The zatar recipe is a delightful treat your family, friends, and you will love. These cookies inspired by traditional manaeesh will give your home a wonderful aroma when they are baking in the oven . These wonderful healthful cookies also feature a special dough made from flour and semolina, fresh thyme, crumbled feta or other white salty cheese, and topped with fragrant sesame seeds. They can be eaten at any time, but we prefer them hot, right out of the oven with a hot cup of Mint Tea.
Irresistible Zatar Cookies: A Manaeesh-Inspired Delight
Ingredients
- White All Purpose Flour - 2 cups
- Semolina - 1 cup
- Baking Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
- Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
- Olive Oil - 1/2 cup
- Lukewarm Water - 1/2 cup
- Instant Yeast - 1 tablespoon or one sachet
- White Sugar - 1 tablespoon
- Fresh Thyme, Washed and Dried - 3 cups
- Crumbled Feta or Nabulsi Cheese, Salted - 1 cup
- Sesame Seeds - 1 tablespoon
Steps
- Step 1
Prepare Your Dough
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and instant yeast.
- Step 2
Gradually add olive oil and the warm water to the dry ingredients, using your hands to mix the ingredients well together.
- Step 3
Knead the dough well, for about 5 minutes. Dough should not be too sticky to your hand. If it is, add some flour to the dough. If dough is hard and dry, then add water, one tablespoon at a time while you knead, until it is easier to knead.
- Step 4
Cover bowl with cloth and set aside to allow dough to rise for about an hour and a half.
- Step 5
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Step 6
Add the thyme leaves and cheese to your dough and knead well till they are blended into the dough.
- Step 7
Shape dough into round balls and then slightly flatten the ball a bit. Diameter of each cookie should be at least 2 inches. Thickness should not be more than 1/2 inch.
- Step 8
Put balls into ungreased baking pans, leaving space between each cookie.
- Step 9
Brush the cookies with olive oil. Sprinkle the top surface of each cookie with sesame seeds.
- Step 10
Bake for 15-20 minutes till cookies are *browned on top, but not burned. Sesame seeds should be pale color. Serve while hot with Mint Tea.
Tip
*If your cookies don't brown at the top at the end of the baking time, simply put the broiler on for a few minutes till color changes to golden (be careful not to burn the sesame seeds on top!)
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About the Author: Riwa Saied
