Crisp and chewy, sweet with notes of sesame bitterness, Armenian tehina bread is probably unlike any bread you’ve ever eaten. This recipe caught my eye, leafing through the Saveur 100, which described the bread as a cross between halvah and a croissant. Naturally, I had to try it.
The process is a bit peculiar. The recipe begins as most breads do, with some yeast and flour, sugar and water, a little kneading, a bit of rising. Then the recipe veers off into strange territory. The next step is rolling out the dough, pizza style, and spreading it with copious amounts of tehina paste. Instead of mozzarell, you sprinkle the pie with sugar. Now your pizza pie becomes a doughnut as you poke a hole in its middle and gradually roll the edges of the hole into the pie. Finally, you get a circular rope of dough, plump with tehina and sugar. You cut the rope into segments, roll them into cinnamon buns, and flatten them. A spritz of water and into the oven. C’est tout.
The result is, well, homely—flattish browned discs leaking a bit of sugary tehina in spots. Odd appearances aside, these breads are wonderfully crunchy and chewy, especially when they’re still warm. Perfect with a glass of hot tea. I took them to a birthday party where they were devoured faster than the birthday cake. Careful whom you feed them to. By the end of the night I got two marriage proposals from perfect strangers.
armenian tahini bread
adapted from Saveur magazine
I halved the recipe and used natural cane sugar and organic, whole (dark) tehina. I’m curious as to whether the recipe is traditionally prepared with sugar or honey. A Veggie Venture includes an alternative (and less messy) method for filling and rolling the dough into ropes.
3 1/2 grams package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups plus 1/2 tsp. sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups well-stirred tahini (sesame seed paste)
- Stir together yeast, 1/2 tsp sugar, and 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl; set aside to let rest until frothy, 8–10 minutes.
- Sift and stir flour, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl, then add yeast mixture, 1 TBSP oil, and 1/2 cup water; stir into a rough dough.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 8–10 minutes. Nestle dough into a large bowl greased with remaining oil. Cover with plastic wrap; let sit in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Divide dough into 2 balls, cover with a towel, and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Working on a lightly floured surface with 1 ball at a time, roll dough out into a 25″ circle (keep remaining dough covered). Gently spread half the tahini evenly over the dough and sprinkle with half the remaining sugar.
- Make a 1″ hole in center of circle and begin rolling and stretching inner lip of dough hole toward outward edge of dough to create a large, rolled-up “doughnut”.
- Cut doughnut into 3 equal ropes. Tightly coil each rope so that it resembles a cinnamon roll, then flatten each with your hand into a dough round on a lightly floured surface.
- Roll out each round into a 7″ circle, then transfer the circles to parchment paper–lined baking sheets, keeping them spaced apart.
- Let rest while you repeat the process with the remaining dough.
- Mist each round of dough generously with water and bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets.
Makes 6 rolls.
