Roast bake is a soft, airy Caribbean flatbread prepared on a hot tawa in just minutes. Learn how to make bread on the stovetop with this easy recipe.
Roast Bake aka Tawa Bake
My husband has been asking me to make this “sweet sada roti” as he calls it for years. I finally called up his aunty Rita and she told me it’s just like bakes but you cook it on the tawa. When it’s cooked directly on a hot surface, it develops a delicious brown crust but remains soft and tender inside.
For more delicious Guyanese bread recipes, try Gluten Free Pot Bake, Guyanese Bakes (Floats), and Gluten-Free Guyanese Bakes.
Why You’ll Love This Tawa Bake Recipe
- Simple: This recipe requires just 7 simple ingredients with no eggs or fancy equipment required.
- No Oven Required: Making bread on the stovetop means no hot kitchen. It also cooks in less than 5 minutes on the tawa.
- Versatile: Enjoy roast bake as a snack, sandwich bread, or a side. It’s so versatile that it works with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
What is Roast Bake?
Roast bake is a round flatbread cooked on the stovetop in either a tawa or skillet. It’s popular among Caribbean countries but it has many names.
You may have heard it referred to as tawa bake, hard bake, and even pot bake. Aunty Rita calls it hard bake because of the hard crunchy top. I also called up my aunty Carol and asked her if she knew about it. She said her mom made it often when she was growing up but called it Johnny Cakes.
It’s typically made without yeast but I add a little yeast to help it swell.
Ingredients for Roast Bake
Making this sweet flatbread on the stove is simple and with this recipe, it’s even easier.
- Flour: This gives the bread structure.
- Baking powder: Use this leavening agent to help the bread rise.
- Yeast: Achieve a light, fluffy texture with this ingredient. It improves texture, making the bread more elastic and easy to manipulate.
- Pinch salt: A little salt enhances the flavor.
- Butter: Room temperature
- Brown sugar: This adds sweetness to balance the overall taste and helps brown the bread.
- Warm water: This hydrates the dough and activates the yeast. Ensure it’s not too hot or it will kill the yeast.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Roast Bake
Combine flour, baking powder, yeast, and salt in a mixing bowl, then mix well. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Dissolve the brown sugar in the warm water, then pour the sweetened water into the well.
Gently fold the flour into the sugar water until a soft dough forms. Then knead the dough until smooth. Cover it with a damp paper towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape each into a smooth dough ball. Cover with a damp paper towel and let rest for another 10 minutes.
Roll out each dough ball into discs that are about ¼ inch thick.
Heat a cast iron skillet or tawa over medium heat. Once hot, add as many dough disks as will fit without touching.
Cook for approximately 2 minutes until the bottom of the roast bake is golden brown, then flip. Cover the skillet with a dome-shaped cover or stainless steel bowl and continue cooking for another 2 minutes.
Remove the roast bakes from the tawa and repeat the cooking process with the remaining dough disks. To serve, cut open the roast bakes and add butter. Serve hot and enjoy!
Storage
Allow leftover tawa bake to cool completely, then transfer them to an airtight container or resealable plastic bag. Keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days for optimal freshness. Reheat them in the microwave or gently in the oven before serving.
Tips for the Best Roast Bake
- Use fresh baking powder and yeast. This ensures the best texture and flavor.
- Allow the dough to rest for at least 30 minutes. This makes the dough easier to manage and also helps the flavors meld.
- Once you flip the bread, cover the bake. This promotes even cooking.
Recipe Variations
- Flour: You can use all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour for extra nutrients.
- Butter: Substitute butter with a vegan alternative, like coconut butter or a vegan butter alternative
- No Yeast: The yeast isn’t necessary in this recipe. If you decide not to use it, you can pop a tawa bake in the microwave when you’re done cooking it, if you want it to swell.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can cook dough over direct heat, in a skillet, or in this case, on a tawa. Breads like flatbread, naan, and tortillas are commonly made on the stove.
You can prepare roast bake dough in advance. After the first kneading, let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Instead of immediately shaping and cooking the dough, cover it tightly with plastic wrap or transfer it to an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Thirty minutes before you’re ready to bake, take the dough out of the fridge to shape, roll, and cook.
Serve the bread with some butter or cheese for an easy snack. It also pairs well with salt fish, curries, stew, and baigan choka.
Roast Bake
Equipment
- Tawa
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon rapid rising yeast
- Pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons butter room temperature (can use vegan alternative)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1¼ cups warm water
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, yeast, and salt and mix together well. Then using your fingertips rub the butter into the flour mixture, to form a crumbly texture.
- Next, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Dissolve the sugar in the water and pour the sweetened warm water into the well you created. Gently fold in the flour into the sugar water until you have a soft dough. Gently knead into a dough ball (about 3 minutes). Then cover with a damp paper towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape each piece into a smooth dough ball. Cover the dough balls with a damp paper towel and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then roll out each dough ball into a disk about ¼ inch thick.
- Add a cast iron skillet or a tawa to medium heat. When hot, add as many of the rolled out bakes that can fit without touching. Cook for about 2 minutes until the bake is golden brown on the side touching the pan, then flip.
- Cover with a dome shaped cover or a stainless steel bowl and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from the tawa and repeat the cooking steps for the remaining bakes.
- To serve, cut open the bakes and add butter. Serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
The information listed in the recipe card is an estimate provided by an online nutrition tool. The tool evaluates ingredient names and amounts then makes calculations based on the number of servings listed for the recipe. It is provided as a general guideline and not as a precise calculation. For precise nutrition information please feel free to add the ingredients to your preferred nutrition calculator or consult a doctor or licensed nutritionist.
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