Baursak
Contains egg (no meat or fish)
Бауырсақ · Bauyrsaq
Puffy, golden pieces of lightly enriched yeast dough fried until hollow inside. Baursak are set out on every Kazakh table with tea, jam and butter.
Baursak is a Kazakh bread, ready in about 1 hour 55 minutes and made with all-purpose flour and sunflower oil. It serves 8 and is rated easy to cook.
No licensed photograph of this dish yet.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Rest
- 1 h 10 min
- Total
- 1 h 55 min
- Serves
- 8
- Level
- Easy
- Calories
- 386
Method
Step 1
Stir the yeast and sugar (opens in a new tab) into the warm milk (opens in a new tab) and leave for 5 minutes until foamy.
- 5 min
Step 2
Mix the flour and salt in a bowl, add the yeast milk (opens in a new tab), egg (opens in a new tab) and melted butter (opens in a new tab) and knead into a soft, smooth dough. Cover and leave in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
- 10 min
How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels Step 3
Knock back the dough and roll it out 1 cm thick. Cut into small squares or diamonds about 4 cm across, or stamp out rounds. Rest for 10 minutes.
How it looks · Photo: Katerina Holmes on Pexels Step 4
Heat the oil in a deep heavy pot to 170 °C. Fry the pieces a handful at a time, turning, until puffed and deep golden, about 2–3 minutes. Drain on paper.
- 25 min
- 170°C
- medium-high heat
- Dutch oven / casserole pot (opens in a new tab)
- Food thermometer (opens in a new tab)
Food safety: Never leave hot oil unattended, keep it no more than a third full, and lower dough in gently to avoid splashes.
About this dish
- Origin
- Not attributed to one place · Commonly attributedFried dough of this kind is shared across Turkic Central Asia — baursak in Kazakhstan, boorsok in Kyrgyzstan, and related breads among Tatars, Bashkirs and Turkmen.Also popular in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
- Dish
- Breakfast · Snack · Breads & flatbreads · Finger food
- Cooking method
- Deep-fried
- Taste
- mild, buttery, savoury
- Diet
- Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredientsWith the listed swaps: Ovo-vegetarian, Dairy-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
All labels
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · DASH-style - Good for
- Festive & celebration · Make-ahead · Child-friendly · Budget-friendly
- Cook more with
- All-purpose flour · Milk · Dried yeast · Sugar · Egg · Butter
- Techniques
- Deep-frying · Kneading · Fermentation
Allergens
- Contains, can be adapted: Milkfrom milk, butter
- Contains: Eggsfrom egg
- Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour
- Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour
Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.
Nutrition
386 kcal per serving
Calculated1 serving ≈ 110 g · recipe makes 8
Where the energy comes from
- Protein 9%
- Carbohydrate 53%
- Fat 38%
| Nutrient | Per serving | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 386 kcal | 351 kcal |
| Protein | 8.6 g | 7.9 g |
| Carbohydrate | 51.2 g | 46.6 g |
| Net carbohydrate | 49.3 g | 44.8 g |
| Sugars | 3.4 g | 3.1 g |
| Added sugars | 1.6 g | 1.4 g |
| Fibre | 1.9 g | 1.7 g |
| Fat | 16 g | 14.5 g |
| Saturated fat | 3.9 g | 3.5 g |
| Trans fat | — | — |
| Cholesterol | 35 mg | 31 mg |
| Sodium | 340 mg | 309 mg |
| Salt equivalent | 0.8 g | 0.8 g |
Vitamins & minerals per serving
- Potassium
- 127 mg
- Calcium
- 51 mg
- Iron
- 3 mg
- Magnesium
- 18 mg
- Vitamin A (RAE)
- 50 µg
- Vitamin C
- 0 mg
- Vitamin D
- —
- Vitamin B12
- 0.2 µg
- Folate (DFE)
- 207 µg
How these numbers were made
- Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
- “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
- Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.
Good to know
Tips
- Don't crowd the pot — the pieces need room to puff and turn over.
- Keep the oil steady: too hot and they brown before cooking through; too cool and they soak up oil.
Common mistakes
- Rolling the dough too thin gives flat, crisp crackers instead of hollow puffs.
Serve with
- Serve warm with milky black tea, butter, honey or jam.
- Pile them in the middle of the table around beshbarmak.
