Saturday 3 January 2015

Crunchy Sesame Bread rings (Koulouri Thessalonikis)

These crunchy Greek bread rings are the most popular street food that can be found in my hometown, Thessaloniki. They are mostly eaten as breakfast but they can also be used as part of a platter instead of bread. Although I strongly dislike sesame, I am using it from time to time in my cookings due to it's high nutritional value. Sesame is rich in antioxidants with many potential health effects including lower risk of cardiovascular disease, prevention of cancer development and anti aging properties. THEREFORE, I'm trying to convince myself that sesame is something that I have to eat more often. I'm failing.. I still hate it's guts! But anyway! I made these beauties for friends and family and they were a success. When I tried them, the first thought that I had was that my babies could easily compete with the original ones from back home! So voila! Here's the recipe. Give it a try!

Ingredients (10 rings)

500 g all purpose flour
1/2 tbs salt
2 tbs sugar
2 packets of dry yeast
300 ml water in room temperature

Ingredients for the coating

2 tbs sugar
500 ml lukewarm water
sesame seeds

Prepare dough: Preheat the oven to 200ÂșC. In a bowl add the water and yeast and mix util the yeast is dissolved. Set aside for 5 minutes. Add the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl and mix until the dough that forms is soft and elastic. If you have a mixing bowl with a hook attachment, you can follow the whole procedure there, put on medium-high speed for 7 minutes. Allow the dough to rest for an hour.

Prepare coating: Fill a bowl with 500 ml water. Add the sugar and mix until it dissolves. In a different bowl add the sesame.

Prepare bread rings: On a clean surface brush some olive oil so that when you place the dough on it it wont stick. Place the dough on the surface and cut in 10 even pieces. Roll each piece like a sausage and stick the 2 edges together. Dip each ring into the bowl that contains water and sugar, let it drain a bit and then add it in the bowl with the sesame seeds. Place the rings on baking sheets and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. Serve with blue cheese, bacon or even with kalamata olives/ olive paste and sundried tomatoes. Enjoy!





6 comments:

  1. WOW! This is my kind of bread, I'm going to try it tomorrow, thanks for sharing the recipe! ^_^

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  2. P.s. I made them and they are really really delicious but I'm partial as I do love sesame seeds. :D

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! So glad you tried them! Other super delicious option is to fill them with feta cheese! ;)

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    2. Do you mind if I publish your recipe on my blog, I'll put a link to your recipe on your blog.
      I love this bread so much I wish it was known to all my friends here in Italy. ^_^

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    3. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Of course - go ahead! :3
      With your comment you reminded me that i have to take a break from all this studying and start posting some new recipes! I'm so lost in books and reports lately (snif!)

      Love,
      Natasa

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    4. Thank you Natasa, and do publish some more great stuff, I'll be the first to try it! ^_^
      Debora

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