Khaliat Nahal - Honeycomb buns

Khaliat Nahal, which in Arabic means bees' hive, derives its name from the typical honey comb like pattern in which this bread is baked. It can be made either sweet or savory. I have made the sweet version with its traditional cream cheese filling, and coated it with sugar syrup after baking.
This recipe makes 17/18 smallish buns. The buns are baked close together in a round pan, giving it its characteristic honey comb shape. The recipe is one I'd bookmarked when I was part of the We Knead to Bake group and thanks to Blogging Marathon #64 where I'll be posting three different shaped yeasted breads this week, it is finally moving out of my bookmarks folder and seeing the light of day.

Khaliat Nahal - Honeycomb buns

What you need:
All purpose flour - 2.5 cups
Sugar - 3 tbsp.
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Instant yeast - 1.5 tsp
Melted butter - 3 tbsp.
Lukewarm milk - 1 cup
Cream cheese - for filling
Some milk for brushing on top of the buns

For the sugar syrup:
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Mix the melted butter, flour, sugar, salt and yeast using your finger tips. Add the milk, a little at a time and knead until your dough is smooth, pliable and elastic. You may not have to add all the milk.
Coat with a little oil on all sides, cover and leave aside in a warm place to rise. It should double in size in about an hour.
While the dough is rising, you can make your sugar syrup. To do this, bring the sugar and water to a boil and then let the mixture simmer on low heat for a few minutes until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Keep aside to cool until needed.
Once the dough rises, divide it into two parts. Roll each part into a rope that is roughly 9 inches long. Cut each rope into nine parts, so that you have eighteen parts in all. Flatten each part of dough a little, place a little of the cream cheese inside and close the seams and smoothen the dough into a round ball. Place the balls of dough in a well greased 9 inch round pan, arranging them in concentric circles, filling the base of the pan. Cover with a wet paper towel and let it rise for about an hour. Brush the tops with milk.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes or until the tops are well browned.
Remove from the oven and while the buns are still hot, pour the sugar syrup on top of them. If you want your bun to be only mildly sweet and not sticky, you could just brush the sugar syrup on top of the buns. Let this sit for a bit so that the sugar syrup sets a little.
Serve warm.

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Pita bread

I have always assumed that pita bread is difficult to make. Don't ask me why.....I just always thought that it wasn't something that could easily be made at home. Until now, that is. Blogging Marathon #50 has made me tread hitherto untested waters and I must say that not only is it not difficult to make pita at home, but it is also lighter and tastier than the store bought, preservative laden version.

Pita bread, hummus and falafel  - a complete meal

What you need:
Flour - 3 cups *(see note)
Instant yeast - 2 tsp
Salt - 1.5 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Lukewarm water - 1 to 1.5 cups

In a large mixing bowl, bring together the flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add water, a little at a time, until it forms a sticky mass. Add in the oil and transfer to your counter top. Knead well for at least ten minutes and for up to 12 minutes. By then, you will notice that the dough has become smooth, non sticky and pliable. Transfer to an oiled bowl and keep aside covered for 2 hours. The dough will puff up nicely even though it may not double. Punch the dough down, divide it into eight equal balls, cover and keep aside for half an hour. During this time, pre heat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Roll the dough into a circle of roughly 6-7 inches and arrange as many of the circles as you can on the back of a cookie sheet. Bake for 4 minutes. The pita should puff up beautifully somewhere between 3 and 4 minutes. Even if it doesn't, don't fret too much about it, because it will still taste just as good.

Pita - hot off the oven

 Remove from the oven and serve warm with hummus and falafel to make a complete meal.

*Note : I have use a combination of 2 cups of wheat flour and 1 cup of all purpose flour. You may choose to use only APF, only Wheat flour, or any ratio that adds up to a total of 3 cups.
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