Authentic Turkish Pide Flatbread: Light and Indulgent with Health Benefits
This authentic Turkish Pide bread is a light, enriched, indulgent, yeasted flatbread complete with olive oil, milk, butter, egg, yogurt along with sesame and nigella seeds. While primarily enjoyed during Ramadan, it can be enjoyed by anyone, anywhere, and at anytime. Eat it as a snack, for breakfast, or a side with any meal. You will not be disappointed with this bread! This recipe was adapted from https://www.thespruceeats.com/turkish-ramadan-flat-bread-pide-recipe-4129254
Servings: 6 2 loaves
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2¼ tsp instant dry yeast = ¼ oz pkg
- 1⅓ cups water
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp sugar granulated
- 1 teaspoon salt
Topping Ingredients
- 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
- ⅓ cup plain yogurt at room temperature (of any fat %)
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp nigella seeds black cumin seeds
Instructions
Dough Directions
- In a large bowl, whisk in the flour and yeast.
- Heat up the water and milk in the microwave or on the stove until the liquid reaches 100˚F-110˚F / 38˚C-43˚C. Pour the liquid into the flour/yeast mixture and use a sturdy spoon to combine well.
- Soften the butter in the microwave, if necessary (cut in small dice and heat for 10 seconds and stir). Add the softened butter, olive oil, sugar, and salt to the flour and liquid mixture and stir well to combine.
- Knead the dough. If kneading in a stand mixer, use the dough hook and knead the dough on low for 10 minutes. If kneading by hand, knead the dough on a lightly floured surface or in the bowl for 15 minutes.
- If kneading by hand, kneading is done. If kneading in a stand mixer, scoop out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and continue to knead for another five minutes . The dough should be very soft. If it’s too firm, knead in another tablespoon of olive oil until smooth or add more flour if too sticky.
- Return the dough to the mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray or with a damp cloth. Set it aside in a warm place. Allow the dough to rise between one and two hours or until doubled in size.
- After the dough has doubled in size, place a shallow metal baking tray or cookie sheet on the bottom rack of the oven. Fill the cookie sheet with water (for a 13"x 18" pan fill with ~ 4 cups of water). Preheat oven to 430° F/~220° C.
- Remove the plastic wrap or towel and scoop out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in half into 2 separate loaves with a sharp knife.
- Shape the 2 loaves using your fingers into flat rounds or ovals about ½" thick (~9" in diameter).
- Place each flatbread on a DIFFERENT metal baking tray / cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. One baking tray (~14"x 21" for both), or 2 smaller ones.
- For each flatbread, cut about 1 inch in from the edge to make a circle all the way around the flatbread. Then, inside the circle, make diagonal cuts in opposite directions to make a diamond pattern. Do the same with the other flatbread.
Topping Directions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt and egg yolk. Using a pastry brush, coat the top of the loaves generously with the yogurt/egg yolk mixture.
- Sprinkle the sesame and nigella seeds evenly over the tops.
- Place the flatbreads on the middle rack in the preheated oven. Bake with the water tray for about 30 minutes or until the top becomes deep, golden brown. Serve the bread hot out of the oven.
Video
Notes
*Brush on just enough yogurt/egg yolk mixture to still see the artisan cuts. If too much yogurt mixture is brushed on, the cuts will not be visible once baked.
*If the bread will not be eaten immediately out of the oven, cover it with a damp towel (paper is fine) until ready to eat.
*Eat within in a few days or slice and store in freezer bags in the freezer for several months.