How do I make my own flatbread, pizza style base?

[Floatingindefinitely]

I used to love Deli Kitchen flatbreads with all manner of good, healthy toppings, until I couldn't get along with the ingredients list. It's pretty overly processed and with no fiber at all.

I love the idea of making my own in the same style, or sort of like a very thin pizza style base (like the M&S pizza, except not sourdough!) that I can freeze.

Have had no success. I have followed a few recipes (BBC, Jamie Oliver, etc) to the letter and come away with a dense, claggy mess. Admittedly, whilst a decent cook I am not a decent baker!

I noticed a tasty looking version in my Hugh Fearnley Veg Every Day book, but it contains/requires yeast. How do I do this, fuss free?

Any flatbread experts?
Imagine I am 6 yrs old, I am that crap.

My suggestion:
I always used the simple pizza recipe in Delia Smith or Elizabeth David. They work every time. Little tub of dried yeast from supermarket mix teaspoons full as instructions with a little warm water..
Time and attention spent on mixing and Proving will get it that little bit better.
Worked every time, Do those by the book then experiment later.

Thank you! I am not sure what proving is, perhaps this is a touch beyond me at the moment. I so envy people who can make bread!

Hopefully practice will help me.

Plain flour, a bit of olive oil then slowly add warm water until all the flour is absorbed and the dough is pliable but not too sticky. Roll it out and fry both sides then whack on your toppings, bung it in the oven and taa daa, delicious homemade flat bread pizza 🤤

You can make lovely flatbreads with equal measure Greek yoghurt and flour, dry fry in a pan. Also works with cottage cheese as a pizza base though I part bake these first before topping. Lastly flour with a little salt and olive oil make a lovely wrap style flat bread.

If you want to make white bread dough (all a pizza base is) then you get 500g white flour, 7g fast action dried yeast (comes in sachets), salt - I use 5-6g of lo salt but that's personal preference (the more salt you use the slower it will rise), and 300ml of water that's about the temperature of your hand.

If you have a kitchen aid or a Kenwood chef it's then super easy - vaguely mix ingredients by hand, put in mixer with the dough hook, switch on to minimum speed and ignore it for 5 mins. Cover the bowl, put in a warm place and ignore for 50mins to 2-3hrs depending what's convenient. Or put in the fridge and ignore for up to 48 hours but be aware it maaaaay grow enough to creep out of the bowl.

Divvy into portions and shape. One 10ish inch pizza base will use 1/4-1/3 of the dough.

Or do the flatbreads being suggested above - not sure if they'll freeze but they're super quick and yoghurt keeps for ages.

I love the 50/50 yoghurt and flour wrap but Jamie Oliver's simple pizza dough never fails me. Make it with the semolina and goes lovely and crispy

One easy way to prove the (pizza) dough. Once made cover the bowl with a clean cloth and put in the oven with a separate bowl of just boiled water. (I do make my dough with a Kenwood mixer, so just stick that bowl in the oven).

Close the door (don't turn the oven on) and leave for about an hour.

You might need to wipe down afterwards but generally it works everytime.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ftB0xOiZ644?si=bSdMz0EFko2nC-2I

came upon this today, it seems quite straightforward. I really like her recipes. hopefully link works.

recipe available here https://nutrient-matters.com

The yogurt flour ones are the best. Add garlic if you wish, some salt, whatever!

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/user/12304531/recipe/easy-yoghurt-flatbreads-varying-sizes

Oh boy I am so confused. I have tried the yoghurt version, too. All of the recipes I have tried turned out gummy and thick, my version looked like a leathery shoe insole rather then bread.

I think I need to keep trying, surely it will sort itself out.
I would like to try the versions with yeast.

Op do you mean chapattis? I do a simple one, plain flour, warm water, tiny drizzle of cooking oil or olive oil. pour water in small quantities to make the dough non claggy. then just roll out and a floured surface.

I've never frozen the dough, but I'm sure you can freeze the chappati once cooked.

The simplest is as @ruralwanderer above says, from Hugh Fernley whitingstalls river cottage cookbook (google will bring it up). Forget the rest until you have mastered this one. Roll thinly and dry fry ( I have a flat griddle pan but any large non stick frying pan will do). They freeze well and can be brought out and used straightaway for a quick pizza or fresh as wraps. You don't even have to weigh ingredients and always works just plain flour, salt, glug of olive oil and water until comes together, rest for few minutes before taking a handful of dough and rolling thinly with a little flour on the worktop to stop it sticking. Hot pan for about a minute each side but keep checking so doesn't burn. Make a stack and freeze any leftover. Can flavour them if you like with herbs or I like adding some grated cheese to the dough sometimes before rolling out🤤

Depends what you want, I don't see that the generic term 'flatbreads' is very helpful here. If it's got yoghurt in it, it ain't a pizza base! But it could be a very promising nann.

You've obviously used too much yogurt. The first time I made these they were amazing.

It all depends - cauliflower bases are an alternative too.

I’m experimenting with socca as a pizza base as I’m gluten intolerant.
You mix equal volumes of gram flour (chickpea flour) and water, a pinch of salt and some oil. Beat well to get the lumps out and leave to stand for an hour or more. Pour into a greased or non stick tray and bake for about 15 minutes on a medium heat until the edges are a bit crispy.

I always use the pizza express recipe and roll it out super thin. It’s just flour, yeast, water and olive oil.

You do need to give it a little time to rise. For fast version you can do self raising flour and natural yoghurt but you can’t roll it as thin but you can make your pizza straight away. Top tip if you do the fast version, then you can dry fry in a non stick pan on both sides for a minute or two. Stops it absorbing the sauce and stays crisp on outside.

You can make dough with Greek yoghurt and flour

Thank you everyone, I will get stuck in and try again!

These are the flatbreads I was aiming to imitate

(MN won't let me post the link)

A pic...

3 cups bread flour, 1 cup warm water, 1 sachet yeast, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 tsp salt. Makes 2 large bases. I add oregano too sometimes.

Oh, the yoghurt recipe works for me too!

If you want to give up and carry on buying, the Crosta Mollica flatbreads have a very decent ingredients list. They are £££ though.

If you want to start making bread regularly with minimal fuss then get a bread maker! I use mine for pizza bases and flatbreads regularly. Just chuck in the ingredients, press start and 45 mins later you have flatbread dough ready to roll out and use.

Couldn't agree less! I make bread, sourdoughs, pizzas, and yes, 'flatbreads' 😀all the time. And all you need is two hands. Nothing (except very fancy stuff like attempting a proper French baguette) requires lengthy kneading. 20 or 30 seconds is plenty at a time. It's the proving that's the secret with all yeast bvaking.