Sfoof - Lebanese Turmeric Buns

These Sfoofs are lovely yeasted buns colored with turmeric and flavored with anise seeds, mahleb, and orange blossom water, and then studded with pistachios. 

These Sfoofs are fragrant and sweet, but not overly so. When they were baking, our house was filled with an amazing aroma from the anise seeds, mahleb (also spelled mahlab), and orange blossom water in the dough.

Mahleb you ask? Evidently, it's a powder made from the ground seeds of the St. Lucy's cherry, which is found in the Mediterranean. It has been used for centuries in the Middle East as a sweet/sour, and nutty addition to breads, pastries, and cookies.

I first bought it to make this Ka'kat, a Middle Eastern snack bread, and have been looking out for more breads where mahleb is used. I've also since used it in ka'ak asfar, a Palestinian bread that also icluded turmeric. 

Most Middle Eastern groceries will have mahleb, and it can also be found online. It's worth hunting it down (says the ingredient hoarder). I think it would be a nice addition to any sweetened or enriched bread.

I found this bread in Jane Mason's wonderful bread book, The Book of Buns, which includes over 50 recipes for buns and rolls from around the world. In the book, the London-based author reports that many of the Lebanese bakeries where she lives carry these.

These are an enriched bread, made with milk, eggs, and butter. They are wonderful eaten plain, or with butter and jam.

This month, the #BreadBakers are baking bread with the theme "Flowers," chosen by Julie of Hostess at Heart. We could bake any bread that reminded us of flowers or Mother's Day. This sfoof recipe includes orange blossom water, which fits the theme, and if you squint, they could look like yellow roses. Right?

Note: I used an orange blossom water from Lebanon, which I found at an international market. I've also seen it at World Market. If you use the Nielsen Massey brand, be sure to use about half the amount, as it is much stronger.

After the recipe, be sure to check out the rest of the flower themed bread recipes.

Sfoof - Lebanese Turmeric Buns Recipe

Ingredients

• 500 grams (4 cups) all purpose flour
• 2.5 grams (1 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast.
• 80 grams (scant 1/2 cup) granulated sugar
• 250 grams (1 cup) milk, scalded and cooled to room temperature
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon anise seeds
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground mahleb (also spelled mahlab)
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water (seen note above)
• 85 grams (6 1/2 tablespoons) butter, softened

For the glaze:

• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon water
• pinch each of sugar and salt
• Handful of pistachios, shelled and roughly chopped

Instructions

1. Add the flour to the bowl of a stand mixer, and make a well in the middle. Drop the yeast and sugar into the well, and cover with the milk. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for one hour.
2. Add the salt around the edge of the bowl, add the eggs, anise seeds, turmeric, mahleb, and orange blossom water. Stir the ingredients together with the dough hook, scrape down the bowl, and then knead with the dough hook for about 8 minutes.
3. Still kneading, add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, and knead until each piece is fully incorporated before adding more. After adding all of the butter, knead for an additional 8 to 10 minutes, until you have a smooth and shiny dough. It will be fairly sticky.
4. Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap for two hours.
5. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper. Gently move the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and divide it into 24 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 8 inch long rope. Take two pieces of dough, and coil them around each other, and then form them into a round, and place the shaped dough onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Keep covered with oiled plastic wrap or a dry tea towel while shaping the rest of the buns. Let rise, covered, for one hour. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
6. Just before baking, whisk together the glaze and lightly brush it over the buns. Sprinkle with the pistachios. Bake the buns, one sheet at a time, for 14 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 12 buns

This month's BreadBakers' theme is Mother’s Day or May Day inspired bread, hosted by Julie at Hostess At Heart. Here's what our creative bakers came up with.

• Almond Rose Bread by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Banana and Chocolate Chip Flower Cake by Sneha's Recipe
• Beetroot Cinnamon Rolls by Herbivore Cucina
• Cheesy Pizza Roses by Food Lust People Love
• Lemon Poppyseed Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Orange Marmalade Rolls by Ambrosia
• Sfoof by Karen's Kitchen Stories

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.
We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.