Zaatar & Mini Manakish Zaatar

00:02 Niloufer Riyaz 8 Comments

Its a long time since I participated in Home Bakers Challenge due to my tight schedule. This month"s host is
Sis. Rafeedha who has given us a wide range of Arabic Delicacies to bake. Zaatar is my sons's favorite, he would just eat them any time in the day. Used to buy store bought Zaatar and make him Fatayers/ Arabic pastries, but this time thought why not try this recipe, as this was something new. This is a Lebanese Bread usefully had for breakfast, I always love mini bakes and made these Manakish Zaatar to mini ones. Made them in a hurry so detail to work is missing (apologies for that) would make them perfect in the future, but they were damn good, yummm yummm. Made only half  the quantity of the recipe.

You Need:

For Zaatar:

Ground Sumaac                           1/8 cup
Dried Oregano                 1 tbsp
Dried Thyme                   1 tbsp
Roasted Sesame seed      1 tbsp
Salt                                  1/4 tsp
Olive oil                           1/4 cup

For Bread

All purpose flour              1 1/2 cup
Sugar                              1/4 tsp
Active Dry Yeast              1 1/8 tsp
Luke warm water             1/2 cup
Salt                                   1/2 tsp
Olive oil                           1 tbsp

Preparation:

For Zaatar:

Mix together Oregano, Thyme, Sumaac and salt together in a bowl, (I pulsed everything in my spice grinder)
Mix the sesame seeds. Store in Air tight jar, When you want to use in breads for this quantity mix 1/4 cup olive oil to the zaatar into a paste.

For Bread.

Combine yeast, sugar and water in a bowl, allow them to stand in for 10 minutes till they become frothy.
In a big bowl mix the flour, salt and olive oil together. Create a well in the center of the flour add the yeast mixture and form into a soft dough.
Cover them in a damp towel and leave them for an hour to rise.
Pre-heat oven to 200*C
Knead the dough lightly and divide them into small balls,Keep them in a oiled tray and cover them again in a dampened towel and allow them to stand for 15 minutes.
Flatten them into small discs and make small indention to apply Zaatar mix.
Meanwhile make a paste of Zaatar and Olive oil. Place 1/4 tsp of Zaatar mixture in each indention.
Arrange them in greased baking tray  and bake for about 6-8minutes.
Alternatively divide them into 4 equal parts and flatten them into a circle of about 7-8 inches in diameter, make indention spread 1 tbsp of Zaatar topping  leaving 1/2 inch border around the corners.
Bake them for  8-10 minutes.