How to make Moroccan Pita bread Batbout recipe

Morocco is a bread country, In our food culture, we eat a lot of bread, Almost every dish is served with bread and it is eaten from breakfast to dinner and even during tea time. Bread is also as a tool we use it to pick vegetable and meat from the plate, traditionally and usually we eat all from the same dish, and there’s, of course, a certain polite way to do it.

Many families make bread at home although, In traditional Moroccan quarters, there are until today communal oven that is an oven the community members share and use together. .. People prepare their bread in the morning, and when it is ready to bake, they carry their trays to the public oven where an oven-master bakes the loaves in a traditional oven for a few dirhams.

Batbout  ( بطبوط) also called Matlou –مطلوع, is a well known  Moroccan bread which will be quite soft and chewy bread, Its a pita bread which can be very well stuffed with vegetable fillings as well as meat fillings  and often used as a type of sandwich bread. Enjoy your Batbouts during breakfast with butter, jam and chocolate spreads, in my hometown we prepare it for breakfast with olive oil as you can see in the picture below.

You can prepare these Batbout bread as medium-sized bread also as very small Batbouts… this Batbout can be served very well for breakfast.while the very small Batbouts as appetizers with any dips…Batbout is usually prepared with active yeast, semolina flour, all-purpose flour, or with wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour…Moroccans called this Batbout as bread even though these Batbouts are not baked in the oven but they are prepared in stovetop or pan in the kitchen while in the countryside and more traditional villages, we bake it in a special tool called “Ferrah” in Arabic “this name may be different in each region”, it’s the one i use in my hometown village it adds a special and delicious flavor to the Batbout thanks to the traditional way cooked on the fire.

                        Baking Batbout the traditional way on fire

Here is the recipe and instructions to make it at home on a pan or stovetop 

Ingredients

• 4 cups white flour 
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 2 tbsp oil – olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cups water – warm (not hot)

instructions 

1. Put the sugar and yeast in 1 cup of warm water. Let proof.
2.  In a bowl of a stand mixer, sift the flour, semolina and salt. Mix for few seconds with a paddle attachment.
3. Add the rest of the water and oil to the bowl and stir to combine all ingredients.  add to the bowl the yeast mixture.
4. Knead the dough (in the bowl if it’s large enough or on a floured work surface) for 5 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic or use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. While kneading, work in a little flour or water as needed to ensure the dough is soft and pliable but not sticky.
5. Divide the dough in half and shape each portion into a small ball, (If you prefer, you can divide the dough into four to six smaller loaves instead.) Place the dough onto the prepared pans, cover with a towel, and allow it to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Let rise until it doubled in volume for about 1 to 2 hours, depends of the temperature of your kitchen.
7. Flour your working board and use the palm of your hand to flatten the dough balls into circles about 1/4-inch thick. 
8. Cover with a clean kitchen towel. let rise again for 30 minutes,  (longer in a cold room), or until the dough springs back when pressed lightly with a finger.
9. Place a large nonstick pan over medium heat and cook the bread or Batbout in batches. You may need to reduce the temperature to low if the Batbout or bread starts to burn. The bread puffs up as it cooks and forms a pocket.
10. Cook each side for a few minutes until golden.

Click here to watch the youtube video with more detailed instructions.

Besaha o Raha