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Zaatar Pita Bread | Manakish Za'atar Bread

A delicious pita bread from Lebanon - Zaatar bread topped with the zaatar spice mix. Learn how to make this yeast-based bread with step-wise pictures. 
Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time8 minutes
Total Time1 hour 38 minutes
Course: Entree
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Keyword: Zaatar Pita Bread
Servings: 4
Calories: 406kcal
Author: Srividhya G

Ingredients

For Yeast Proofing

  • ¼ tsp Sugar
  • 1.25 tsp Yeast
  • ½ cup Water

For the Bread

  • 1.5 cups All purpose flour
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil 1 tbsp + 2 tsps

For the topping

  • ¼ cup Zaatar spice mix
  • ¼ cup Olive oil

Instructions

Yeast Proofing

  • In a bowl add the lukewarm water, sugar and yeast and mix
  • Let it sit for 10 minutes.

Preparing the Dough

  • In a wide bowl add the sifted flour, salt, and olive oil and combine them.
  • Now slowly add the yeast mix and combine to form a dough.
  • Knead the dough for 10 minutes.
  • Transfer this mixture to a wide bowl greased with oil and cover it with a cling wrap and set aside until the dough has doubled in size. It took me about 1.5 hours this time.

Preparing the topping

  • Mix the za'atar spice with ¼ cup of olive oil and set aside.

Preparing the bread

  • After the dough has risen, divide it into four equal portions
  • Knead the dough on a dusted surface and roll out into a thin round shape.

Baking

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the pizza stone drizzled with semolina or cornmeal while preheating.
  • Now press fingertips all over the rolled bread forming indentations
  • Spread the prepared topping over the bread leaving the edges.
  • Carefully place this on the pizza stone and bake for 8 minutes.
  • Let it cool and serve with hummus or with your favorite curry. Err; this bread tastes great without any sides. Thanks to the Zaatar topping.

Notes

  • You can bake this in the regular cookie tray. I used my pizza stone.
  • Instead of regular yeast, you can use instant yeast, and instant yeast can be added directly to the dough and no proofing required.
  • Adjust the zaatar spice mix as per your preference.
  • Temperature plays a significant role in dough rise. So the rising time varies.

Nutrition

Calories: 406kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 304mg | Potassium: 206mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 562IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 287mg | Iron: 21mg