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I’m not much of a bread maker

Found a recipe for quick flatbread: 1/2 cup AP flour 1/2 cup plain yogurt 1 tsp baking powder

I did the above but used 1/4 cup whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup AP.

The dough was very sticky so I kept adding 1 tbsp of AP until it would not stick to my hands much and could be rolled out.

The bread was not pillowy or soft as the pictures on the website implied. Of course next time I could use 100% AP flour but I don’t think that would solve the issue entirely. Also, in the end, I probably added at least 3 additional tbsp of AP flour so by what amount should I have increased the baking powder? I didn’t get many bubbles. What else could help this recipe so the flatbread would be pliable and pillowy?

Thank!

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    Can you post a link to the recipe? It would be helpful in diagnosing.
    – myklbykl
    Apr 5, 2020 at 17:54
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    That's a bit odd, usually you'd have baking soda with yogurt to offset the acidity.
    – GdD
    Apr 5, 2020 at 18:30

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You shouldn't have kept adding flour. Baking powder recipes don't get kneaded, so they don't stop sticking.

For troubleshooting, do follow the recipe exactly as given. Don't do any substitutions until you can recreate the original well. Even after that, if you want fluffy bread, the whole wheat flour will be a disappointment.

And I doubt that you should be rolling it out at all. 1/2 cup of flour is 60 g, and 1/2 cup of yogurt is almost 120 g, resulting in 200% hydration. This sounds like a liquid batter more than like a formable dough, which is also consistent with the usage of baking powder. So, just pour it into a wide tin (well oiled, or lined with paper) and bake that way.

If you really insist on rolling, you have to live with the fact that it is a very wet dough with little gluten development and it will stick a lot. So use techniques for rolling sticky dough, instead of adding more flour.

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  • I'm not sure about the "bake" bit. I'd expect a recipe like that to cook more like a pancake, i.e. in a frying pan on the stove
    – Chris H
    Apr 6, 2020 at 12:34
  • @ChrisH I am pretty sure it will bake - a bit more like a nonsweet sponge cake. My mother used to make something of this kind, but hers also had eggs, and a lower flour percentage, taking it slightly in the direction of some casserole crusts.
    – rumtscho ♦
    Apr 6, 2020 at 20:25
  • That's more yoghurt than I've used, but similar recipes I've followed have been stove-top. I guess there are both
    – Chris H
    Apr 6, 2020 at 20:43
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I'd first try the recipe with AP flour with no wheat flour and see how it turns out. Higher-protein flours will change the feel of the dough and can be more sticky. This dough will be sticky in any case. Also I'd throw in a pinch of salt. If the recipe comes out well then maybe try 2 Tbsp wheat flour and 6 of AP flour.

Also, make sure your baking powder is viable. Put a teaspoon in some water and see if it fizzes. Are you using double-acting baking powder? If not, try that.

GdD also makes a good point in his comment above that yogurt is acidic, which should provide leavening with baking soda by itself, but I'd still try fresh, double-acting baking powder.

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