Lepinja (Serbian Flatbread)

I had a Croatian coworker who would bake this anytime we had a celebration at work. I finally got her to share her recipe with me. I’ve had to tweak it quite a bit because some ingredients she doesn’t measure and of those she does, she uses metrics.

Original recipe makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
1 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

PREP

30 mins
COOK

20 mins
READY IN

2 hrs 50 mins

Directions

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk in a small bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam. Stir the warm water and sugar into the yeast mixture.
Stir the flour and salt together in a separate bowl; add all but about 1/2 cup of the flour mixture to the yeast mixture; mix with your hands until a soft dough forms, adding the last of the flour mixture a little at a time until it clears the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with a light cloth and let the dough rise in a warm place (80 to 95 degrees F (27 to 35 degrees C)) until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Deflate, or ‘punch down,’ the dough and turn out onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour; knead for about 5 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover again with a light cloth, and allow the dough to again rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes more.
Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
Deflate the dough and turn turn out onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour; knead lightly. Place the dough onto the prepared baking sheet; shape into an oval about 1/2-inch thick. Set aside to rise a third time for about 30 minutes.
Bake in the preheated oven until nicely browned and hollow sounding when thumped, 20 to 25 minutes.