Garlic Butter Glazed Talami Bread - #BreadBakers

“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight.” —M.F.K. Fisher

I wish I could say that Fall was finally here and it is cooling down, but I can't.  The truth is that we really don't have seasons here, but everyone would agree that September and early October are always hot and humid with very little trade winds to cool us down. This combination makes for a miserable time that has me second-guessing whether I should turn on my oven.  Baking bread is one thing that convinces me it is worth it.

This month the Bread Bakers are baking Middle Eastern Breads.  I choose to bake talami which is a Lebanese bread known for being soft, light, airy, and chewy with a crispy exterior. The dough for this bread is like no other bread I have baked so far as it is actually poured onto the tray to bake - yes I said poured. Also, it is mixed with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, no dough hook required.

This recipe has very few ingredients to measure out so it is very quick to put together and have ready for proofing. As the bread was proofing I managed to do some laundry and cleaning, and then before I knew it the bread was in the oven baking and my house began to smell like a bakery.  Seriously, is there any better smell than bread baking?  I think not.

Talami does not take long to bake, and once it is out of the oven and still hot, glaze it with the garlic butter and try not to rip off a piece to eat immediately.  Wait at least a few minutes or you will burn your fingers. Of course once we started eating it we could not stop.  It is absolutely delicious and would be great with hummus or baba ganoush, and it would be equally good if you sliced it in half and made paninis with it. You could also omit the garlic butter and top it with sesame seeds or za'atar.

If you would like to know more about the Bread Bakers and see what the other bakers made for the Middle Eastern Breads theme please scroll down below the recipe.

Garlic Butter Glazed Talami Bread
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients
Bread ~

• 1 packet (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
• 50g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
• 500ml (2¼ cups) warm water 40.5℃ - 43℃ (105-110°F), divided
• 540g (4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 20g (1 tablespoon) kosher salt
• 20ml (2 tablespoons) neutral oil, such as canola or safflower

Garlic Butter Topping ~

• 30g (2 tablespoons) salted butter, very soft
• 1 clove garlic, green sprout removed, grated or minced
• pinch kosher salt

Preparation

Bread & Topping ~ 

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the yeast, sugar, and 55ml (¼ cup) of the water; set aside until it is creamy and starting to bubble a bit, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt, whisking to combine.
3. Add 225 ml (1 cup) of the water and 270g (2 cups) of the flour to the yeast mixture and stir by hand with the paddle attachment to combine.
4. Attach the paddle and on low speed, add the remaining 270g (2 cups) flour and 225ml (1 cup water). Once the mixture is combined, increase the speed and beat on medium-high until the dough is smooth and batter-like and climbing all the way up the paddle, about 5 minutes.
5. Coat a medium sized bowl with a teaspoon of canola oil, and also coat a rubber spatula or rubber bench scraper. 
6. Use the coated scraper to scrape the dough from the paddle and the bowl and transfer the dough to the coated bowl.
7. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (not touching the dough), and cover that with a clean kitchen towel. Set it aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, 1½ to 2 hours.
8. Gently deflate the risen dough by gently scraping it down the sides of the bowl with the oiled spatula or bench scraper, folding it over on itself a few times.
9. Cover the bowl again with the plastic and towel and set it aside in a warm place to rise again for 30 minutes while the oven and pan heat up.
10. Meanwhile, line a 23cm x 33cm x 5cm (9 x 13 x 2-inch) quarter sheet pan with nonstick foil (this nonstick foil is key) and place in the oven on the middle shelf and heat to 260℃ (500°F) for 30 minutes.
11. When the dough has risen, remove the sheet pan from the oven and coat it with the remaining neutral oil.
12. Use the oiled scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough from the bowl as you pour it into the hot sheet pan. Start at one short end of the sheet pan and fill it with the dough as you move the bowl along with the dough to the other end of the pan.
13. Use your oiled fingers or the bench scraper to very gently push the dough into the corners of the pan. It won’t be perfect, and that’s fine. Less touching is better.
14. Brush some of the oil taken from the corners of the pan (the dough pools the oil a touch in the corners) over the top of the dough.
15. Reduce the oven temperature to 220℃ (425°F).
16. Bake the bread until it is deep golden brown, about 20 minutes or so.
17. While the bread bakes, make the garlic butter glaze by stirring the garlic into the softened butter with a big pinch of kosher salt.
18. When the bread is done, set the hot pan on a rack.
19. Glaze the top by generously coating it with the garlic butter using a small knife or spatula.
20. When it’s cool enough to handle, remove the bread from the pan and cool on a rack until it is nearly room-temperature before slicing into pieces to serve.

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient - mahalo to Karen from Karen's Kitchen Stories for hosting this month. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

And don’t forget to check out all the amazing breads baked by our talented bakers ~

• Baked Pita Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Eggless Challah Bread from Cook with Renu
• Fatayer Jebneh (Arabic Cheese Pie) from Food Lust People Love
• Garlic Butter Glazed Talami Bread from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Jerusalem Bagels from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Kaak from Ambrosia
• Khobz Al Khameer (Traditional Emirati Bread) from Ruchik Randhap
• Kubaneh from Gayaythri's Cook Spot
• Laffa from Sizzling Tastebuds 
• Manakeesh from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Maneesh from The Mad Scientist's Kitchen
• Nan-e-Barbari from Anybody Can Bake
• Rose Shaped Dinner Rolls - Turkish Pogaca Pastry from Sneha's Recipe
• Tahinli Ekmek | Turkish Tahini Bread from Bread and Dreams
• Vegetarian Lahmacun (Turkish Pizza Snack) from Cook's Hideout