My Rough Khoubz -- Moroccan Flat Bread.

ElizabethAuthorAKAHajar's Note:

This is a flat bread that we use for meals, sandwiches and breakfast. It is our daily bread here in Morocco and is rarely made at home unless rurally as it is so inexpensive and available on every street corner; small or large. This bread is good for soaking up the sauces,broths and for pushing the food onto and sort of dragging from the communal platter to eat. This bread is our knife and fork! This recipe makes 2 loaves and is easily cut in half for one loaf c.2005

• Total Time: 42 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 12 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups unbleached white flour or 2 cups barley flour
• 3 ½ tablespoons dry active yeast
• 2⁄3; cup cornmeal
• extra cornmeal , for dusting top and placing on tray under bread
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 ½ cups water , tepid 110-115 degrees F
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. This bread should not be "dense" with no air bubble pockets inside. You will need to flatten it as much as you possibly can; pull, stretch and flatten to no more than 1/2 inch. Should it come out dense, then next time cut the dough in three and make 3 loaves. Please don't go by my photo as this batch "over-rose.".
3. Combine 1/2 cup flour, sugar, salt, yeast and water in bowl. Stand, covered, in a warm place until bubbly.
4. Add remaining flour, and cornmeal into a large bowl. Add the oil. Add yeast mixture to the flour in the bowl.
5. Mix with hands well to form a firm dough.
6. Knead until smooth.
7. Stand, covered, in a warm place 20 minutes.
8. Shape into 2 rounds (depending on the diameter you desire as Moroccan bread comes in many sizes right down to little ones for sandwiches). Score the top with a sharp knife 1/8" deep into 4 (cutting an X shape), or using your thumb make a dent in the center nearly deep enough to be a hole, though not all the way through.
9. Place on a baking sheet dusted with corn meal and dust the top also with the corn meal gently pushing it into the dough a bit.
10. Stand, covered, until nearly doubled. This being so flat and the amount of yeast, it may not exactly double for you in size and that is fine.
11. Bake 12-18 minutes.
12. If you are making a Moroccan meal and will use bread to eat with you will need at least 2 loaves for 4 people. Cooking time includes standing and is an approximation as flours and temperatures differ.
13. This bread freezes well. Simply freeze as you would any bread and defrost at room temperature. I freeze mine in tied white translucent plastic bags, similar to grocery plastic bags.

Reviews

[vfinn]

This was really good! Almost exactly like my Moroccan mother-in-law's bread! The taste was great but next time I will cook it at a higher temperature and make smaller round loaves like she does. Moroccans like more crust, less spongy inside, to be able to eat with it. I made this in my bread machine, the mixing, kneading and rising, and then just laid it out on a cookie sheet and rolled it out with a handheld roller. So easy! I always thought this bread was so time-consuming! Thank you for this version!

[Angel-mae & cleopatra's mummy]

Fantastic Easy recipe I also made mine in the bread maker on the dough setting -quick and easy thankyou miss Elizabeth for sharing

[IngridH]

I really enjoyed this bread, and it was so easy to make. I cut the recipe in half, and used my bread machine to make it to the dough stage, then baked it on a stone in the oven. The dough seemed very wet when it came out of the machine, but the finished product was just perfect- great flavor, great texture. I would never have thought to put cornmeal into my bread, but it really added something both flavor and texture wise. Thanks for posting a great recipe!