Chilean once: what to serve for Chile's teatime, with 12 recipes
La once is Chile's late-afternoon meal: tea or coffee, fresh bread with something to spread on it and something sweet, between five and eight, and in many homes instead of dinner. This guide gathers twelve recipes from the site that work for an everyday once or for guests, with each one's real time, how much it yields and what can be ready ahead.
Chilean once, in short: bread is the centre of the table, and at home that means pan amasado (4 rolls in 2 h 30 min), marraqueta (4 rolls in 3 h) or sopaipillas (20 in 45 min), with pebre or chancho en piedra to spread. The sweet side splits into what is sliced, apple kuchen, lemon tart and chocolate loaf cake, and what is eaten by hand: alfajores, calzones rotos and cookies. For a savoury or lighter once, egg muffins and Greek yogurt pots. Bread and cookie doughs are made ahead; sopaipillas and calzones rotos are fried an hour before.
The bread of the once
A once starts with bread. These three Chilean recipes are made at home without a machine: two oven breads that need rising time and a fried dough ready in under an hour. Pebre and chancho en piedra, made in 15 and 20 minutes, are what goes on top.
See the guide to making bread at home →
Pan amasado
Chile's countryside bread: flat, round rolls of flour, lard and water, kneaded by hand and pricked with a fork. 4 rolls in 2 hours 30 minutes, with 30 of work; the dough can rest in the fridge the night before.
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Marraqueta
The crusty roll with a soft crumb, the central groove that splits it in two and steam for the first 10 minutes in the oven. 4 marraquetas (8 halves) in 3 hours, of which only 30 minutes are hands-on.
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Sopaipillas
Pumpkin dough fried at 170-180 °C: 20 sopaipillas in 45 minutes, eaten savoury with pebre or dipped in chancaca syrup. They are the once of rainy days and are fried just before serving.
View recipeKuchen, tart and loaf cake: what gets sliced
What arrives whole and is shared in slices. All three are made ahead: the kuchen and the loaf cake keep for days covered, and the lemon tart needs hours in the fridge before it is cut.
See all the homemade desserts →
Apple kuchen
The tart of the German settlers of southern Chile: buttery shortcrust, sliced apples with cinnamon and a crisp streusel. 8 portions in 1 hour 20 minutes; keeps 2 days covered and 4 in the fridge.
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Lemon tart
Buttery biscuit base and a tangy lemon cream set at 160 °C. 4 portions in 55 minutes of work, plus 1 hour of cooling and at least 2 in the fridge: make it in the morning for the once.
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Chocolate loaf cake
The chocolate loaf (queque de chocolate in Chile), moist inside and made by hand with no mixer: 15 minutes of prep and 45 in the oven. Makes 10 slices and stays moist 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.
View recipeAlfajores, calzones rotos and cookies: what is eaten by hand
What goes with the cup without a plate or a knife. Alfajores and cookies are baked days ahead; calzones rotos are at their best freshly fried, so they are made the same afternoon.
Chilean alfajores
Thin hojarasca pricked before baking and filled in pairs with manjar: 20 alfajores in 50 minutes. Unfilled layers freeze for up to 2 months; assembled they keep 5 to 7 days in an airtight tin.
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Calzones rotos
Butter, citrus zest and pisco in the dough, rolled thin, knotted and fried, dusted with icing sugar: 20 pieces in 40 minutes. Eat them the same day; by the next they lose their crispness.
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Butter cookies
Crisp outside and tender inside, with vanilla: 24 cookies in 32 minutes plus 30 of chilling the dough. They keep 5 days in an airtight tin and the raw dough freezes for up to 3 months.
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Chocolate cookies
Double chocolate with 70% dark chocolate chips: 20 cookies in 28 minutes of work plus 30 of chilling. The dough balls bake straight from the freezer, for fresh cookies at an unplanned once.
View recipeFor a savoury or lighter once
When the once replaces dinner, it helps to have some protein and something fresh beyond the bread. These two recipes are made in one batch and portioned for several days.
Egg muffins with spinach
Eggs baked with spinach and cheese in a muffin tin, ready in 35 minutes. They keep 4 days in the fridge and reheat in 1 to 2 minutes in the microwave: the savoury part of the once, no frying pan.
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Greek yogurt pots
Layers of Greek yogurt, berries and granola, no oven and no cooking, in 15 minutes. They keep 3 to 4 days well covered; store the granola separately and add it when eating so it stays crunchy.
