Easy Turkish Flatbread (Bazlama)

Bazlama is a soft and pillowy Turkish flatbread that is so easy to make at home. It’s a great dipping bread and pairs well with saucy dishes like One-Pan Lemon Chicken. It requires only a handful of ingredients, most of which you probably have at home.

key ingredients

• All-Purpose Flour
• Active Yeast
• Unsweetened Greek Yogurt: I used 5% fat greek yogurt.
• Sugar
• Olive Oil
• Water
• Salt

key steps

I tested several recipes and I ended up making about 50 of these flatbreads over one weekend. I was obsessed on getting that pillowy texture that bazlama is famous. Below are my detailed notes on how to make the perfect bazlama:

1. Activate the Yeast: In a large bowl or stand mixer bowl, add the lukewarm water, yeast and sugar. Stir with a spoon or whisk for 10 seconds until the yeast and sugar are dissolved in the water. Let the yeast bloom for about 10 minutes. TIP: Lukewarm water is about 100°F. The yeast is activated when the mixture looks frothy and bubbly.
2. Form the Dough: Set aside about 1/4 cup of the flour. Once the yeast is activated, add the rest of the flour, salt and yogurt to the yeast mixture. Stir the ingredients together until a shaggy dough is formed. Then begin kneading by hand. The dough will feel sticky at first but it will get less sticky as you continue to knead. Add 1 tbsp of the remaining flour to the dough and knead for a minute. Repeat this 3 more times with the remaining flour. Then add the olive oil to the dough and knead for another 1-2 minutes. This is a great video that shows you how the dough should be kneaded and how it eventually comes together. TIP: The dough is ready to be proofed when it’s soft and tacky but also slightly sticky (more notes on what this means below). If using a stand mixer, use a dough hook and use speed 2 for 2 minutes. Then scrape the sides of the bowl and add 1 tbsp of flour to the dough and knead for about 45 seconds. Repeat this step 3 more times with the remaining flour. I like to knead by hand for a final minute after using the stand mixer to feel for the consistency of the dough and to knead the areas that the dough hook didn’t reach.
3. Rest the Dough: Grease the same bowl and the top of the dough with an additional 1 tbsp of olive oil. Cover the dough with cling wrap or towel and let it rest for 1-2 hours in a warm corner of your kitchen until it doubles in size. TIP: I found that resting the dough for about 2 hours produced the best results.
4. Create Dough Balls: Flour your work surface and transfer the dough to it. Gently shape the dough into a a large ball so that it’s easier to divide. Cut the dough into four equal pieces. Fold over the outer corners and edges of each piece into the center to form a smooth ball. Then cover the balls with cling wrap and let them rest for 15 minutes. TIP: Be gentle with the dough during this step. Make sure not to knead the dough further here because we want to minimize gluten formation so that the bread will produce a soft pillowy texture.
5. Shape the Dough: Generously flour your work surface with flour. Then press and flatten one of the balls with your fingers. Gently flatten the ball with a rolling pin to 7″ discs.
6. Cook the Bazlama: Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Then transfer the disc to the pan. Cook for about 20-30 seconds. You should start seeing small bubbles form in the dough. Then flip the bread and cook for another 30 seconds. Then flip the bread again and cook for an additional 30 seconds. If all goes according to plan, the bread should inflate after the 2nd flip. If not, don’t worry. It will still come out delicious. Then flip the bread once more and cook for another 20-30 seconds.
7. Storage Instructions: The best way to keep the bread moist and warm is to cover it with a towel right after it has been cooked. The steam that forms in the towel will help keep the bread moist.
8. Topping Options: Traditional Bazlama is topped with olive oil or butter with freshly chopped parsley and red chili flakes. I like to add a little bit of grated garlic and flaky salt to mine as well.

helpful tips to a soft and pillowy Bazlama

1. Opt for greek yogurt over milk: I tried about 5 different recipes online and the ones with greek yogurt produced a softer pillowy texture. This is due to the yogurt’s acidity which helps the glutens relax.
2. Dough Consistency: The dough is ready when it’s soft and tacky but also slightly sticky. I know…what does this mean? You’ll hear the word “tacky” a lot in various Bazlama recipes. The dough is tacky when you poke it with a finger, the dough releases your finger easily and your finger comes away clean. However, I found that for Bazlama, you want the dough to be slightly sticky so that a tad bit of dough remains on your fingers when it pulls away from the dough. When you start forming the dough, it will feel really wet and sticky and you’ll feel tempted to dump more flour than needed. Be patient and gradually add a little bit of flour at a time as you knead. Also, kneading the olive oil into the dough will also help it form into a soft and tacky dough. The moisture will create steam while it cooks which is what inflates the bread while cooking.
3. Generously Flour Work Surface: When you’re ready to roll out the balls into 7″ discs, make sure to generously flour your work surface and rolling pin. This is key because the flour will help prevent your discs from tearing. If there are any holes or tears in the discs then the bread will not inflate while cooking.
4. Cooking: 30 seconds is really the max time you should be cooking each side. Several recipes mentioned cooking each side for 1-2 minutes which I found was too long. My pan ended up burning each side when I cooked each side for 1 minutes.
5. Final Proof: I found that the final proof of the discs helped with getting the bread to inflate as well so don’t skip this step!