What is the fluffiest flatbread you have ever made/ate in your life? Are you even a fan of Pita or do they mostly fall flat for you. Excuse the pun. I can tell you this, for the longest time I have been telling people that the best Pita in the world does not come from the middle-east, its rightful home is North-Africa. With today’s post, I will show you the Moroccan Batbout Recipe, a.k.a Moroccan Pita Bread, and by the time you make it, you will hopefully be convinced that this is the best pita bread in the world.
It’s not even up for debate … Until I taste a better pita bread.
Moroccan Batbout Recipe
I spent the first 18 years of my life in Morocco. I lived in four different cities, and frequently visited a whole lot more. Batbout is a recipe that was pretty much popular anywhere I went.
The one thing that I could not find though, was an explanation to what the name itself means. The best I could find was “It’s called like that because it’s chubby … why you ask?”
So, there it is, it’s a chubby pita that everyone seems to love.
The recipe is pretty simple and if you have made pizza before, you will find it to be very similar.
Here is what you will need:
- 2 Cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting.
- 1 cup semolina
- 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp dry active yeast
- 1 cup lukewarm water
That’s pretty much it!
Why Batbout is Much better
It’s the perfect sandwich, hot pocket, or even pizza bread you will find anywhere. You can open it in 2 seconds using your fingers, you can stuff it with anything you want, and it is by far the fluffiest sandwich bread you will ever eat.
Just look at the photo again. LOOK!
But don’t take my word for it, go ahead and make it for yourself and leave me a comment down below. I am always happy to read from you guys.
Batbout
Batbout - Super Fluffy Moroccan Pita Bread - Easy to follow flatbread recipe that will change your understand of what Pita bread is. Vegan friendly.
Ingredients
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup semolina
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dry active yeast
- 1 â…“ cup lukewarm water
Instructions
Mix flour and semolina together in a large bowl. Add water, yeast, salt, olive oil. Mix altogether with a fork until the liquid is absorbed, then start kneading roughly with your hands in the bowl until you can form a sticky, lumpy ball.
Cover bowl and let rest for 15 minutes.
Slam & fold the dough for 2 minutes, and then form the dough into a ball. Rest for another 40 minutes.
Divide the dough and roll into 8 equal balls. On a cookie sheet dusted with semolina, place the balls of dough, sprinkle more semolina on the tops of the balls and cover with a clean towel. Let rest for 15 minutes.
Using a rolling pin, roll out each ball on a flour-dusted surface to a â…› inch thickness (you can make them round our square or any shape you want). Move the flattened dough to a flour dusted surface and cover with a clean towel. Repeat until you have no dough left to roll. Cover the dough balls and let them rise for 90 minutes.
OLD RECIPE: Mix your yeast, olive oil and water and let your yeast activate for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, in your stand mixer bowl mix all-purpose flour, semolina, whole wheat flour and salt. Attach your dough hook to the stand mixer and set it on low speed. Once your yeast is activated, start add your wet mixture slowly to the dry mixture until you have no water left. Set on high speed and let it knead for 8-10 minutes. Let your dough rest for 5 minutes.
OLD RECIPE: Divide your dough into 16 equal pieces and shape into balls. Using a rolling pin, roll each ball on a flour dusted surface to 1/8" thickness. (You can make them round our square or any shape you want). Move your rolled dough to a flour dusted surface and cover with a clean towel. Repeat until you have no dough left to roll. Cover your dough balls and let them rise for 90 minutes.
OLD RECIPE: Heat up a pan, preferably cast iron, to medium-high heat and place one pita on the pan and bake for 1-2 minutes on each sides. NOTE: keep on flipping your batbout to make sure that it does not burn and that it's cooked evenly. DO NOT let it sit and cook on one side for very long as it will not puff up.
Repeat until you don't have any dough left. Serve with anything you want. You can have it with Avocado, cream cheese, honey or anything you love. It's a great sandwich bread.Â
Note: For storage I prefer to freeze this bread. Whenever you want it, you can microwave it, or throw it on a pan for a couple of minutes and it's as good as new.
Recipe Notes
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Looks beyond delicious!! Have to try this!
Totally!
Such a cute pita bread. Love pita 🙂
Thank you! Give it a try 🙂
My husband is from Algeria and they call this Matlou’. I used your recipe and it’s so good!! I’m so happy I can make this bread. I used to eat it almost everyday when I was in Algeria!
I’m so happy to hear that Zahia! I didn’t know it had a different name in Algeria. Glad you guys enjoyed it 🙂
I used this recipe and it made for such amazing little pitas! next time I will make in advance and freeze them. thanks !
Glad you like it Sara!
I made these and they were really good. But not so fluffy as yours! Should there be sugar in the dough? it’s so fun to watch them puff up!
Thank you Julia!
Yes I know! Watching bread rise and puff-up is literally one of my favorite things in the world.
That being said, I think yours maybe just needed a little bit more time to rise. The ambient temperature makes a big difference in proofing time. Let them rise in the oven next time with the light on and give them an extra 30 minutes.
You can also add a little sugar in the dough if you want. I don’t think it’s necessary, but it won’t hurt, so why not.
Let me know how it works out!
Can substitute semolina and whole wheat flour with out flour or the all purpose flour?
Hi, I made these pita bread today and only one puffed up. It was delicious!
What could be the reason for this? Maybe it was the thinnest one I rolled out? They where nice and kind of soft fluffy after the 90 min rise.
I didn’t use any oil in my iron cast pan.
Thank you!
Hi Ariane!
Depending on the ambient temperature, yours could have maybe used a little bit more time to rise further. Give them more time next time and make sure that your pan is very hot. Have fun <3