View recipeHow much to make for your table
Yields are those of each recipe. A once has bread and one or two sweet things; nobody eats everything, so one batch of bread and two sweet recipes are enough for four people.
| Recipe | Recipe yields | For 4 | For 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pan amasado | 4 rolls | 1 batch | 2 batches |
| Marraqueta | 4 rolls (8 halves) | 1 batch | 2 batches |
| Sopaipillas | 20 pieces | 1 batch | 1 batch |
| Apple kuchen | 8 portions | 1 kuchen | 1 kuchen |
| Lemon tart | 4 portions | 1 tart | 2 tarts |
| Chocolate loaf cake | 10 slices | 1 loaf | 1 loaf |
| Chilean alfajores | 20 pieces | 1 batch | 1 batch |
| Calzones rotos | 20 pieces | 1 batch | 1 batch |
| Butter cookies | 24 cookies | 1 batch | 1 batch |
| Chocolate cookies | 20 cookies | 1 batch | 1 batch |
| Egg muffins | 4 servings | 1 batch | 2 batches |
| Greek yogurt pots | 4 pots | 1 batch | 2 batches |
For a once with guests, count one pan amasado or two marraqueta halves per person and one portion of whatever gets sliced; cookies and alfajores go in the middle of the table.
Work plan: what to make ahead and when
In this order, only the frying and the serving are left for the afternoon. Each recipe says how long it keeps and how to store it.
- Up to three months ahead: Freeze the raw butter-cookie dough (up to 3 months) and the chocolate-cookie dough balls (3 months, baked from frozen). The baked chocolate loaf cake freezes for up to 3 months, and the kuchen for up to 2, whole or in portions.
- Two days ahead: Bake the hojarasca layers for the alfajores (5 to 7 days in an airtight tin, unfilled) and the butter cookies (5 days in a tin).
- The day before: Bake the apple kuchen (keeps 2 days covered) and the chocolate loaf cake (3 to 4 days in an airtight container). Put the pan amasado dough in the fridge after its first rise, well wrapped.
- The morning of the once: Marraqueta (3 hours, 30 minutes of work) or pan amasado (2 hours 30 minutes, less if the dough spent the night in the fridge). Lemon tart (55 minutes plus cooling and 2 hours in the fridge) and egg muffins (35 minutes).
- One hour before: Pebre (15 minutes plus 30 of resting) or chancho en piedra (20 minutes). Fry the sopaipillas (45 minutes) and the calzones rotos (40 minutes): both are eaten the same day. Assemble the yogurt pots with the granola kept separate.
- When serving: Fill the alfajores with the cooled layers and finish with icing sugar, top the yogurt pots with granola and, if you want the kuchen warm, give it 10 minutes at 160 °C to crisp the streusel again.
Chilean once: frequently asked questions
What is the once in Chile?
La once is Chile's late-afternoon meal, between five and eight: tea or coffee with bread and something to spread on it, and almost always something sweet. It is eaten every day, and in many homes it replaces dinner. The name has nothing to do with eleven o'clock; it is a custom inherited from teatime. On a homemade once table the usual bread is pan amasado or marraqueta, and in winter sopaipillas.
What should I make for a once with guests?
A homemade bread, something to spread and two sweet things, one that is sliced and one eaten by hand. For example: marraqueta with pebre, apple kuchen and alfajores. If the once is dinner, add the egg muffins as the savoury part. The table above says how many batches you need for 4 and for 8.
Which bread is served at the once, and what goes on it?
The Chilean breads in this guide are pan amasado (4 rolls), marraqueta (4 rolls, 8 halves) and sopaipillas (20). To spread, pebre, knife-chopped in 15 minutes and rested for 30, or chancho en piedra, pounded in a mortar in 20 minutes and at its best the same day. Sopaipillas are also served sweet, dipped in chancaca syrup.
What can be ready the day before?
Almost everything baked. The kuchen keeps 2 days covered, the chocolate loaf cake 3 to 4 days in an airtight container, the butter cookies 5 days in a tin and the alfajores layers 5 to 7 days unfilled. The pan amasado dough can spend the night in the fridge after its first rise. What cannot be made ahead is the frying: sopaipillas and calzones rotos are eaten the same day.
How much do I plan per person?
One pan amasado or two marraqueta halves per person, one portion of whatever gets sliced (a lemon tart serves 4, a kuchen 8, a loaf cake gives 10 slices) and cookies or alfajores in the middle, which nobody counts. One batch of bread and two sweet recipes feed four; for eight, double the bread and whatever serves 4, and keep the rest as it is.
How do I make a lighter or savoury once?
With a savoury part that is not only bread, and something fresh. The egg muffins with spinach bake in 35 minutes and keep 4 days; the Greek yogurt pots with berries are assembled in 15 minutes with no cooking and keep 3 to 4 days. For the bread, pebre and chancho en piedra are tomato spreads with no fat beyond the oil.
More of the Chilean table
The rest of the site's Chilean cooking is in traditional Chilean food: 27 classic recipes; to master dough and oven, the guide how to make bread at home; and for the sweet side, easy homemade desserts.