Day of the Dead Food for Kids and Pan de Muerto Recipe

Day of the Dead food traditions and facts, Pan de Muerto definition, a special food for Day of the Dead with this holiday recipe-Day of Dead Bread (or Pan de Muerto recipe for holiday bread) for Dia de los Muertos food traditions for the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead.

Learning About Day of the Dead Food and Drinks

What are the traditions that come from Day of the Dead food in Mexico and Day of the Dead food ideas and what food is eaten on Day of the Dead? For the Mexican holiday of Day of Dead, these are celebration of life food!

Here are foods eaten on Day of the Dead…

What food is eaten on the Day of Dead?

Traditional Day of the Dead food includes:

• Agua de jamaica (hibiscus flower water)
• Agua de tamarindo (tamarind water)
• Calavera (Sugar skulls)
• Horchata, or orxata, which are Day of the Dead drinks (non alcoholic) with rice, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon (add them to your Dia de los Muertos drink ideas!)
• Caramel flan (Day of the Dead dessert you may be familiar with already!)
• Sopaipillas
• Calabaza en tacha (candied pumpkin)
• Tamales
• Blue corn enchiladas
• Day of the Dead cookies
• Pan de Muerto or Day of the Dead bread (RECIPE BELOW)

This is just some of the food eaten during Day of the Dead and Day of the Dead dishes for Mexican festival food. But, you can use these as fun Day of the Dead party food ideas starting point and Dia de los Muertos recipes and learning more about food for the Day of the Dead.  KEEP SCROLLING for the Day of the Dead bread recipe and also fun Day of the Dead food facts for kids!

 

What do you eat on Dia de los Muertos?

What do children eat on Dia de los Muertos?

Kids will have fun with the pan de muerto (Day of Dead bread) and also the the calaveras, or the candy sugar skulls, which are a traditional Mexican food for Day of the Dead, as well as hot chocolate for a Dia de los Muertos traditional food drink.

 

Before we get to the recipes for the Day of the Dead bread and Day of the Dead food facts, let’s talk a little about the holiday of Dia de los Muertos.

What is this holiday all about?

What Is Dia de los Muertos?

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is not the same as Halloween and it is not the same as Cinco de Mayo. Also, it is not meant to be scary. Instead, Day of the Dead is about honoring loved ones who have passed with celebrations. Day of the Dead dates are: October 31 through November 2. The celebrations include painted faces, dances, parades, gatherings, Day of the Dead food offerings (Day of the Dead food for the ancestors), and special Day of the Dead Food like Pan de Muerto, or Day of the Dead Bread and other special foods for Day of the Dead.

Day of the Dead is a really fun topic to add to your Fall activities or diversity studies. (We really had a fun time learning more about this during our holiday lessons and activities.)

It was interesting to learn about a different culture and how they use the time in October to honor the loved ones who have passed.

(By the way, Day of the Dead is not Mexican Halloween, even though the dates overlap.)

 

Want to learn more about Day of the Dead traditions and other Hispanic heritage?

Check out:

What does Day Of The Dead mean and what does Day Of The Dead celebrate?

Cinco De Mayo History, Facts, Activities and Lessons for Kids

Hispanic Heritage Month Lesson Plans and Activities for Kids

Free Day Of The Dead Coloring Sheets with Spanish Flashcards

 

 

OK, now that we’ve covered the definition, let’s talk more about food eaten on day of the dead and make a fun Day of the Dead recipe!

 

After learning about Dia de los Muertos foods, check out:

43 Coco Movie Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources

 

Traditional Food for Day of the Dead

Just like any celebration in any culture, food is a major part of it and the food associated with Day of the Dead is no different! Day of the Dead traditional food is an important part of the holiday celebration and there are a ton of different Day of the Dead food and drinks.

What do people eat on Day of the Dead?

Día de los Muertos Food Offerings

Dia de los Muertos includes ofrendas, or offerings to those who have passed away. The symbolic offerings include drinks, foods, and other things to honor and celebrate those who passed. On the Day of the Dead altar you may find foods like sugar skulls (calavera) and tamales (and other traditional Dia de los Muertos food) and the dead relative’s favorite foods, as well as marigold flowers, papel picado banners, candles, and pictures of the loved ones.

 

Why is food important for Dia de los Muertos?

Across many different cultures, food is an important part of celebrations and occasions. The Mexican Day of the Dead is no different. Food is used as ofrendas, or offerings, to love ones who have passed away to entice them to return for a visit during Dia de Muertos. The traditional holiday foods are also enjoyed by the family who gather to honor their loved ones and celebrate the day.

 

 

One of the things that we love doing is pairing up our learning or theme lesson with a fun cooking project. So, we wanted to cook again for this holiday and recipes for Day of the Dead.

For our Dia De Los Muertos learning and food for Day of the Dead party, we decided to make Pan de Muerto, or traditional Day of the Dead Bread.

This is probably the Day of the Dead food that is most closely associated with this holiday!

Be aware: This bread is a dense, plain-ish bread that the kids (and you) may find boring if you like a sweeter bread.

(But, we spruced it up in the recipe below, so don’t miss it!)

Since the recipe has some orange zest in it (kids loooooove to use a zester!), we thought it would be yummy with an addition of chopped fresh cranberries (and give it a little extra fall/holiday-ish kick).

And, our version of Dia de Muertos food bread did not disappoint!

We had a lot of fun with this Day of the Dead traditions food!

 

Just be aware that traditional Day of the Dead bread does not contain cranberries. (Don’t think that traditional Dia de los Muertos foods bread is made exactly like this.)

 

So, if you’re trying to stay true to the Mexican recipe, don’t add cranberries if you want to stay the way that Day of the Dead Mexico food bread is really made.

