STARTER: Mix the ingredients together, knead lightly, and place the dough in a bowl covered with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a draft-free place until doubled in size, about 3.5 hours.

Once the starter is ready, mix in the remaining ingredients and knead by hand or with a stand mixer. After all the ingredients are combined, knead several times. Knead for a couple of minutes, then let the dough rest for 10 minutes between kneading sessions to help develop the gluten.

At the end of kneading, the dough will still be a bit sticky, but do not add more flour. I kneaded for over an hour using a stand mixer. Grease a bowl, cover, and let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1.5 to 2 hours.

Now it's time to shape the ensaimadas using butter or lard. Take each portion and stretch it by hand into a thin, elastic rectangle—almost see-through. The dough should not tear; you can use a rolling pin at first, but use your hands to stretch it thin.

Spread with butter or lard, then roll up tightly from the top toward you to form a log. Stretch the ends a bit more and coil the log into a spiral. This takes some practice! Place each spiral directly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave space between them, as they will rise a lot.

Once all are shaped, cover them. I put the whole baking sheet inside a large bag. Mist them with water using a spray bottle and let them rise overnight.

Bake for about 9 minutes or until golden brown. Hope you enjoy them!