31 Days of Bread in July: Turkish Simit

I really enjoyed making this Turkish Simit, and it turned out so well.  I want to make it on a regular basis now.  I looked around to find a good recipe, but once again there were so many different recipes out there so I made up my own after comparing the ones I found.  I made a video to show it step by step, since it is easier to make something when you see how it is done.  

 Because I am making bread every day this month, and because I didn't know if it would turn out or if I would even like it, I made a smaller recipe.  It can easily be doubled.  It sure was fun to try something new that I had never made before.  

Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

1/4 teaspoon white sugar

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil

6 Tablespoons additional water (approximately)

1/3 cup molasses

1/3 cup water 

Sesame seeds

In a small cup or bowl, mix the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup water.  Let it sit for 10 minutes to let the yeast proof.

In a medium size bowl, put in your flour.  Make an indentation in the middle and add the proofed yeast mixture.  Add salt, oil, and additional water, a little at a time until your dough feels no longer sticky.  Let it rise for an hour or until doubled.  Divide dough into two parts.  Take one part and roll into a long rope.  Fold the rope in half and twist together.  Shape twist into a circle and pinch the ends together.  

Put a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Mix molasses and water together in a cereal sized bowl.  Put sesame seeds in different bowl around the same size.  Dip you twisted bread circle into the mixture and turn over so both sides are covered.  Then dip both sides in the sesame seeds.  As you can see from my picture, I ran out of regular sesame seeds part way through so I added some leftover black sesame seeds I happened to have in the cupboard for the second half.  Place circles on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Let the dough rise about 20-30 minutes. 

After the dough has risen, then preheat oven to 425 degrees.  The dough will have a chance to rise a few more minutes while the oven is getting hot.  Bake until golden brown, around 18 - 20 minutes depending on how hot your oven is.  Place on a cooling rack to let the bread cool.  Enjoy!