But, we really, really, REALLY loved it with cranberries, so we add it to our Day Dead foods bread recipe.

We even tested it out by taking some of it to my kid’s Spanish teacher (who is from Mexico) and she loved it!

She said that she’s going to start adding cranberries to her Day of the Dead bread now!

(YAY US!)

 

NOTE: This is fun to add to your Day of the Dead activities, but is a time consuming recipe (as is any time that you make bread from scratch) because you have to allow time for it to rest/rise. We used the time while the bread was rising to learn more about Day of the Dead and read some Day of the Dead books [below] and learning more about what food is eaten on Day of the Dead. If you need easy Dia de los Muertos treats or quick Dia de los Muertos desserts, take that into consideration.

 

Be sure to gather up all your study and book items and get them ready before you start making the recipe and make it entire fun Day of the Dead children’s activities!

That way during recipe down time (rise/rest time) you can just move back and forth between studying about the day and continuing the recipe process.

 

 

Add some reading to your traditional food for Dia de los Muertos lessons!

Day of the Dead Books for Kids

Try these children’s books for your studies or the during the “down time” while your Day of the Dead bread is rising and baking or learning about foods eaten on the Day of the Dead: 

 

Let’s get to the recipe and our version of the Day of the Dead treats for your own Day of the Dead feast!

DAY OF THE DEAD FOOD

What is Pan de Muerto?

Day of the dead food history includes Pan de Muerto. Pan de muerto, is also called pan de los muertos in Mexico. It is a pan dulce, or a Mexican sweet bread or pastries. Traditionally, pan de muerto is baked for Day of the Dead celebrations (and right before). 

Traditional dead bread, or hojaldras, is round and dusted with white sugar. There is also a dough ball on top that represents the skull of loved ones who have died.

There are also sometimes four flaps of dough that are placed over the round bread that form a cross.

The cross represents four compass points:

• Quetzalcóatl (representing god of light and wind)
• Xipe Tótec (representing god of death and rebirth)
• Tláloc (representing god of rain and storms)
• Tezcatlipoca (representing god of darkness and sorcery)

There are also other shapes like hearts, instruments, humans, sheep, and angels. What shapes and ingredients are used often depend on the regional traditions for Day of Dead.

Sometimes, when a loved one is a child has passed, a day of dead bread offering will be made in the shape of a toy.

It’s definitely something to add to your Day of the Dead food list to try or to your Day of the Dead menu!

 

Why is Pan de Muertos used for Day of the Dead?

Pan de Muerto is also called Bread of the Dead or Souls Bread was always considered a sacred food. Each round bread is symbolic to show the circle of life and death and is provided as an ofrenda (offering) to provide energy to the family spirits to return home.  It is a special bread and many families wait all year to make and eat pan de muerto.

DAY OF DEAD FOOD FUN FACT: Day of Dead Bread (pan de muerto) is sold in Mexico only at the end of October through Dia De Los Muertos, which is the first couple of days of November. It generally isn’t sold in stores the rest of the year!

 

Is pan de muerto sweet?

Pan de Muerto, or Day of the Dead Bread, is a dense bread that is often flavored with orange and anise. While some call it  a bread dessert, it falls somewhere in the middle of regular bread and dessert in terms of sweetness.

 

What is pan de muerto eaten with?

Pan de muerto can be eaten alone, but it is often served as dinner bread as part of the traditional Day of Dead dinner meal. 

 

 

How to Make Day of the Dead Bread

Making traditional foods for Dia de los Muertos is a great way to learn about Day of Dead for kids.

Pair up this Day of the Dead dinner bread with one of the Day of the Dead traditional drinks! 

(It’s actually a cross between Day of the Dead desserts and a bread.)

Here’s how to make Pan de Muerto. Definitely set aside some time and add this your Day of the Dead kid activities!

Yield: 12

Pan de Muerto (Day of the Dead Bread)

Print

Traditional Pan de Muerto calls for 2 teaspoons anise seed. We didn’t have any, so we substituted poppy seeds. We also added chopped, fresh (uncooked) cranberries, which is not traditional but we loved it. We will definitely make it with poppy seeds and cranberries again!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Resting Time for Bread to Rise 2 hours

Total Time 3 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons anise seeds (We used poppy seeds and it was yummy!)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh (uncooked) cranberries (optional)
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 2 tablespoons white sugar (for glaze)

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and the butter until the butter melts completely. Remove from heat and add warm water.
2. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of flour, yeast, salt, anise (or poppy) seeds, and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture. Add eggs and orange zest and beat until well combined. Stir in 1/2 cup of flour and continue adding more flour until the dough is soft. Add cranberries and stir completely.
3. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and stretchy when pulled.
4. Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size (about 1 to 2 hours).
5. Punch the dough down and pinch off a small portion. Shape the remaining dough into a large round loaf. With the dough you pinched off, make a round knob and place it on top of the loaf. Place dough onto a baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until it has almost doubled in size.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake bread for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven let cool slightly.
7. FOR GLAZE: In a small saucepan combine 1/4 cup sugar, orange juice, and orange zest. Over medium heat, bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Brush over top of bread while still warm. Sprinkle glazed bread with white sugar.

Notes

Nutrition information is estimated. Changes to the recipe and use of different brands may cause changes to the nutritional information to vary slightly from the ones provided here.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1 piece
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 208Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 134mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 1gSugar: 11gProtein: 5g

Nutrition information is estimated. Changes to the recipe and use of different brands may cause changes to the nutritional information to vary slightly from the ones provided here.

Hope you had fun learning facts about Day of the Dead food and making the recipe!

WHAT DAY OF THE DEAD FOOD HAVE YOU TRIED?

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