Storage
- Keep in a cloth-covered bowl or bag for 2 days; freeze for up to 1 month.
Reheating
- Warm for 5 minutes in a 160 °C oven.
Variations
- Boorsok (Kyrgyzstan): The Kyrgyz version, often cut into squares and made with a little kefir or sour cream in the dough.
Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated
Recipe DNA
How this dish is built
Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.
Baker’s notes
Customise in Bread & BakeryTimeline and readiness cues
Mix and knead · about 20 min
Weigh everything. Knead until smooth and elastic: a small piece stretches thin enough to see light through (the windowpane test).
First rise (bulk) · about 1 h
About doubled, domed, jiggly, with bubbles on the sides. A floured finger poked in leaves a dent that fills slowly.
Rest · about 10 min
Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.
Bake · about 25 min
Deep golden; bread sounds hollow when tapped underneath, or reads 93–96 °C inside (enriched breads 88–90 °C).
- Start to finish: about 1 h 55 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.
The dough
| Ingredient | Role | Weight | Baker’s % |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | Flour | 500 g | 100% |
| Egg | Egg | 50 g | 10% |
| Butter | Fat | 30 g | 6% |
| Salt | Salt | 6 g | 1.2% |
- Total flour
- 500 g
- Hydration
- —
- With milk, eggs…
- 7.5%
- Wholegrain
- 0%
Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.
- Salt 1.2% — on the low side (1.8–2.2% is typical for bread).
If something goes wrong
Dense, heavy loaf
Likely causes
- Under-kneaded (weak gluten)
- Under-proofed
- Old or dead yeast/starter
- Too much wholegrain flour without extra water
What to do
- Knead to the windowpane stage
- Proof by the poke test, not the clock
- Test yeast in warm water with sugar; feed the starter and use it at its peak
- Add 5–10% more water for wholegrain flours and give them a rest
Gummy or wet crumb
Likely causes
- Under-baked
- Sliced while hot
- Hydration too high for the flour
What to do
- Bake to 93–96 °C inside (cakes: clean skewer)
- Cool completely on a rack before slicing
- Reduce water by 3–5% or use a stronger flour
Spreads flat / no oven spring
Likely causes
- Over-proofed
- Weak shaping (no surface tension)
- Oven not hot enough
- Too much water for the flour
What to do
- Shorten the proof; bake when the poke springs back slowly
- Shape tightly so the skin is taut
- Preheat fully (30+ minutes; with a stone or Dutch oven, 45)
- Lower hydration or use bread flour
Collapsed or sunken middle
Likely causes
- Oven door opened too early
- Too much leavening or sugar
- Under-baked centre
- Over-proofed yeast dough
What to do
- Don't open the oven for the first two-thirds of baking
- Measure leaveners exactly with spoons, levelled
- Test the centre before removing
- Proof less
Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Crust too hard or thick
Likely causes
- Baked too long at too low a temperature
- No steam at the start
What to do
- Bake hotter for a shorter time
- Add steam for the first 15 minutes (tray of boiling water, or a covered Dutch oven)
- Cool under a tea towel for a softer crust
Big holes or tunnels
Likely causes
- Overmixed batter (cakes, muffins)
- Air trapped while shaping bread
- Uneven proof
What to do
- Mix quick breads only until no dry flour shows
- Degas gently and shape tightly
- Proof covered in an even, warm place
Dough didn't rise
Likely causes
- Dead yeast (expired or killed by hot liquid)
- Kitchen too cold
- Salt in direct contact with fresh yeast
- Starter not active
What to do
- Liquid should be lukewarm (no hotter than 40 °C)
- Proof somewhere warm (an oven with just the light on)
- Mix the salt into the flour, not onto the yeast
- Feed the starter until it doubles in 4–8 hours
Over-proofed (sour smell, collapses when scored)
Likely causes
- Too warm
- Too much yeast
- Left too long
What to do
- Knock back, reshape and proof again briefly (yeast doughs)
- Use less yeast or a cooler proof
- Set a timer and check early with the poke test
Dry or crumbly
Likely causes
- Too much flour (scooped, not weighed)
- Over-baked
- Too little fat or sugar
What to do
- Weigh flour, or spoon it into the cup and level
- Check 5 minutes early
- Don't cut fat or sugar by more than a quarter without another moisture source
Reviews & corrections
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