Lavash Armenian Thin Bread

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups water, tepid (barely warm, about 105f)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 package quick-rising yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup milk (for topping)
• to taste sesame (for topping)

Recipe

• 1 place the tepid water in your electric mixing bowl and add the olive oil, sugar, and yeast. using the batter blade let the electric mixer blend these very well.
• 2 it will take about 5 minutes on low speed.
• 3 stir in the salt. gradually add 2 cups of the flour and beat on low speed until a thick and smooth batter forms.
• 4 change the blade to a bread dough hook and knead in the additional 2 cups of flour.
• 5 if you do not have a heavy mixer such as a kitchenaid, incorporate the flour with a wooden spoon and finish the kneading by hand.
• 6 kneading should take about 10 minutes in the machine, 20 minutes by hand.
• 7 place the dough on a plastic countertop and cover with a large stainless-steel bowl.
• 8 allow the dough to rise until double in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
• 9 punch the dough down and divide into 8 pieces.
• 10 let stand, covered, 15 minutes.
• 11 roll out each piece of dough into a 12-inch-diameter circle. working with 2 pieces of dough at a time, arrange breads on ungreased baking sheets.
• 12 brush with milk and sprinkle sesame seeds over tops.
• 13 pierce with a fork many times, all over.
• 14 bake on the lowest racks in the oven, at 375f, for 8-10 minutes, or until light brown.
• 15 rotate the pans in the oven from top to bottom, to insure even browning.
• 16 serve dry or wet. (to wet, hold the cracker under running water until lightly moistened all over, and then wrap in a moist towel for 10-15 minutes.) if the cracker is too dry to roll, it will crack.
• 17 sprinkle with a little more water and let stand a few minutes.
• 18 if it is too wet, cover with a dry towel and let it stand.