Here is the recipe for Sweet Milky Bread (Shirin Chorek) which is one of the favorite desserts of Azerbaijani local desserts.

Makes 2 breads

1 package (1/4 oz / 2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
2 cups warm milk, divided
6 + 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ¾ cups sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 egg, at room temperature
7 oz (200 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, to glaze
1 teaspoon poppy seeds

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1 cup milk and let stand for 5 minutes.Put the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, salt, and turmeric powder. Stir to mix. (Would you like to make this dish together?  Join our Cooking Masterclasses to learn and taste the national cuisine of Azerbaijan!) Make a well in the center. Add the yeast mixture, the remaining milk, egg, and melted butter to the well. Stir with your hands until a sticky ball forms. Scrape the dough onto a flat surface and knead until elastic. The dough will appear to be very sticky in the beginning, but it will come together nicely and will be less sticky as you knead. The final dough should not be very tight, so don’t be tempted to add more flour unless the dough is still very sticky.

Shape the dough into a ball and put it back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and leave the dough to rise in a warm spot for about 1 ½-2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Punch the dough down and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Pat them into balls. Place the balls on your working surface and using your hands, flatten them into disks 9 inches (22 cm) in diameter and ½ inch (1.2 cm) thick.

Arrange the disks on the baking sheets. Cover the bread with a clean kitchen towel and leave aside for 1 hour, until they rise again.

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

Stir the egg to mix the white and the yolk, and brush the breads with this mixture. Decorate the surface of the breads by tracing cross-hatching patterns with the back of the fork tines, 4 times in each direction, each time at an equal distance from one another.

Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake on the middle rack of the oven until golden, 30 to 35 minutes (if your oven doesn’t fit two baking sheets on one rack, place one sheet on the lower rack, and another on the top rack, bake for 15 minutes, then switch and bake until ready). Remove from the oven. Allow to cool completely, then cut into pieces and serve. 

Nush olsun! ( Bon Appetit! )