Zaatar manakish
In Lebanon manakish is a popular breakfast, often eaten on the go, folded in half like a sandwich. The technique reduces to two things: the zaatar is mixed with olive oil into a loose paste, never scattered dry, and spread right to the edge. Dry zaatar scorches easily in a hot oven and turns bitter; the oil protects it and carries it across the dough at the same time.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Dough 15 min
- Rising 75 min
- Shaping 15 min
- Baking 25 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneKnead a soft dough
Mix the flour with the yeast, sugar and salt, add the lukewarm water and oil and knead for 10 minutes, until smooth and slightly tacky. It should be soft — a stiff dough gives a flatbread that cracks when folded in half.
Ingredients: 500 g strong bread flour · 310 ml water · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 40 ml olive oil
Rise for 75 minutes
Leave in an oiled bowl until doubled. The finger test: a dent pressed a centimetre deep should fill back slowly and not completely. Towards the end of the rise, heat the oven to 250°C with a stone or an upturned tray inside, for at least 30 minutes.
Ingredients: 500 g strong bread flour · 310 ml water · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 40 ml olive oil
Mix the zaatar into a paste with oil
Stir the thyme, sumac, sesame and salt into the oil to a loose paste that falls from a spoon. The ratio matters more than it seems: too little oil and the herbs burn to dust, too much and the paste runs off the bread onto the tray.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp dried thyme · 2 tbsp sumac · 3 tbsp sesame seeds · ½ tsp salt · 120 ml olive oil
A loose paste, not a dry mixture.Press out by hand, do not roll
Divide the dough into 6 and press each out with your hands into an 18 cm disc, leaving the rim slightly thicker. A rolling pin squeezes out more air and the bread comes out flat and dense — hands leave the unevenness that keeps it light.
Ingredients: 500 g strong bread flour · 310 ml water · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 40 ml olive oil
Hands, not a pin — rim thicker than the centre.Spread to the edge and dimple the dough
Spread the paste right to the rim, thickly, and press dimples into the dough with your fingertips. The dimples hold the oil and stop it running off — without them the paste pools in the middle and the edges dry out.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp dried thyme · 2 tbsp sumac · 3 tbsp sesame seeds · ½ tsp salt · 120 ml olive oil
To the very edge, with dimples to hold the oil.Bake 10 minutes at 250°C
Bake in batches of 2–3 on a well-heated stone or an upturned tray, 8–10 minutes at 250°C. The bread should barely colour at the edges and stay soft — manakish is not crisp, it has to fold in half.
Ingredients: 500 g strong bread flour · 310 ml water · 7 g dried yeast · 1 tsp sugar · 10 g salt · 40 ml olive oil
Serve with raw vegetables
Serve hot, folded in half, with cucumber, tomato, olives and mint alongside. In Lebanon fresh vegetables and mint are often served alongside — their coolness and juiciness balance the richness of the oil.
Ingredients: 1 pcs cucumber · 2 pcs tomatoes · 100 g olives · ¼ bunch mint
Before you start
Zaatar is a blend, not one herb
The name covers both the herb itself (Syrian oregano) and the whole mixture. Shop zaatar is sometimes bulked out with flour or a lot of salt — check the label. A homemade blend of dried thyme (or thyme with oregano), sumac and sesame tastes fresher and usually costs less.
The cheese version
Manakish bi jibneh is the same base with akkawi cheese, or a mix of mozzarella and feta, instead of zaatar. Bake it two minutes less — the cheese should melt without browning.
Dough in advance
After the first rise the dough keeps two days in the fridge. Take it out half an hour before shaping — straight from the fridge it cannot be pressed out and springs back under your hands.
