El Pasoans Can Make These Panadería Favorites at Home

There are some things I will happily leave to the professionals, and recreating my favorite panadería treats is usually one of them!

But Pillsbury has decided to make things a little easier for those of us who want the taste of the panadería without actually knowing how to bake like someone's abuelita.

I was recently walking through the baking aisle when a few boxes immediately caught my attention: Mexican Wedding Cookies, Chocoflan and Cortadillo Cake.

Yes, cortadillo from a box!

As someone from El Paso, seeing these familiar Mexican treats sitting alongside the regular cake and brownie mixes definitely made me stop.

El Paso Panadería Favorites You Can Now Make at Home

If you grew up around El Paso, you probably know the feeling: you walk into a panadería and before you've even had a chance to look at what's behind the glass, the smell hits you.

Fresh bread. Cookies. Cakes. All those sugary, buttery smells mixing together and immediately making you want something you probably weren't planning on buying five minutes earlier.

Then comes the difficult part: deciding what you're actually taking home.

Maybe it's a bag filled with Mexican wedding cookies covered in powdered sugar. Maybe you're grabbing a slice of cortadillo with that bright pink frosting on top. And if there's chocoflan involved, good luck convincing yourself you don't need some of that, too.

Those trips to the panadería are tied to a lot of memories for people in El Paso, which is why seeing those same familiar treats represented in the baking aisle feels kind of fun.

And now, instead of your car smelling like the panadería on the drive home, you could theoretically get your entire house smelling like one!

The appeal here is pretty obvious. Instead of starting completely from scratch, the mixes give home bakers a much easier way to try making some of these familiar Mexican desserts themselves.

And I have to admit, there is something pretty cool about the idea of putting one in the oven and having that fresh-baked smell filling your house.

Whether what comes out of my oven actually resembles what's pictured on the box is another matter entirely!

El Paso Panaderías Still Have My Heart

This is where I have to know my limitations.

Do I love the idea of making cortadillo at home? Absolutely! Do I also see myself confidently putting that cake into the oven, walking away, returning later and discovering I've somehow created something that looks nothing like cortadillo? Also absolutely.

And chocoflan? That's a dessert with two desserts happening at the same time. I'm already nervous. That's why, as cool as I think these mixes are, I don't see them replacing my trips to an actual El Paso panadería anytime soon!

There's something special about walking into a neighborhood bakery, smelling everything fresh out of the oven and knowing the people behind the counter actually know what they're doing.

Still, I might have to grab one of these boxes just to see what happens.

Best-case scenario, my house smells like a panadería and I discover a baking talent I never knew I had. Worst-case scenario, I mess it up and head straight to the professionals for the real thing.

Either way, I'm getting cortadillo!