Armenian bread

The table was a mess during lunch but we cleaned it all up fast.

Recipe adapted from Giallo Zafferano
time: 20 min preparation + 90 min inactive + 3x5 min baking

ingredients

• 200 g (1 2/3 cup) flour, high protein
• 110 ml (1/3 cup + 4 Tablespoons) lukewarm water
• 60 g (1/2 cup) olive oil
• 5 g (3/4 teaspoon) salt

instructions

1. Mix water with salt in a cup. In a medium bowl, sift in flour. Pour in salted water and oil. With your fingertips, quickly combine all the ingredients (1 minute). Form a ball and leave it in the bowl covered with a plastic wrap for 30 min in room temperature. 
2. After 30 minutes, kneed the dough with your fingertips grabbing one edge and bringing it to the center 8 times around to make one full circle. Place it upside down in the bowl again, covered with a plastic wrap. Repeat the process 3 times. 
3. Toward the last (third) 30 minutes, turn the oven on 220C/425F (static function) with one baking sheet inside. Cut out three pieces of parchment paper (size of your baking sheet). 
4. After your dough has risen 3 times, dived it in three. Take one piece (the rest should stay covered) and roll it a bit on a rolling board (minimum flour is needed for the board). When the piece of dough is about 20x30cm (8x12inch), pick it up and put it between the back of your hands and start turning it around while stretching till it's about the size of your baking sheet and very thin. Transfer it onto the parchment paper. 
5. Take the hot baking sheet out of the oven. Quickly slide the paper with dough on top and put it in the hot oven for 4-6 min, till you see some light browning here and there (keep an eye on it). Remove it from the oven and place it onto a cooling rack (without the paper). Repeat with the rest.

notes

• something between a cracker and a bread; 
• light, thin, tasty, with a crunch here and there, flaky like nothing I've made before; fun to eat;
• we ate it with a soup, like crackers (w/o dipping); 
• it's soft when just out of the oven; soon after it become crunchy;
• flour should be at least 11% protein (11g in 100g) ; mine was 10% and it was OK; 
• the dough needs to be elastic or it will break;
• if the breaks are small, don't worry about sealing them;
• start stretching the dough from the edges;
• my edges were still thicker than the rest, so I cut them off after baking;
• nice recipe; I like breads and trying something this authentic was a pleasure.