Simit (Turkish Style Sesame Bagel) - Low Carb, Grain & Gluten Free

Happy Sunday! This morning I woke up early at 6:30 and was in the mood to experiment in the kitchen a bit. It's a gloomy and rainy day here today. Yesterday we finished up with our planting for the season. I planted 3 hydrangea bushes, 2 butterfly bushes and transplanted some plants and planted geraniums in big pots on our patio. I'm glad we got them into the ground yesterday since today is a wash out, literally! I am still on my search for Copper River Salmon. Yesterday morning we got to Costco as soon as they opened. They had been expecting it to be delivered this week but their delivery did not come in. The only place I have been able to locate it in the Atlanta area is at the retail market at Atlanta Fish Market for $60/pound. While I love Copper River Salmon, $60/lb seems a bit unreasonable. If any of you have been able to find it fresh (not frozen) in the area...please share where!

For some reason, when I woke up this morning, I was thinking about Simit (essentially a Turkish style sesame bagel of sorts). It's considered to be "Istanbul street food" because it's sold from carts on street corners all over the city. It is best when it is hot. I remember traveling to Turkey when I was younger and it was sold from carts where it was piled high on trays or on long wooden spikes by men walking around selling it. It was always nice and hot and so good. Unfortunately, since it is a flour based bread, duplicating it without using wheat flour is a bit of a challenge. I began experimenting with my recipe this morning and for the first try, I'm excited. Even if I never get any closer than this morning's version, I'm ecstatic but I'd like to try a couple of other ideas and tweaks to see if I can make it even better. These are delicious, hot and chewy (a rare find in grain free bread) and the toasted sesame flavor is so good. I had half of a simit with my eggs and bacon for breakfast this morning. I will come back later and add the recipe to this post, but I wanted you to take a look at how nicely they turned out. I snapped some photos below. Enjoy!

Before going into the oven

Fresh out of the oven

Simit - Grain Free Turkish Style Sesame Bagel/Bread

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces (2 cups) shredded mozzarella

3 ounces brick style cream cheese

1 cup almond flour

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan (powdery style)

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

2 tablespoons molasses (I used black strap molasses)

3 tablespoons water

1/3 to 1/2 cup sesame seeds (or about 2 ounces)

Olive oil (to lightly oil hands before handling dough)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place mozzarella and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Heat cheese in microwave on high for 45 seconds; stir and heat an additional 30 to 45 seconds or until a hot melted mass of cheese is formed.

While cheese is melting in microwave, stir almond flour, Parmesan, and salt together in a small bowl. Add flour mixture and egg to bowl of hot melted cheese. Working quickly, fold and stir mixture together with a rubber spatula until a ball of dough is formed (make sure cheese mixture is hot before adding flour and egg). In a small bowl, mix molasses and water together (mixture will be thin). Place sesame seeds in a shallow bowl or plate. 

Press dough into bottom of bowl, flattening top down to even out. Divide into 4 even pieces (I cut it into fourths with a knife). Lightly oil hands with olive oil, if desired, to prevent dough from sticking. Using your hands, form dough into a 10 to 12-inch long rope, approximately 1-inch in diameter. Form the rope into a circle and press ends together to seal. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush molasses mixture on both sides of dough circles, then place into sesame seeds, lightly pressing them into both sides of simit. Place on parchment lined baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until golden brown (rotate pan half way through for even browning). Serve spread with butter or jam, if desired.

*Note: If dough is too soft to handle, allow to cool for a minute or two to firm up a bit.