Bazlama is a soft and fluffy Turkish Bread that has become more popular over the last few decades. It is one of the oldest Turkish bread recipes, and probably the favourite of many as well. Bazlama is traditionally cooked on outdoor stoves over a wood fire in the villages of Anatolia, but you can easily cook them at home on a good quality heavy-based pan or skillet.
Bazlama is similar to Homemade Pita Bread and it is great for dipping into soups or stews. It is also perfect for serving at breakfast/brunch, a very popular component of a traditional Turkish breakfast. This fluffy Turkish flat bread is best when served warm, freshly cooked.
Ingredients for Bazlama
Bazlama is a very simple yet delicious bread and all you need is 5 pantry ingredients.
- Strong white flour – It has a higher protein percentage than plain / all purpose flour and it gives more reliable results when making bread and bread rolls. You can replace it with plain flour as long as you don’t mind a bit less chewy bread.
- Plain natural yoghurt – Use plain natural or Greek yoghurt with no added sugar or flavour.
- Fast action dried yeast – You can use 10 grams of fresh yeast instead.
- Sugar – A little of sugar goes long way. It feeds the yeast, enhances bread flavour, gives the crust a golden colour, and improves the crumb texture.
- Salt – Salt is necessary for steady and slow rise of the dough to develop the flavour of the bread.
How to Make Bazlama (Turkish Bread)?
Bazlama is surprisingly one of the easiest bread to make at home. You don’t necessarily need a fancy fire stove, and you can cook them on a good quality pan in just a few minutes. There are few easy steps that you need to follow to achieve the best results:
- Preparing the Bazlama Dough – Combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water into a bowl, stir well. Let the yeast activate for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is foamy and bubbly. Whisk in the yoghurt, then add ¾ of the flour along with the salt. Mix all together to form a dough. Gradually add the remaining flour until you get the right consistency. Knead it for few minutes until you get a soft and slightly sticky dough. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until it doubles the size up. The rising time depends on the temperature of the room and it might take up to an hour.
- Shaping the Bazlama – When the dough doubled its size up, divide it into 4 equal pieces and turn them into balls. I suggest using an Electronic Kitchen Scale for this step but use your eyes and hands if you don’t mind slightly different size bread. Place the dough balls on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle some flour on top and let them rest for 10 minutes covered with a clean kitchen cloth. Take a dough ball and press it down. Roll it into a circle with a rolling pin about 20 cm (8″)wide. Let the dough rest for another 10 minutes before cooking.
- Cooking the Bazlama – Heat a heavy-based frying pan on medium heat. When the pan is hot, place the dough in the pan. Roll another dough ball out as soon as the first one starts cooking so that it has enough time to rest. Lower the heat and cook the bazlama until bubbles appear on the surface and the bottom of the dough is golden brown. This should take 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the dough and bake for another 4 to 5 minutes.
Set it aside on a plate and lightly brush with butter. Cover the cooked bazlama with a clean kitchen cloth or tin foil to keep them warm. Repeat the same with the remaining dough and serve them when they are still warm.
Bazlama is great for dipping sauces, soups or stews as well as making sandwiches. They are also perfect for breakfast whether you dip them in Shakshuka or just spread Nutella on them. For more serving ideas, try this delicious Turkish bread out with Ezogelin Soup, Baked Prawns (Karides Guvec), Authentic Hummus or Turkish Lamb Stew with Chickpeas.
You can keep this fluffy flat bread in the fridge for up to 2 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Simply defrost and reheat them in the oven or on a pan, and they will taste as they are freshly cooked.
Yes, you can prepare the dough up to 3 days in advance. Simply let it rise and cover it with cling film before putting it in the fridge. When you want to cook, make sure you bring the dough back to room temperature before shaping and cooking.
Top tip from the chef
The most important step for a fluffy Bazlama is to get the consistency of the dough right. Add the water gradually as the humidity of the room might change the amount of the water you need. To achieve a soft and fluffy bazlama texture requires a slightly soft and sticky dough.
I hope you enjoy the process of making this soft and delicious Bazlama as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂
Bon appétit! / Afiyet Olsun!
Bazlama (Turkish Bread)
Ingredients
- 300 ml tepid water
- 1 TSP sugar
- 1 TSP fast action dried yeast (7g) (or 10 grams of fresh yeast)
- 100 g plain natural yogurt
- 550 g strong white flour
- ½ tbsp salt (12 g)
- butter (for brushing)
Instructions
- Combine the yeast, sugar and water into a bowl, and stir them well.
- Let the yeast activate for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is foamy and bubbly.
- Whisk in the yoghurt then add ¾ of the flour along with the salt. Mix all together to form a dough.
- Gradually add the remaining flour until you get the right consistency and knead it for few minutes until you get a soft and slightly sticky dough.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until it doubles the size up. The rising time depends on the temperature of the room and it might take up to an hour.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (I suggest using a scale in this step) and turn them into balls.
- Place the dough balls on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle some flour on top and let them rest for 10 minutes covered with a clean kitchen cloth.
- Take a dough ball and press it down. Roll it into a circle with a rolling pin about 20 cm/8" wide. Let it rest for another 10 minutes before cooking.
- Heat a heavy-based frying pan on medium heat and place the dough in the pan when it is hot. Roll the other dough balls as soon as the first one starts cooking so they have enough time to rest.
- Lower the heat and cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the bottom of the dough is golden brown. This should take 4 to 5 minutes. Flip it and cook it for another 4 to 5 minutes.
- Set it aside on a plate and lightly brush it with butter. Cover the cooked bazlama with a clean kitchen cloth or tin foil to keep them warm.
- Repeat the same process with the remaining dough and serve them when they are still warm.
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.
Lovely recipe.
I made this with spelt flour so it was wheat free, and it turned out beautifully.
Thanks for something a little different
X
Dear Helen
Thanks for trying and sharing your experience and I am glad you liked it
Ayla x
Lovely bread