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!
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 well680 Grams Flour, 1 ½ tbsp Sugar, 2 tsp Salt
- Second, in the water, add the yeast and stir until solved. Wait for 10 minutes400 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 dough¼ 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 it½ 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!
