Up until I made homemade naan for the first time I thought the benefits of homemade vs. store-bought was mainly the pride that came with doing something with your hands. I figured that Trader Joe’s has some pretty good naan so although it was fun to make homemade, I’d definitely go back to buying it from the store. Boy, was I wrong.
Although that pride in the accomplishment is great, there is no comparison to fresh, homemade naan. The texture is better, the flavor is better —it’s just BETTER. And believe me when I say it’s truly not that hard. If you can spare 1.5 to 2 hours (an hour of that being down time) — you can make some at home and feel both the pride of accomplishment and have superior tasting naan.
For this recipe I used Sunrise Flour Mill Bread Flour. It has been my go-to for my sourdough so I figured why not use it for my naan. This specific flour is milled in Minneapolis, MN using heritage wheat that is more easily digestible. The founders, who had struggled with a gluten-intolerance found that they were able to bake the things they once loved using heritage grains without the consequences commercialized flours bring.
The possibilities are really endless with this naan. You can turn it into pizzas, use it to scoop up your favorite hummus, cover it in garlic butter and eat it straight up, use it as a base for a veggie sandwich, or turn it into a grilled cheese. Get creative and feel empowered at what you can whip together with just a few simple ingredients. Happy Baking!
Homemade NAAN
1 cup warm water (about 100-110°F)
2 tablespoons honey
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
3 1/2 cups Sunrise Flour Mill Bread Flour
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
Briefly stir together the warm water and honey in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and give it a quick stir, then let the mixture rest for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
Add the flour, yogurt, salt, baking powder, and egg. Using the dough attachment, mix the dough on medium-low speed for 2-3 minutes until smooth. (The dough will still be slightly sticky, but should form into a ball that pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour.)
Remove dough from the mixing bowl and use your hands to shape it into a ball. Grease a separate mixing bowl lightly with cooking spray, then place the dough ball in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel. Place the bowl in a warm location (I set mine on top of the fridge) and let it rise for 1 hour until the dough has nearly doubled in size.
Once the dough is ready to go, transfer it to a floured work surface and shape it into a circle. Cut the dough into 8 equally-sized wedges and roll each wedge into a ball with your hands. Then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough ball until it forms an oval about 1/4-inch thick. (I recommend multi-tasking this process — rolling out the next dough ball while you cook one on the stove.)
Heat a large cast-iron skillet or non-stick sauté pan over medium-high heat until it is nice and hot. Add a piece of the rolled-out dough to the pan and cook for 1 minute, or until the top of the dough begins to bubble and the bottom turns lightly golden. Flip the dough and cook on the second side for 30-60 seconds, or until the bottom is golden as well, then transfer the dough to a clean plate. Sprinkle the naan with a pinch of flaky sea salt, if desired. Then lightly cover the naan with a clean towel so that it stays warm. Repeat with remaining dough until all of the naan pieces are cooked, adjusting the heat of the pan if needed to keep it hot (but not overly-hot so that it burns the bread). Serve warm and enjoy!
If you don’t eat all of the naan or prefer to make a large batch to stock up, it will freeze wonderfully for up to a month in a freezer safe ziplock bag.
