Tutmanik bread rolls with feta cheese you’ll love 🇧🇬

This Tutmanik is a traditional Bulgarian pull-apart bread made of soft rolls filled with crumbled feta cheese, originating from the Bulgarian–Turkish border region.

Recipe Intro

Origins:
Tutmanik (тутманик) is a classic Bulgarian cheese bread from the broader banitsa family of savoury pastries. The recipe appears in written sources from the late Ottoman period, and linguists trace its name to the Turkish verb tutmak, meaning ‘to hold’ or ‘to keep’ – a reference to the way the dough is folded or wrapped around the cheese filling, a typical step in its preparation.

Tradition:
In Bulgaria, tutmanik is traditionally served warm for breakfast or brunch, often accompanied by a glass of ayran or a pot of herbal tea. It’s often served at weekend family meals and festive gatherings. While the basic ingredients remain consistent across Bulgaria, techniques and shapes vary. Some versions are rolled and folded into spirals, or rolled and cut into small pieces, while others are layered or plaited.

This recipe:
This version of tutmanik comes from the south-west of Bulgaria, near the border with Turkey, a region where local food traditions often echo cross-cultural influences. While tutmanik is made in many styles across the country, this one is shaped into soft, fluffy rolls that are baked close together in a tray, giving them a pillowy inside and a lightly golden crust.
It closely resembles Turkish dizmana in shape and texture, but unlike the Turkish version, which is topped with a generous mix of yoghurt, eggs, and oil before baking, this tutmanik is brushed with a light coating of egg and yoghurt before baking.

Tutmanik bread rolls with feta – ingredients

Dough

• Flour – Use strong white flour
• Eggs – Add richness and colour to the dough.
• Oil – Sunflower or light olive oil.
• Yeast – Use instant or fresh.

Filling

• Cheese – Use Bulgarian sirene or a good-quality feta.
• Oil or butter

Topping

• Egg – Used for brushing the dough before baking.
• Yoghurt – Use plain yoghurt.
• Nigella or sesame seeds – Sprinkle on top for extra flavour and texture.

How to make Tutmanik bread rolls with feta cheese

Prepare the dough

• Pour the warm water into a small cup, add the yeast and sugar, and stir with a fork until dissolved. Leave it to sit for about 5 minutes so the yeast can activate.
• Meanwhile, sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Sifting helps create a lighter texture. Add the salt and mix it through.
• Make a well in the centre and add the oil and beaten egg. Begin mixing with a fork, gradually pouring in the yeast mixture. Once the dough starts to come together and isn’t too wet, switch to kneading by hand. Knead for 5–7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and slightly elastic but not sticky.
• Shape the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with cling film, and leave it in a warm place to rise until doubled in size—around 45 to 60 minutes.

Roll and fill

• When the dough has risen, dust your work surface with flour and turn the dough ball out. Press it down gently, then roll it into a rectangle about ½ cm thick. It doesn’t have to be a perfect rectangular shape.
• Brush the surface with oil or melted butter and scatter the crumbled feta cheese evenly over the top.
• Roll the dough up tightly to form a long roulade. Cut it in half, then keep halving each piece until you have pieces roughly 6 cm long.

Shape and rise

• Gently pinch each side of the roll dough or fold the sides over to enclose the filling. Place them into a greased, floured baking tin, leaving just a little space between them.
• Cover with foil and let them rise again for 20 to 30 minutes.

Bake

• Before baking, brush the tops with a beaten egg mixed with a spoonful of yoghurt. Seal any cracks where the cheese might escape, then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
• Bake at 200 °C for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 170 °C and bake for another 15 minutes until golden.
• Serve warm. The bread is soft inside, with just a bit of crunch on top.

Serving suggestion

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