Prep Time : 15 + 15 Minutes | Cook Time : 8 Minutes | Total Time : 2 hours | Difficulty : Easy
Hello my lovelies! This recipe is one of those gems that comes about by accident. I had a friend coming for dinner and needed a flatbread. So I winged it. And it was awesome. An aligning of planets. I didn’t write it down at the time though. The next day I jotted down everything I could remember. I’m glad I did and you will be too. This is an easy yeast bread. I left the difficulty as easy on purpose. You need to be a bit gentle at the end but otherwise it’s all just magic. Flavour these how you like. I love chopped tarragon and parsley in the dough. Cracked pepper, sesame seeds, za’atar, whatever takes your fancy. Brush the hot breads with oil infused with garlic. Butter mixed with wholegrain mustard. Sprinkle with more herbs or flaky sea salt. You will need the heaviest baking sheet, pizza stone or griddle you have. My absolute recommendation is one of this kind of cast iron griddle with the grill on one side and a flat surface on the other. I use it for all sorts of breads and to bake pizza on. It gives the best results of everything I’ve tried. These flatbreads only need one rise so they’re quicker than you think. Serve them as part of a meal or as a appetizer with a dip or two. They’re also a great snack on their own.
Measure the flour, salt and herbs into a bowl. Mix well and set aside.
In a small bowl or jug sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and leave to get frothy.
Add the yeast mixture, yoghurt and olive oil to the flour.
Mix everything together to make a soft dough. Leave it to rest for 10 minutes.
Keeping the dough in the bowl, wet one hand with a little water and stretch one quarter of the dough up and fold it over the rest.
Go around the bowl twice doing this a total of 8 times. We are basically doing lazy kneading. The dough should have started to tighten and resist you. Cover the dough and leave it for 15 minutes. Repeat the 8 folds again. Cover and leave in a warm spot to triple in size.
When the dough looks nearly ready, heat the oven to 230C (445F). Put your griddle, pizza stone or baking sheet in to heat up. I like to use the grill side of the griddle for this because I like the way the lines look.
Before turning the dough out, drizzle a little oil onto the bench and rub it around. We don’t want the dough to stick at all. Oil quite a big area because we are going to be stretching the flatbreads out on it.
Gently ease the dough out of the bowl. The best thing for this is a curved bowl scraper but an oiled silicone spatula will work too. We want to keep the dough as fluffy as we can.
Your hands should still be oily but if they are getting dry rub a little more oil on them so the dough won’t stick to you. Divide the dough into 4 pieces using a sharp knife.
Gently stretch each piece of dough out. Do not roll them or crush them. If one start to resist you – that’s the gluten fighting back – pop it down and stretch the next one. While they will be haphazard shapes you should be able to get them to about 20cm square. It’s fine for them to be wonky and thinner in places. Honestly if they get a hole in them that doesn’t matter either!
They will get quite thin and the air will mostly end up being pressed out. The key is to keep the texture and the air pockets uneven so when we bake they will end up bubbly and gorgeous.
I could fit two at a time onto my griddle, so you may need to do batches. Open the oven door and pull out the rack that has your hot griddle on it. Using your hands quickly pick up each dough and gently lay it on the griddle. Mind your fingers!
Bake for 5 to 8 minutes until cooked though. I do 3 minutes on one side then flip them onto the other side for another two to make sure they’re done.
They will need a little longer on a baking sheet or stone because the cast iron griddle holds so much heat.
Eat these flatbreads as soon as you like. They are great warm or cold. While they’re still warm drizzle with a little extra olive oil and extra seasonings if you prefer. Which you should. Garlic oil or butter are recommended.
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Yoghurt + Olive Oil Flatbreads
Prep Time : 15 + 15 mins | Cook Time : 8 mins | Total Time : 2 hours | Difficulty : Easy | Makes : 4 flatbreads
Chewy flatbreads with crisp edges and soft middles – the perfect side or appetizer.
Ingredients:
- 1 + 3/4 cups (250 grams) bread flour
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs
- 1/2 cup + 2 teaspoons (130 mls) warm water
- 1 teaspoon active dried yeast
- 1/4 cup (60 grams) greek yoghurt
- 2 tablespoons good quality olive oil
- additional vegetable oil for handling the dough, about a tablespoon
– If using metric cups, reduce volume measures by 1 tablespoon for every cup of dry or liquid ingredients –
Equipment:
- Bowls and spoons
- Cast iron griddle, heavy baking sheet or pizza stone
Directions:
Measure the flour, salt and herbs into a bowl. Mix well and set aside. In a small bowl or jug sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and leave to get frothy.
Add the yeast mixture, yoghurt and olive oil to the flour. Mix everything together to make a soft dough. Leave it to rest for 10 minutes.
Keeping the dough in the bowl, wet one hand with a little water and stretch one quarter of the dough up and fold it over the rest.
Go around the bowl twice doing this a total of 8 times. We are basically doing lazy kneading. The dough should have started to tighten and resist you. Cover the dough and leave it for 15 minutes. Repeat the 8 folds again. Cover and leave in a warm spot to triple in size.
When the dough looks nearly ready, heat the oven to 230C (445F). Put your griddle, pizza stone or baking sheet in to heat up. I like to use the grill side of the griddle for this because I like the way the lines look.
Before turning the dough out, drizzle a little oil onto the bench and rub it around. We don’t want the dough to stick at all. Oil quite a big area because we are going to be stretching the flatbreads out on it.
Gently ease the dough out of the bowl. The best thing for this is a curved bowl scraper but an oiled silicone spatula will work too. We want to keep the dough as fluffy as we can.
Your hands should still be oily but if they are getting dry rub a little more oil on them so the dough won’t stick to you. Divide the dough into 4 pieces using a sharp knife.
Gently stretch each piece of dough out. Do not roll them or crush them. If one start to resist you – that’s the gluten fighting back – pop it down and stretch the next one. While they will be haphazard shapes you should be able to get them to about 20cm square. It’s fine for them to be wonky and thinner in places. Honestly if they get a hole in them that doesn’t matter either!
They will get quite thin and the air will mostly end up being pressed out. The key is to keep the texture and the air pockets uneven so when we bake they will end up bubbly and gorgeous.
I could fit two at a time onto my griddle, so you may need to do batches. Open the oven door and pull out the rack that has your hot griddle on it. Using your hands quickly pick up each dough and gently lay it on the griddle. Mind your fingers!
Bake for 5 to 8 minutes until cooked though. I do 3 minutes on one side then flip them onto the other side for another two to make sure they’re done. They will need a little longer on a baking sheet or stone because the cast iron griddle holds so much heat.
Eat these as soon as you like. They are great warm or cold. While they’re still warm drizzle with a little extra olive oil and extra seasonings if you prefer.
Cook’s Notes:
- Flavour how you like, and to suit what you will be serving them with.
- Scale this recipe up to make as much as you need. The recipe as-is makes 4 flatbreads that are a good size as 1 per person as part of a meal. You can make the breads smaller to pop a basket of mini-breads on the table – just reduce the baking time by a minute or two.
– These breads are best the day they are made but they can be refreshed in a toaster press or a warm oven after a day or two –
© 2017 The Winsome Baker. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe.
