Simit: The Sweet and Savory Turkish Bagel

I had never heard of simits before reading this recipe, but I was excited to try something new, and these turned out so delicious! As always, I started out with the mise en place:

I mixed and kneaded the flour, water, salt, and yeast together in my stand mixer for several minutes until the ingredients were well-incorporated and the dough was smooth.

Meanwhile, I had a lot of fun beating the butter with my rolling pin to soften it without warming it up too much.

I added the (still cold) butter to the dough bit by bit until it was all incorporated and then continued to knead the dough until it was silky smooth.

I covered the dough and let it rise. After 45 minutes I did a fold. The dough was super supple and extensible and was such a pleasure to handle!

I let the dough rest for another 45 minutes. Toward the end of this time I prepared the molasses bath and sesame seeds for the topping.

Shaping was surprisingly easy. I cut the dough into 24 pieces, then rolled each one out into a long rope. Then two ropes were twisted together by rolling up with one hand while rolling down with the other. Then the twist was wrapped around the hand and rolled together.

Before setting the simits aside to rise I dipped each one into a molasses bath and then into sesame seeds. I covered the trays and let them rise for half an hour while I preheated the oven.

My husband was preparing to fry some chicken while I was making the simits and he suggested frying a couple. Friends, this was a very good idea! They were wonderful fried, and a bit of cinnamon sugar on top made them even better!

With the fried simits consumed, it was time to bake the rest of the batch.

These simits turned out so well! They have the slightest hint of sweetness from the molasses bath, but the dough and sesame seeds are savory. We enjoyed them with breakfast until they were gone (and I was sad when they were gone). If you have never made (or tried) simits before, I would definitely recommend them.

Until the next time: may your yeast always rise and your flour never run out.