Zaatar Bread - Manakish/ Manakeesh
Serves 4
A challenge
Prep:
Cook:
Arab bread with zaatar topping perfect for breakfast or as an appetizer.
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For Bread
- 1 tablespoon dry yeast
- 2½ cups of lukewarm water
- 6 cups of white bread flour/ all-purpose flour
- ¼ Teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
For Zaatar Topping
- 1 tablespoon dry yeast
- 2½ cups of lukewarm water
- 6 cups of white bread flour/ all-purpose flour
- ¼ Teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup dried thyme
- ½ cup sesame seeds
Method
step 1
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in ½ cup of the warm water. Add the sugar and when it begins to froth, stir in the remaining water.step 2
Add 3 cups of flour slowly and stir it vigorously. Let the mixture rest for 10-15 minutes till it froths.step 3
Stir in the salt and the 2 tbspns of the virgin olive oil and mix it well.step 4
Gradually add the remaining 3 cups of flour (you may need a little less or more flour)until you have a dough that makes a perfect ball. Keep kneading the dough continuously for a good 10-15 minutes till the dough becomes soft, very smooth and stops sticking to your fingers.step 5
Pour the remaining 1 tbspn of oil on this round soft dough to grease it evenly . Cover the doughball with clingfilm and leave for it to rise for 2-3 hours.step 6
Meanwhile you can take the zaatar topping ingredients (or a cup of zaatar mixture that can be easily found in any middle eastern store with the oil ) and mix it in a small bowl to make it an oily mixture.step 7
Once the dough has risen , you can roll the dough and divide into either small balls or 2-3 large balls ( we chose to make 2 big 12″ breads. If you wish to serve manakeesh as an appetizer for friends and family , you can make mini manakeesh breads served as small bites to eat.)step 8
Roll out the ball on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin to a thickness of about ¼ inch and roll it to as big/small as you wish. Take a fork and poke it all over the bread avoiding the dough to puff up while being baked .step 9
You can now preheat the oven to 250°C (450°F) for 15-20 minutes.step 10
Place a greaseproof paper on a round baking tray and gently pick the stretched round dough and place it on top of the greaseproof paper. Gently spread 1 spoon of the Zaatar mixture on the bread.step 11
Zaatar bread is ready to bake. Place it in the preheated oven and let it bake for 5-10 minutes or until you can see slight browning. Hot yumminess is ready to dive into. See it on my blog https://ayoodcooks.wordpress.com/
