Tahini Çörek Recipe
One of the most delicious things that comes out of these lands is tahini çörek. It is a kind of sugary tahini filled rolled pastry.
Since tahini çörek is mostly bought from bakeries, there is a perception that it is difficult to make at home. It has nothing to do with it. It is much easier to prepare than many of the foods we are used to making at home. The same is valid for home made baklava by the way. My Baklava recipe has lots of comments saying that it is the first time they are trying to make baklava at home and that cannot believe the result. If you have not rolled dough before, you can be sure that you can experience the same astonishing happiness with them when you try this recipe.
How to Make Tahini Çörek?
The logic of making tahini çörek is very simple. The yeast dough is rolled very thinly. The dough has such an easy consistency that it never forces you and rolls easily. Just roll the rolling pin over it. Tahini and sugar are mixed in a bowl. This prepared mixture is poured over the rolled dough and spread gently. This may be the only part that can force you. Since the tahini mixture is not very liquid, it does not spread easily, it is necessary to press it a little bit; but since the dough is thin, it can be torn when pressed too hard. You should patiently do this and be really really gentle.
While rolling the pastry, it may stick to the counter in places. If there is, you can push it with a dough spatula. Even if it's ripped, it's okay, don't worry.
After wrapping the dough in the form of a roll, the thinning part starts. This is one of the most fun thing in the recipe. You grab the rolled clynder in both hands and pull it out. This process makes the dough thinner and your çöreks become more stringy when baked.
After the buns are placed into the tray, they are brushed with egg yolk and molasses mixture, and sprinkled with sesame seeds and baked immediately. After placing them on the tray, it is not expected to swell a little more because we don't want to have a soft çörek. Not soft, but not hard either, we want a stringy çörek. For this, we use yeast dough, but we do not only roll the dough thinly, but also do not let it rise so much.
Enjoy the recipe...
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups of flour,
- 1 cup of warm water,
- 1 tablespoon butter,
- 1 teaspoon of instant yeast,
- 1 tablespoon of sugar,
- 1 cup of tahini,
- 1/2 cup sugar,
- For topping; 1 egg yolk, 1 tablespoon molasses, sesame seeds.
Preparation
- Melt the butter,
- Mix water, melted butter, yeast and sugar in a deep bowl,
- Add the flour little by little and start mixing,
- When the dough is tangible, take it on the counter,
- Knead until you get a firm dough that does not stick to the hand by controlling the consistency of the dough and adding flour when needed,
- Gather the dough, cover and rest for 30 minutes.,
- Mix the tahini and sugar in a separate bowl,
- Take the dough on the counter, knead again and divide it into 4 pieces,
- Take one of the pieces and cover the others,
- Roll the piece as thin as possible with a rolling pin,
- Pour a quarter of the mixture of tahini and sugar on the rolled dough, spread it all over with the back of the spoon and roll the dough away from you into a thin cylinder,
- Take the clynder into two hands and by pulling to both sides gently, thin it,
- Wind the cylinder into a coil (it will look like a sideways snail), press and thin it again,
- Place it into a baking tray covered with greaseproof paper,
- Roll and set other pieces in the same way and place them into the tray,
- Mix egg yolk and molasses in a small bowl,
- Spread the mixture on the buns and sprinkle with sesame seeds,
- Bake in a preheated oven at 190 degrees until golden brown.
Bon Appetit...