Turkish Bread

The Red Star Yeast Bakers group I joined on Facebook is full of ideas for breads. This one caught my eye; the person who posted it said it was done in just about an hour so that was even more of a reason to add it to my TO BAKE list. It is a Turkish Ramadan Pide bread, a soft bread baked during the month of Ramadan in Turkey. 

The recipe came from Turkish Style Cooking blog and I made it as instructed except I added a note about needing more flour than specified, added temps for milk and water. The recipe called for nigella seeds; I have none so used za’atar instead. I also added some details about shaping and baking. It reminds me of focaccia-style bread. We ate a third of this delicious loaf with our Power Packing Salami Pasta. 

Turkish Bread  Makes one loaf 

3 cups all purpose flour+ more as needed (1 used 1 cup white whole wheat is place of a cup of all purpose)

2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 cup lukewarm whole milk (120-130° F.)

1 cup lukewarm water (120-130° F.)

2 tablespoons olive oil

For topping; 1 egg yolk, sesame seeds & za’atar

1. Combine 3 cups flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl.
2. Add milk and water gradually and start kneading.
3. Add olive oil and keep kneading.
   
4. Knead until you reach an elastic dough, adding more flour as needed but keeping in mind the dough should be soft and pliable.
5. Make a ball and cover the bowl with a plastic wrap, set aside for 30 minutes.

   

   Dough after 30 minutes.
   

6. Knead the dough once again – I kneaded it about 20 times.
7. Transfer to a greased oven tray and your palm to flatten the dough into a flat rounded shape — I added the dough to a standard pizza pan (12” diameter). 
   
8. Make a circle pressing with your fingers about 3/4 to 1” inside the round, then diamond shapes in the middle — I used a bench knife to make deep pressed diamond shapes in the dough. 
9. Brush the bread with egg yolk, sprinkle with sesame seeds and za’atar.
   
10. Bake in a 375° pre-heated oven until golden on top, around 30 minutes or until it reaches an internal temp of at least 190° F. — insert an instant read thermometer into the center of the loaf once bread has been removed from the oven.
    

Recipe without photos . . .

Turkish Bread  Makes one loaf 

3 cups all purpose flour+ more as needed (1 used 1 cup white whole wheat is place of a cup of all purpose)

2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 cup lukewarm whole milk (120-130° F.)

1 cup lukewarm water (120-130° F.)

2 tablespoons olive oil

For topping; 1 egg yolk, sesame seeds & za’atar

1. Combine 3 cups flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl.
2. Add milk and water gradually and start kneading.
3. Add olive oil and keep kneading.
4. Knead until you reach an elastic dough, adding more flour as needed but keeping in mind the dough should be soft and pliable.
5. Make a ball and cover the bowl with a plastic wrap, set aside for 30 minutes
6. Knead the dough once again – I kneaded it about 20 times.
7. Transfer to a greased oven tray and your palm to flatten the dough into a flat rounded shape — I added the dough to a standard pizza pan (12” diameter). 
8. Make a circle pressing with your fingers about 3/4 to 1”  inside the round, then diamond shapes in the middle — I used a bench knife to make deep pressed diamond shapes in the dough. 
9. Brush the dough with egg yolk, sprinkle with sesame seeds and za’atar.
10. Bake in a 375° pre-heated oven until golden on top, around 30 minutes or until it reaches an internal temp of at least 190° F. — insert an instant read thermometer into the center of the loaf once bread has been removed from the oven.