Homemade Turkish Simit

Simit is the most famous street food in Turkey. It is crunchy and nutty on the outside and soft and a little chewy on the inside. Sesame seed coated simits make the best breakfast in this world when accompanied by cheese, tomatoes, cucumber and a cup of tea. 

Simit is one of our favorite Turkish bread recipes. We’ve shared several other breads so far. If you love baking breads, check out our pide bread recipe, lavash recipe and country-style flatbread bazlama!

Jump to:

• What Is Simit?
• Bread For Breakfast
• More Turkish Savory Pastries
• Ingredients
• How To Make 
• Tips & Tricks
• How To Eat
• Frequently Asked Questions
• More Bread Recipes
• More Turkish Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

What Is Simit?

Simit is a type of Turkish bread mostly eaten as a breakfast food. It is known as the meal of the busy people or poor people because it is the cheapest street food in Turkey. We pair it with a glass of Turkish tea for breakfast and with the yogurt drink named ayran for lunch.

As for the meaning; the Turkish word simit got an entry in Oxford dictionary in 2019 and is described as follows: A type of ring-shaped bread roll originating in Turkey, typically coated with molasses and encrusted with sesame seeds before baking. 

Oh and if you don't have a single idea about how to make simit, look for a store called Simit Sarayı around you. It is a chain store selling various types of simit all around the world. If you can't find it, then you have to give this simit recipe a try at home!

Bread For Breakfast

Simit bread is the best grab-and-go breakfast for many working people and students during weekdays in Turkey. They mostly buy simit and cheese together either on the way to work/school or at their workplace/school. There is always a simit vendor you can find nearby. They sell fresh sesame simits and small packages of cream cheese together in their small carts. And you buy a simit and a cheese together for the quickest breakfast ever. 

Simits are also a staple for a traditional Turkish breakfast. Make the world-famous menemen or Turkish eggs çilbir and serve with some crispy simits. You will feel in heaven!

More Turkish Savory Pastries

• Cheese Borek
• Pogacha Recipe
• Sigara Borek Recipe
• Kusbasili Pide Recipe Homemade
• Turkish Sesame Pepper Bread

Ingredients

You need a simple dough and a sweet nutty coating for a tasty simit recipe. 

For the Dough:

• 500g (3 + ¼ cup) flour 
• 2 tablespoon dry instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 300ml warm water

For The Coating:

• ½ cup molasses (grape or date)
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 300g (about 1 and ½ cups) toasted sesame seeds

Pro Tip: The amount of protein in flour is important to have the right flavor in simit, it must be 13 or more. We searched for the right flour at the market, but it wasn’t very easy, so we had to visit a few markets and finally found one with 14. Check out its label before buying!

How To Make 

The recipe has 4 folds.

First,  make the dough. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast and salt. Gradually pour in the water and mix it with your hand.

Knead it for 5 minutes or until you get a smooth and non-sticky, elastic dough. Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer with a dough hook for this step.

Cover it and let it rise for about 1 hour, until it doubles in size.

Second, prepare the simit coating. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the molasses, water and flour. Set it aside. Put the sesame seeds in another bowl. Put it aside. If the sesame seeds are raw, toast them in a pan beforehand.

Third, shape the simit dough. When the dough doubles in size after 1 hour, punch it down and transfer on a floured surface. Shape it into a log and cut it into 6 equal pieces. And then cut each piece into two. You will have 12 pieces in total.

Grab two pieces and roll them into a rope, 20 inches/50cm in length. Put these side by side and stick the ends by pinching.

Twist in opposite directions to make a braid. Combine the two ends by pinching them together and make a ring. Repeat this for the remaining dough balls.

Fourth, coat the simit dough and bake. Soak the simit ring into the molasses mixture first and then put it into the sesame seed bowl. Transfer onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven(425F/220C) for 15-20 minutes, until golden. 

Note: You can use whole wheat flour in this simit recipe as we have done before. Please see the images below. They turn out a bit harder and crunchier but still tastes good.

Tips & Tricks

• Use toasted sesame seeds for a good simit taste. If you can’t find them toasted at the market, toast them yourself beforehand. To do this, heat a non-stick pan and toast the sesame seeds by stirring occasionally until light brown and you feel that nutty flavor.
• In the coating mixture, don’t leave the flour out. It gives a consistency and helps the mixture stick on the dough ring.
• For a crunchier result, just like we do when baking bread, spray some water into the oven right after you put the prepared dough rings in the oven.

How To Eat

You can eat simits in several ways:

1. Eat them as they are, just pairing with a drink like tea or ayran.
2. You can prepare a sandwich. Cut it into two lengthwise. Place cheese, tomatoes and lettuce leaves in between. Or you can even make a chocolate sandwich with it. Just spread some nutella between two halves and enjoy!
3. You can use chopped simit as a topping on your soup. You can even make croutons. Just heat simit pieces in a pan over the stove or in a baking sheet in the oven until crunchy. Sprinkle some on your soup, you will love it.
4. Just like crackers or tortilla chips, you can eat simit with your dips. Get a piece and dip it into spicy acuka sauce, hummus or cheese dips! YUM!

Frequently Asked Questions

More Turkish Recipes

Print

📖 Recipe