Healthy Delicious Recipes

Soft Armenian Gata Recipe

Gata is a delicious Armenian pastry bread with simple ingredients that pairs perfectly with a cup of coffee or tea. It is a traditional and popular Armenian dessert and if you’ve ever tried it before, you know it’s definitely something that keeps you coming back for more.

Types of Gata

There is nothing more tastier and more delicious than a homemade Armenian Gata Pastry. When you search for this pastry on the internet, you will notice something interesting. There are 2 common yet completely different looking desserts that both go by that name.

Depending on which region of Armenia one comes from, you will see it being used for 2 different types pastries. And that’s okay! The version I am making looks like a flat cake. It is filled with a filling called khoreez which is a simple butter, flour, and sugar mixture.

Why make it at home?

Gata is such a popular Armenian pastry that most Armenian grocery stores will carry it and it is relatively affordable. I am very selective with ingredients. If you can’t tell already, I want to see only organic unbleached flour, pasture-raised butter, organic sugar, and real vanilla extract in my pastry. There should be absolutely no fillers!

As any pastries that are sold in stores for the purpose of keeping them softer and fresher longer, you do see fillers in a lot of pastry ingredients.

That is why I never feel guilty eating the pastries I make at home or giving it to my children because I know exactly what is in it and it is all clean ingredients I can trust. I love talking about food and eating healthy and having conversations about it because there is so much to learn!

If you ever want to talk endlessly about health food, know that you have a friend in me who will always be available to do so. I love to learn and I love to educate, as I am also an educator.

Important kitchen tools

I highly recommend you use a dough mixer, it can be incredibly tedious by hand. I absolutely love and adore my dough mixer, I use this one. The dough mixer does most of the work for you. You just need to add some love and patience to the recipe. Now let’s give you something to enjoy your tea or coffee with!

Prep Time: 15 minutes	Bake Time: 30 minutes +1.5hours of dough resting
Serves: 2 Gatas (about 12-13 slices total)	Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients Dough 1 cup warm milk (105-110F) 2 tsp active dry yeast 4 cups organic unbleached bread flour/or all purpose flour (plus 1/2 cup more) 4 tbs melted butter (I used organic pasture-raised) 1 tsp salt 3 tbsp honey 1 egg + 1 egg white (save the yolk for egg wash) 1/2 cup sour cream To grease the pan (1 tbsp avocado oil or melted butter) Filling (Khoreez) 1 cup sugar 1 cup flour 4 tbsp softened butter 2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions 1. Active your yeast by warming the milk to 105-110F. Pour milk into a small bowl add yeast, stir and let it sit until it foams up. 2. Once your yeast is activated,add the milk and yeast mixture, flour, melted butter, sour cream, 1 egg and 1 egg white, honey, and salt to a dough mixture. Stir using a spatula at first and then add the dough hook and mix for about 8 minutes on medium speed. ( Your dough should come together without sticking to the walls of the bowl, if its too sticky add more flour 1 tbsp at a time, if its too dry, add room temperature milk 1 tsp at a time until dough becomes non sticky. ) 3. Lightly knead the dough into a nice tight ball and place dough into a oiled pan, cover and let it rest for about 1.5 hours in a draft free environment. (I place it in my oven while the oven is turned off) 4. While dough is resting, make the filling (khoreez). Add softened butter, sugar and vanilla extract and mix with your hand pinching the butter into the mixture. The texture should be a grainy sandy texture that comes together when you squeeze it in your hand)* See video 5. When your dough is ready cut it in half using a dough cutter or a knife. 6. Flatten the first dough with your hands first, then roll it out using a rolling pin.Roll dough into a circle about 2 inches thick and add half the khoreez filling into the center of the dough. 7. Preheat oven to 350F. 8. Grab the edges of the dough careful no to spill the filling and pinch them together into the center. Seal the dough with your hands and gently flatten with a rolling pin until it is about 1 inch thick. 9. Bake in the center rack for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is a nice golden brown color. Let it cool completely before slicing and enjoy!

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