Bread21

Bread does a lot of work in this part of the world, and much of it is fried or cooked on a griddle rather than baked.
Johnny cakes, creole bread and creole buns are the Belizean staples, with cassava bread carrying the Garifuna tradition and corn tortillas the Maya one.
The regional breads sit beside them: Jamaican coco bread and festival, Honduran flour tortillas, and Cuban pan cubano made with lard.

A long oval loaf of white bread with a seam running the length of the crust
Pan Cubano Recipe BreadCuba

Pan Cubano Recipe

Lard is what separates this loaf from a baguette. A starter made the day before, a long oval loaf, steam in the oven, and the seam down the top that three Cuban bakers cut with a blade for want of a palm leaf.
Joe Post
September 3, 2026
Pan de coco, Garifuna coconut bread rolls on a wooden board
Pan de Coco BreadGarifunaHonduras

Pan de Coco

Pan de coco is the Garifuna coconut bread of Central America's Caribbean coast — soft, slightly sweet wheat rolls built on fresh coconut milk, with no dairy, no eggs, and a crumb that is dense and tender enough to tear open beside a bowl of fish stew. Honduras holds the largest Garifuna population, and the north coast is this bread's heartland: La Ceiba, Trujillo, Tela. Belize carries the same tradition in Dangriga, Hopkins, and Seine Bight. Where Pan de Coco Comes From Coconut is the heart of the Garifuna kitchen.…
Isela Post
August 4, 2026
Honduran semitas, jam-layered lattice-topped sweet bakery pastry
Semita Hondureña BreadHonduras

Semita Hondureña

The Honduran semita is a yeasted sweet bread, egg-yolk enriched, topped with a cookie-paste disk that bakes into a crisp sugar crust over a soft, pillowy interior. Sold in every Honduran panadería and pulpería, it is the bread Hondurans reach for with morning coffee and afternoon fresco — not a jam pastry, which is what the Salvadoran version is. Getting that distinction right is the whole story. The definitive Honduran semita is the semita de yema: a round, egg-yolk-enriched yeasted roll topped with a thin disk of cookie dough that…
Joe Post
August 4, 2026
Belizean Cassava Bread Recipe BelizeBreadGarifuna

Belizean Cassava Bread Recipe

Belizean cassava bread is finely grated cassava wrung dry, shaped into rounds, dried until stiff, then browned over heat until crisp. It is flat, firm, and slightly bitter. Nothing like wheat bread, and not trying to be. Across the Caribbean it goes by bammie, bammy, or casabe. The same tradition, the same process, names that shifted depending on who was speaking and which island or coast they came from. In Belize it is most closely associated with Garifuna cooking. I first made this the right way with my aunt, who…
Isela Post
September 3, 2026
Belizean Corn Tortillas Recipe BelizeBread

Belizean Corn Tortillas Recipe

Belizean corn tortillas are small, round flatbreads made from masa (ground corn dough), pressed by hand or with a tortilla press and cooked dry on a comal. They are the foundation of some of the most important dishes in northern Belize: salbutes, panuchos, panades, and Orange Walk tacos all start here, with this dough, pressed this thin, cooked this way. The corn tortilla is not the same as the flour tortilla. In northern Belize you find both. The flour tortilla is softer, more forgiving. The corn tortilla has more to…
Isela Post
August 4, 2026
Belizean Hamburger Buns Recipe
Homemade Belizean Hamburger Buns Recipe BelizeBread

Homemade Belizean Hamburger Buns Recipe

Hamburger buns are a versatile and essential component for a variety of delicious meals. This easy-to-follow recipe will guide you through making perfectly fluffy and golden buns that are about 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter. If you love this recipe, be sure to check out our Creole Bread and Johnny Cakes for more Belizean favorites. While there are no fast food chains in Belize (no McDonalds, Burger Kings etc.) there are a few mom and pop establishments that are making delicious burgers. One of our favorites on Caye Caulker…
Isela Post
August 4, 2026
Belizean Creole coconut-raisin buns in a paper-lined woven basket, glazed golden brown with raisins throughout
Belizean Creole Bun Recipe BelizeBread

Belizean Creole Bun Recipe

Belizean Creole Bun with Coconut and Raisins Creole bun is the sweet, spiced, raisin-studded bun Belizeans buy by the bag from the bakery and eat with coffee. Coconut milk goes into the dough, cinnamon and nutmeg and allspice go in with it, and the tops get brushed with hot sugar syrup the minute they come out of the oven. Kriol bun sits alongside Creole bread, johnny cakes and fry jacks as a Kriol breakfast staple (source), and coconut milk is one of the defining ingredients of that kitchen (source). This…
Isela Post
August 9, 2026