender texture, you won’t need or miss the frosting here.

While the donuts of my childhood were fried and dipped in sugar, the donuts I love now are these ube donuts. They’re baked, not fried, and packed with ube flavor. I also provide three delicious topping options for the ultimate ube treat.

If you’re a fan of ube and muffins for breakfast, these ube muffins are for you! Soft but firm, topped with a sweet coconut crumble and filled with a generous helping of ube halaya.