How To Make Somun The Best Bread For Ćevapi

Chasing the Donkey may include affiliate links - if you decide to make a purchase through these links, we receive a commission without any additional cost to you. Disclaimer & privacy policy.
Post author Vedran

Written by our local expert Vedran

Vedran is a total food lover from Croatia. He creates recipes from his kitchen in Zagreb using fresh produce from his garden.

Bread big all over the Balkans. Here in Croatia, lepinja bread is usually used for housing ćevapčići. But, as somun is slightly softer and more aromatic than lepinja, I’d choose somun over lepinja when given the chance any day.

Croatian Cooking Recipes_How To Make Somun Bread for Cevapi

Here is how to make somun at home. This recipe is ideal for your home oven.

How To Make Balkan Somun Bread 21

How To Make Somun Bread For Ćevapi

Here is how to make somun at home. This recipe is ideal for your home oven.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg pastry flour. This flour is also known as type 405, 00, or type 45, it has 9% protein. (9 cups)
  • 4 teaspoons salt
  • 300 ml of milk (1 1/4 cups)
  • 300 ml of water (1 1/4 cups)
  • 14 grams dry yeast (2 packets)
  • 10 tablespoons of creamy yogurt (full fat Greek works a treat)
  • Black cumin or sesame seeds for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

    1. Warm the milk (lukewarm not boiling), stir in the yeast, and let the mixture activate (usually takes around 10 minutes).
    2. In a separate large bowl, mix together the flour and salt.
    3. Once the yeast has activated, add to the flour, along with the yogurt and water.
    4. Knead the ingredients with a spoon, or even better with your hands! The dough needs to be sticky, so don't add more flour than indicated in the recipe.
    5. Cover the bowl and let the batter rise until it has doubled. You can leave it in the refrigerator overnight. In this case, you should use a large bowl that you can cover so that the batter does not overflow as it rises. Otherwise, if you are going to use it on the same day, let the dough rise in a warm place for around 1.5 to 2 hours.
    6. Preheat the oven (and the baking tray you plan to bake on) to your oven's maximum temperature, for me that's 250°C (480°F).
    7. Take the proofed dough out of the bowl and place it on a floured work surface. Oil your hands well and use your hands to divide the dough into equal parts. This recipe will make 10 medium-sized or 5 large bread rolls.
    8. Shape each portion into a ball, turn it in the flour and use your fingers to form a flat shape (as shown in the photographs). DO NOT USE a rolling pin as the air needs to stay inside the dough. The somun should be about the thickness of a finger.
    9. Place the somun rolls on a sheet of baking paper. If you have 10 medium-sized somuns, around 3-4 will fit on a sheet of baking paper. 
    10. Shape all the somuns all at once and let them rise a little the oven is heating up.
    11. With the help of the back of a knife or a wooden skewer, created a grid on top of each somun.
    12. Sprinkle each somun with water and either black cumin or sesame. For a rustic variant, dust well with flour.
    13. Put the somuns in the oven - do this as fast as possible so that the oven does not cool down. Each one takes around 7-10 minutes (depending on the heat of the oven). They are done when the bread has inflated and is golden brown.
    14. Take them out of the oven and wrap them in a kitchen towel.

Notes

Somun can be eaten with all kinds of spreads, salami, sausage, and antipasti. Though, they taste best with Ćevapćići!

How To Make Balkan Somun Bread 22

Tasty Croatian Recipes & Cooking Tips

Comments (6)

  1. Hi love your recipes have made so many of them and always been a huge hit.
    Just a question in regards to the Somun bread. What/how is the best way to store it and how long does the bread last.

    Thanks

  2. Hello,
    I recently tried Turkish Tantuni, served on rectangular soman bread. The inside was soft and fluffy, but the outside was crispy! Are the textures the same?

    Also, what type of yogurt is best? (Greek 0%)? What percentage and type?

    1. Hello, no Turkish Tantuni and cevapi are very different. For making somon bread, I full fat Greek yogurt works great.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Move This Adventure To Your Inbox & Get An Instant Freebie

Subscribe To Unlock Your FREE Customizable Travel Packing List & All Our Best Tips!

Skip to Recipe