Laffa Recipes

HOW TO MAKE LAFFA BREAD

Steps:

• 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!

LAFFA

Steps:

• Mix together ½ cup water, the yeast, and sugar in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed until blended. Add the yeast mixture, another ½ cup water, and the oil and mix on low until the dough forms a ball that pulls clear of the sides and bottom of the bowl. (If after a minute the mixture doesn't form a ball, add a tablespoon of water.) The moment the dough starts to pull clear of the bottom of the bowl, add remaining ½ cup water and continue mixing until incorporated. The dough should feel tacky when slapped with a clean hand, but it should not stick. (If it sticks, add more flour, a tablespoon at a time.)
• Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about an hour. Alternatively, let it rise in the refrigerator overnight. Preheat the oven to 500°, with a rack in the upper third. Place a baking stone or an inverted baking sheet in the oven to preheat as well.
• Roll the dough into 8 balls the size of baseballs. Cover with a cloth and let rise until they are about the size of softballs.
• For laffa: Roll each dough ball as thin as possible (less than ⅛ inch is ideal-the laffa should be the size of a Frisbee) with a floured rolling pin on a floured work surface. Drape one laffa over your outstretched hand and quickly invert it onto the baking stone or baking sheet, quickly pulling any wrinkles flat. Bake the laffa until puffy and cooked through, about 1 minute. Serve immediately.
• For pita: Roll each dough ball to about a ¼-inch thickness (about the size of a hockey puck) with a floured rolling pin on a floured work surface. Place one or two at a time on the baking stone or baking sheet and bake until puffed and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Serve immediately, or let cool.

LAFFA BREAD

Steps:

• 1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add oil and water. If you are making by hand (which is the easiest way), add liquid ingredients to dry ingredient bowl, and mix by hand for a few minutes until dough is well combined and coming together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about ten minutes until smooth and elastic. If you are using a food processor, process for about sixty seconds until a very smooth, soft, and slightly sticky ball forms. If you are using a mixer, mix with dough hook until the dough is very smooth, soft, and elastic. 2. Place dough in a large oiled bowl, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and then cover it with a tea towel. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free corner. Let rise for about one hour, until the dough has at least doubled in size. Divide the dough into twelve equal balls, and then roll them until smooth. Place the balls on an oiled baking sheet. Cover them with a damp tea towel and let rest for about ten minutes. Resting makes dough easier to roll out since the gluten strands relax. 3. Heat a flat griddle pan to medium. Alternatively, you can use an upside-down wok or a large frying pan. Take a dough ball in your hands and flatten it out on an oiled wooden surface. Roll it out with a rolling pin or use your hands to make a circle about twelve inches in diameter. Place it on the hot surface. When the edges look dry and bread is expanding turn it over. Laffa only takes a few minutes to grill. Place finished Laffa in between some kitchen towels to keep warm. Laffa is best cooked last minute. Serve laffa with hummus and vegetables, schwarma, grilled kabobs, grilled kufte, salads or falafel. You can freeze laffa by wrapping in heavy duty foil and you can reheat them in a 350°F oven still wrapped for a few minutes. This recipe can be cut in half. Recipe posted with permission from Sephardic Baking from Nona and More Favorites: A Collection of Recipes For Baking Desayuno And More.

ICELANDIC SNOWFLAKE BREADS (LAUFABRAUD)

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and sugar. Mix in the butter and hot milk until a stiff dough is formed.
• Turn out onto a lightly oiled surface and knead until smooth and cooled.
• Divide dough into four parts. Shape each into a ball. Divide each into 4 parts to make 16, then divide each of the resulting balls into 2 parts to total 32.
• Cover baking sheets with waxed paper and dust the waxed paper lightly with flour.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out each part of dough to make a thin round about 8 inches in diameter. Place the rounds on the floured waxed paper. Chill 30 minutes.
• In a skillet, heat 2 inches of fat to 375° to 400°F Vegetable shortening or corn or peanut oil may be used but the authentic fat is lard.
• Fold the dough rounds, one at the time, into quarters, and, with a sharp-tipped knife, make little cuts and cut-outs in the dough. (Remember the paper snowflakes we cut out as kids?).
• Fry the bread rounds, until golden brown, about 1 minute on each side. Remove and drain on paper toweling.
• When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.
• Store in an airtight container in a cool place or in the freezer until ready to serve.