Lebanese Kaak

Lebanese Kaak is a bread usually found in particular bakeries or sold by street vendors. It is characterized by its shape like purse, and sesame seeds all over its top. It is very tasty and is ideal for breakfast or dinner, filled in with zaatar along a cup of tea!

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Cook Time 10

Dough rise (1st and second) 2 15

Total Time 2 25

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Lebanese

Servings 6 Kaak

Calories 516 kcal

Equipment

Baking Tray
Baking Sheet
Brush
Spatula
Small Bowl

Ingredients

680 Grams Flour T55 – T65
400 mL Water
2 tsp Instant Yeast
2 tsp Salt
1 ½ tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Olive Oil
½ cup Sesame Seeds
¼ cup Flour For working your dough

Instructions

The Dough

First, add the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl and stir well
680 Grams Flour, 1 ½ tbsp Sugar, 2 tsp Salt
Second, in the water, add the yeast and stir until solved. Wait for 10 minutes
400 mL Water, 2 tsp Instant Yeast
Then, forge a hole in the middle of your bowl and poor the water/yeast
Afterwards, add the olive oil and start mixing well until a homogenous dough is formed (this can take up to 10 mins and can be done by hand or in a kitchen aid)
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Once done, leave the dough in the bowl and cover it with a humid tissue for about an hour and a half, until it doubles in volume

The Kaak shape

As soon as your dough has doubled in volume, gently flour your work surface and chase all the air from the dough
¼ cup Flour
Using a scale, diving your dough into six pieces, each between 180 – 200 grams
Then, roll each piece of dough in an elliptical shape until you obtain dimensions of about 25 cm X 15 cm
Using a small biscuit mold or a cup, create a hole in the upper part as shown in the pictures below
Put your shaped dough on a baking sheet and on a baking tray

The final touch

Using a brush soaked in water, gently brush it with water and generously sprinkle sesame seeds all over it
½ cup Sesame Seeds
Cover them with the same humid tissue for about 45 mins
After 25 mins of covering them, warm up your oven to 250 degrees Celsius or any maximal temperature it can reach, with the convection on and the grill placed on the lowest level (if the heat source is from the bottom)
Once the dough has risen and the oven has reached its temperature, place the baking tray on the grill and let it bake for 5 minutes. At this point you should see it considerably rising in volume
After 5 minutes, turn on the upper heat source and let your Kaak continue its baking process until it turn to golden brown (this should not take more than a couple of minutes). You should keep the convection on
Remove them from the oven and put them on a cooling rack
Once they cooled down a bit, you can finally enjoy those delicious homemade Lebanese street bread!

Video

Notes

Our Cooking Hints:

If your oven is not hot enough, it won’t properly rise! Make sure to warm it up for some time before baking them
In case you want your bread crispier, you can adjust the baking time to be a bit longer
In order to verify that your bread has been successfully baked, gently tap on them from the top or bottom. If you hear a hollow sound, it means they have been properly cooked!
To properly eat it, it’s best to slide it open as shown below, and fill it with whatever ingredient you want!