I tasted Laffa Bread for the first time while visiting my sister over the holidays and it was bread-love at first bite. Chewy and elastic, laffa bread reminds me of both naan and pita bread, with a better flavor and chew.
It is amazing to me that we are able to bake so many different breads, crackers, tortillas, and more, using the same basic ingredients.
The grilling method used for cooking this bread gives it a unique flavor. Laffa bread is typically served with Middle Eastern foods and flavors, although, I’d happily eat this on its own or with just about anything.
We served our laffa bread with hummus as it was coming off the hot pan and then piled on some awesome toppings flatbread-style. (recipe for that will be coming next week!) My boys slathered peanut butter on the leftover pieces and devoured them in an instant.
How To Make Laffa Bread
Ingredients
- 7 cups bread flour plus an additional ½ cup as needed
- 1 package dry rapid rise yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 cups warm water
Instructions
- Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the oil and water and mix with a dough hook until the dough is very smooth and elastic. If you'd rather mix by hand, stir until well combined and then turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
- Place the dough in an oiled mixing bowl and loosely cover with plastic wrap and a lightly cover everything with a tea towel. Set the bowl in a warm corner to rise. When the dough has doubled or more in size (this took about an hour), punch the dough down and divide into 10-12 balls. Place the dough balls on an oiled cookie sheet and cover with a damp tea towel. Let them rest for 10-15 minutes. (This will make them easier to roll out.)
- Preheat a grill pan to medium. Oil a wooden work surface and use your hands to flatten a dough ball against it. Roll it out to about 1/8"-1/4" thickness using your hands or a rolling pin. Place the laffa on the hot grill surface. When the bread begins to puff up and the side touching the grill has grill marks, flip it over. (This only took about 2 minutes on the first side and 60-90 seconds on the other.)
- Place the finished stack of laffa bread in between tea towels to stay warm. Leftover laffa bread can be cooled completely and stored in an airtight bag. Enjoy!
Notes
ONE YEAR AGO: Roasted Garlic Quinoa with Mushrooms
TWO YEARS AGO: Homemade Chai Tea
THREE YEARS AGO: Green Chile and Sausage Scrambled Eggs
Charlene Agurkis says
Could I use Whole Wheat Flour?
Mary says
Sure. Whole wheat flour or half whole wheat and half all purpose flour should work fine.
xaudius Stevens says
What about brown rice flour I'm gluten free? Would that work?
Mary says
You'll need a starch in combination with the brown rice flour, and probably an additional binder, i.e. xanthan gum. I haven't played with a GF version of this recipe yet, but it will need a good bit of tweaking. I'll keep you posted when I have a GF version I'l truly thrilled with!
Amanda @ I Am Baker says
This is a fantastic recipe, I love that it's grilled!
Sue/the view from great island says
Oh that pile of bread on the grill looks so enticing, I just want to grab a big bowl of hummus and dig in…thanks for the shout out Mary!
Rebecca {foodie with family} says
I'm 100% making this when I get home. I could eat my weight in this with hummus. I'm certain.
Big Dude says
This sounds very good Mary
Omri Ike says
You can prepare Shwarma (small pieces of fried pullet and onions + thini) and to warp the Lafa.
Chocolate Lady says
I’ve been on a Middle Eastern food kick and haven’t run across laffa bread. I’m going to try it out! Thank you!