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Simit

Ingredients​

  • luke-warm water: 300 g
  • instant (fast action) dried yeast: 4 g (or 12 g fresh yeast)
  • strong white bread flour, pasta or pizza flour: 500 g
  • salt: 8 g
  • sugar: 40g

Topping:

  • grape molasses (üzüm pekmezi): 50 ml
  • water: 80 ml
  • sesame seeds, toasted: 200–300 g

Steps​

  1. Place a baking or pizza stone in the oven (if you have one) and preheat the oven to 250 °C.
  2. Mix the yeast and water. Leave for a few minutes for the yeast to activate.
  3. Mix the flour and salt. Add the water and yeast mixture. Mix well and knead until the dough keeps together well, 5-6 minutes. The dough should be smooth, but not as soft as a regular bread dough. Cover and set aside to proof for 30 minutes.
  4. Mix the grape molasses, water and 1 Tbsp white flour in a large, flat bowl. Prepare a plate of toasted sesame seeds. If you only have white (raw) sesame seeds, toast them in a dry pan until golden, stirring or shaking the pan regularly, taking care not to burn any of the seeds. This only takes a few minutes.
  5. Cut the dough into 12 equally sized pieces. Roll each piece into long sausages. I don't use extra flour for this purpose, but if you find the dough too sticky, sprinkle a thin layer of flour on the surface.
  6. Take two dough sausages and place them alongside one another. Squeeze the ends together and roll the ends in opposite directions, causing the two sausages to braid and intertwine. Squeeze the two ends together to form a ring. Repeat with the remaining dough sausages.
  7. Dip the simits into the grape molasses mixture until covered all over. Cover with sesame seeds until you cannot get another seed to hang onto it. Stretch the dough a little as you do this to ensure the simit is as even as possible. Place the ready simits on a piece of baking parchment.
  8. Flatten the simits ever so slightly before placing in the hot oven. Bake in two rounds until cooked through and golden brown on the outside, 12-15 minutes, a little longer if you don’t have a baking or pizza stone. Keep watching and turn the heat down if the simit looks like it might burn.
  9. Leave to cool on a cooling rack, but not for too long! Unlike bread, simit is best when eaten while still warm.