Greek sesame bread rings filled with tachini and dried grapes

Greek sesame bread rings filled with tachini and dried grapes. A recipe you will love, and will make again and again during Lent and not only.

As a food blogger based on Thessaloniki I could not resist on posting a Greek sesame bread rings recipe (koulouria). The recipe for koulouria is well known and has its origin in Thessaloniki. Koulouria can be served with either sweet or savory delicacies, while they have a crunch when you bite into them. 

Greek sesame bread rings

A Greek sesame bread ring is a healthy snack that may be eaten also as quick breakfast. You can find it almost everywhere, in bakeries or on the streets. Especially here in Thessaloniki, in almost every street corner there is a street vendor who sells Greek sesame bread rings early in the morning.

It’s traditional shape it’s like a ring form and is covered with sesame. Nowadays, you may also find it twisted or braided and filled with feta cheese. Koulouria should be eaten fresh, as they tend to turns hard after a few hours of exposure to the air.

The flour

During my research I have found that almost all the recipes use hard flour. But why there is the need for using hard flour? Hard flour is rich in gluten and gives elasticity to the dough. It is considered to be the frist choice when it comes to bread recipes as it gives elasticity to the dough.

In this recipe, however, my goal was not to confuse you with different types of flour. That’s why I used only one, type 55 flour. It’s the same flour I use for my recipe for easy Greek phyllo pie dough, and the type of flour that I use in most of the dough recipes. 

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Recipe notes for Greek bread rings

In this recipe there are two points where the most attention is required, yeast and filling.

The yeast

You have to give the yeast the needed time in order to be activated. Begin with the activation of the yeast before starting the recipe. In a bowl mix lukewarm water, yeast and a pinch of sugar. We use lukewarm water, not hot. If we add hot water the yeast won’t be activated, will die.  

Also, yeast hates salt. On the contrary, yeast loves sugar. So you may add a pinch of sugar to the bowl of the activation. Sugar will help the yeast to be activated.

It will take about 10 minutes for the yeast to activate. In order to be sure that your yeast has been activated check if there is any foam on the surface of the mixture. If we see bubbles on the surface and not foams then we have done something wrong. For instance, the water may not have had the right temperature, or the room temperature is low.

So it’s best to make a new mixture or to wait another 10 minutes.

The filling 

Koulouria may be baked without any filling. If you still wanna add filling make sure it is not too liquid. A liquid filling will give to the koulouria dough excess moisture, while been liquid it will be difficult for handling the bread rings.

Before you begin

• This recipe is for 8 bread rings, 4 with filling and 4 without. If you want all the bread rings to be filled, then you need to double the amount of respective ingredients.   
• Bake the bread rings in a preheated oven at 200 *C. In order to avoid useless electricity consumption I don’t write it at the beginning of the recipe. Turn the oven on after our dough has double in size.
• If you want to get the most out of them you should do half the dose unless you plan to eat 8 bread ring in one day. Why? Because these bread rings tend to dry out relatively easily. So on the day after baking them, will not be the same.   

So this was my recipe for Greek sesame bread rings filled with tachini and dried grapes. A recipe that I hope you will love and make it again and again. Remember that it is important that the yeast is activated properly, and not to choose a very liquid filling.

Whereas, if you want to get the most out of them you should do half the dose unless you plan to eat 8 bread ring in one day. Why? Because these bread rings tend to dry out relatively easily. So on the day after baking them, will not be the same. Bread ring should be fluffy on the inside and crunchy in their outside.   

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