Lebanese Manakish Dough Recipe

I have tried so many dough recipes over the years to make manakish/mana2ish with, but this recipe definitely wins.

In her video, Chef Leyla Fathallah, whom I really admire, teaches us how to make a quick dough that is good for one “Mankoushe”.

I’ve been using an adaptation of her recipe to make doughs on a larger scale and the result is always amazing.

Mankoushe literally means “carved” or “engraved” and this refers to the way the dough was traditionally shaped before baking it. Basically, they are Lebanese-style pizzas, made from a dough and various toppings.

In Lebanon, mana2ish are the typical breakfast you may find at any table, or easily and affordably find at bakeries.

Today, we will learn an easy dough recipe you can make at home.

Difficulty: Easy

Cooking Time: up to two hours

Ingredients

You will be needing the following ingredients:

500 g of flour
1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon of sugar
200 ml of warm water
1/4 cup of Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Some optional ingredients:

Shea seeds (1 to 2 tablespoons)
Lin seeds (1 to 2 tablespoons)

Tools

Bowl
Pizza oven (for best results) or a flat pan
Rolling pin

Notes

You can use a food processor to knead the dough for 5-10 minutes, but if you’re making a small quantity it is not necessary.

Toppings usually used in Lebanon are:

Zaatar and Olive oil
Cheese
Keshek Mix
Cheese and Zaatar
Meat Mix
Chili Mix
Chili Mix with Cheese
Eggs and Awarma
Labneh and Awarma
Cheese and sujuk
etc..

A new trend right now is to make “double-decker” manakish: which consists in making a cheese mankoushe, then adding another layer of dough on top of it, which is then covered with zaatar. I do not recommend trying this one on a pan, however.

Instructions

1- In a bowl, add the yeast and sugar to the warm water and mix. Cover and set aside for the yeast to activate (around 10 mns).

2- Mix the rest of the ingredients together, then add in the yeast mixture and mix everything together until they form a homogenous dough.

It is normal for the dough to seem sticky.

2- Let the dough rest for at least an hour or until it doubles in size.

3- Divide it into small balls.

4- Sprinkle flour on your work area, then start flattening the dough with a rolling pin. Try to have a really thin and flat circle.

Method using flat pan:

1- Heat up a flat pan, then place the flattened dough directly on it. Let it cook for a couple of minutes until you can see that it dried out on one side.

2- Flip the dough. Add the topping on the cooked side. Lower the heat, and cover the pan to let the dough and topping cook through.

Method using a pizza oven: (Recommended!)

Add your toppings directly to the uncooked dough and then place it in the pizza oven. Depending on your oven and its heat settings, the mankoushe should take around 1-2 minutes to cook.

An alternative way would be to bake in the oven.