Flatbreads!

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I really think sourdough-leavened flatbreads deserve a more prominent place in the repertoire of beginner sourdough bakers, as well as anyone who really likes freshly baked bread. It’s hard to imagine something simpler and more convenient to make, and flatbreads avoid a lot of the issues that vex beginner artisan bread bakers like proper loaf shaping, proper proofing time, scoring, getting good oven spring. (They’re also energy efficient/eco-friendly because flatter bread cooks so much more quickly.) They can even be baked on a stovetop if you don’t have an oven. A toaster oven works great for small batches and heats up fast.

There are solid reasons why flatbreads are the daily bread of choice for much of the world, especially where fuel is scarce or people don’t always have the luxury of being able to fool around with their dough for hours.

I recently went on a trip, and I took a bit of my starter with me on two flights across ~5000 miles and 6 time zones (in the form of a dry ball of dough smaller than your thumb–not a liquid) and while we were running around doing things almost all day every day I still made bread a few times. How? Flatbreads! Made from refrigerated no-knead dough. No proofing. Very flexible wide range for the bulk fermentation time. Bake in ten minutes or less. Eat almost immediately–no waiting 1 hour + for it to cool.

About the only downside I find is that they go stale very fast. But because they’re so quick to make, after all you can easily make more fresh whenever you want!

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I use a variation of the overnight no-knead “master dough” recipe I use for almost everything–on my trip I didn’t use any measuring tools at all because I’m very familiar with this dough, but below are typical percentages:

100% A P flour (can sub in some/all whole grain too!)
65% water (if you have a scale, otherwise just add water slowly and go by texture)
2% salt (or to taste)
1-4% starter, cold from the fridge (depending on the room temperature and the desired rising time, and doesn’t have to be very precise, especially for flatbreads)

Mix everything, cover, let ferment overnight, with one stretch/fold sometime during the rise (or not, really–but I think it gives a nicer texture). Refrigerate in a plastic bag until needed, use within 5-7 days (or so).

It takes perhaps 5-10 minutes of hands-on time at most, that you can fit in whenever it’s convenient. And with the dough in the fridge you can have fresh bread ready to eat anytime within minutes–especially if you have a toaster oven or gas stove and make your bread extra thin).

To make “Afghani style” naan bread, for example–as shown in photo–heat a baking tray in the oven at 450-475 fahrenheit, tear off a chunk of dough, shape into a flattened circle or oval about 1 cm thick, let rest while the oven is heating. Then dimple all over with your fingertips, and grab each end, stretching the dough to the length of your baking tray or to desired length, and place directly onto the hot tray. Bake for 10 minutes or until browned spots begin to form on the top and bottom.

Eat as soon as it’s cool enough to handle. Wrapping in a cloth will keep it warm longer and/or keep it softer. Eat any way you like: plain, buttered, with jam, cream cheese, dipped in soups or sauces, used for sandwiches, with cheeses, dipped in olive oil, whatever.

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Flatbreads like your Afghani style naan are in my list of favorite breads to eat!
Thanks for sharing your travel methods. It’s good to know you can bake them on a baking sheet since that’s something you’ll always find in an airbnb/vrbo kitchen.

When I make a batch of 8, I use my cast iron pan on the stove. For more, I heat up my baking stone to do 4-5 at a time. Here are pics of the biggest batch I’ve ever made:

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Thank you bakerman789. I have wanted to make naan style bread for a while, and you made it look easy. Any idea how I would add some garlic to this? Add it to the dough or brush with garlic butter after they come out of the oven perhaps? Also, did you have any issues with them sticking to the hot pan?

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There’s a cafe that I like which sells some lovely sandwiches which I often buy for work. While their tuna baguettes are really nice it’s not the easiest thing to eat. So I tried their chicken and avocado wrap. Not only was it very tasty but with it being a wrap it was far easier to eat. I hear you when you think they deserve a more prominent place. If I would stick to only wraps/flatbreads I would miss my sourdough loaves but they do have a place. Especially with certain types of fillings.

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I would probably brush on some garlic butter right as it came out! I’ve never tried that but I expect the hot crust would absorb the butter and stay extra soft. I know that works well with dinner rolls to give them a soft crust and I think that’s the common way to make Indian-style butter naan.

As for the dough not sticking, I just use enough flour when shaping to keep it from adhering to my hands and work surface, and that’s always enough to keep it from sticking to the pan. It starts to cook immediately once it hits so unless the dough is actually sticking to your hands as it goes in there’s no way it’s going to stick to the pan, and even then it may release on its own as it cooks, like tortillas kind of do. You could always use parchment paper but I find it’s a waste as it’s just not necessary. If you were baking on porous stone or brick you might have to be a little more careful.

Speaking of which, I might add you do want to be cognizant of the material of the pan/baking sheet–a lot of non-stick-type materials aren’t safe for temperatures that high…

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I love eating things in tortillas, etc. Especially since we learned how to make good homemade tortillas… :thinking:

Actually reminds me: the other day I tried my hand at making something like “pan árabe”/“tortillas árabes” after reading about it in a book and online. Apparently it’s this special type of tortilla from Puebla, Mexico, used to make tacos árabes, which, as the name kind of implies is a fusion dish with Levantine-Mexican origins. Basically they’re like thin pita breads cooked and treated like flour tortillas, ie, a yeast-leavened tortilla de harina if you will (yeast is common but I used sourdough).

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