Lazy Tutmanik (Easy Bulgarian Cheese Bread)

Name: Lazy Tutmanik (Easy Bulgarian Cheese Bread)
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Bulgarian
Ingredients: About 3¼ cups all-purpose flour (400 g), more or less depending on the brand; 1 packet dry yeast (or ½ cube fresh yeast); ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon lukewarm milk (200 ml); ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water (200 ml); 1 tablespoon honey; ⅓ cup oil (80 ml), divided; 4 large eggs; 1 teaspoon salt, or less depending on how salty your feta is; About 10½ oz crumbled feta cheese (300 g), or more or less to taste; A little butter, cut into small pieces or thin slices, for the top

My Baba's quick no-knead Bulgarian cheese bread — everything is mixed with a wooden spoon, left to rise briefly, then baked until golden and fluffy.

Serves

8-10

Time

1 hr

Lazy Tutmanik (Easy Bulgarian Cheese Bread)

My Baba's quick no-knead Bulgarian cheese bread — everything is mixed with a wooden spoon, left to rise briefly, then baked until golden and fluffy.

Instructions

Activate the Yeast

1
In a deep bowl or large measuring cup, combine the lukewarm milk, lukewarm water, yeast, honey, and 1 tablespoon of the measured oil.
2
Stir everything together. You don't need to wait until the yeast becomes completely foamy — just let it begin activating while you prepare the flour and feta cheese.

Make the First Batter

1
Sift about half of the flour into a large mixing bowl.
2
Pour in the milk, water, yeast, honey, and oil mixture.
3
Using a wooden spoon, mix very well.
4
Then begin adding the remaining flour gradually, a little at a time, stirring well after each addition. You may not need every last bit of flour — the exact amount depends on the brand you use.
5
You are looking for a thick, sticky batter — not a firm bread dough.
6
Cover the bowl and let it rise for about 20 minutes. As it rises, the mixture will become puffy, bubbly, and a little looser than it was before rising. That is exactly what you want.
7
If you want to speed up the rise, use my warm-oven method: warm the oven very briefly, then turn it completely off. Place the covered bowl inside the gently warm oven — it should only be warm, not hot, so the batter doesn't start baking.

Prepare the Egg Mixture

1
While the first batter is rising, whisk together the 4 eggs, the remaining oil, and the salt.
2
Remember that the salt can be adjusted depending on how salty your feta cheese is.
3
Crumble the feta and set it aside.

Finish the Batter

1
Once the first mixture has risen and become bubbly, pour the egg, oil, and salt mixture into the large bowl with the risen batter.
2
Using a wooden spoon, mix very well until everything is fully combined.
3
Add the crumbled feta cheese and mix again.
4
The final mixture should still look like a very thick cake batter, not regular bread dough. There is no kneading in this recipe.
5
If needed, you can add a little more flour, but only a little. Keep the mixture soft and spoonable.

Prepare the Pan

1
Lightly grease a rectangular baking dish if needed. If your pan is very nonstick, you may not need much, but I like to grease mine lightly just to be safe.
2
Pour the batter into the pan and spread it evenly.

Add the Butter

1
Cut a little butter into small pieces or thin slices.
2
Place the butter pieces over the top of the batter. As the tutmanik bakes, the butter melts into the top and creates delicious little buttery pockets.

Bake

1
Bake at 350°F until beautifully golden on top and fully baked through.
2
Let it cool slightly before slicing.

Toti’s Tips

✓Split the oil between the yeast mixture and the egg mixture as directed, since each portion serves a different job — one helps activate the yeast, the other enriches the batter.
✓Don't knead this dough, since it's meant to stay a thick, sticky batter rather than a firm bread dough, and kneading would only make it dense.
✓Add the flour gradually because different brands absorb liquid differently, and adding too much turns the batter stiff instead of soft and pourable.
✓Let the first batter rise until puffy and bubbly before adding the eggs, since this step builds the air bubbles that give the finished bread its light texture.
✓Adjust the salt based on how salty your feta is, since feta varies a lot and overly salty feta plus a full teaspoon of salt can overwhelm the bread.
✓Keep the final batter looser rather than stiff, since a softer mixture bakes up into a lighter, fluffier tutmanik.
✓Don't skip the small butter pieces on top, since they melt down into the batter as it bakes and create rich, buttery pockets throughout.
✓Let it cool slightly before slicing so the inside finishes setting and doesn't collapse under the knife while still too hot.

Storage

•Best served warm with plain Bulgarian yogurt, extra feta cheese, or simply on its own.
•Leftovers are still wonderful the next day. Just warm them gently before serving.