Lebanese food. I’d honestly never considered it until Spiced Pantry founder Shannon Morris reached out to introduce herself and the subscription box company she launched in late 2015. Her mission? “To make global cooking an easy and fun adventure,” she explained to me.
How? By curating regional ingredients from around the world and packaging them with authentic recipes. And since each Spiced Pantry Box focuses on one country and features full-size items, meal planning and prep are a breeze. Just pick a dish and gather a handful of basic groceries.
So when Shannon asked if I’d like to experience the inaugural box, I was honored (and naturally excited at the prospect of a new ingredient challenge). “I’d be thrilled,” I said.
Then, like magic, a box of Lebanese goodies – some familiar (allspice, bulghur and sumac) and some foreign (pomegranate molasses, tahina and za’atar) – showed up at the door, along with instructions for making baba ghanouj, fattoush and four other Lebanese specialties. But I opted to get a little creative first, and so this za’atar pull-apart bread was born.
Za’atar is a Middle Eastern spice blend that is often combined with olive oil and served as a dip or spread for pita bread. I veered from tradition and layered the mix of sesame seeds, sumac and dried herbs between thin sheets of dough instead. The result? A savory loaf that’s pleasing to the eye and palate. The rolls are delicious as is but also pair well with saucy dishes, like maghmour, my second creation using the Spiced Pantry Box contents.
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Recipe adapted from g2food.
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 whole egg + 1 egg white (reserve yolk for finish)
- 5 tablespoons za'atar
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- In a large bowl, heat milk until warm - about 30 seconds in the microwave should do. Add the yeast and sugar. Whisk together until thoroughly combined and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Add the rest of the dough ingredients (butter through eggs) to the milk mixture, stirring everything until it comes together to form a shaggy ball. Then knead the dough by hand (or with a dough hook attachment) until it’s smooth and elastic - this will take about 10 minutes (or less if using a stand mixer). Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rise until doubled in size, 1-2 hours.
- While the dough rises, combine the za'atar and olive oil in a small bowl.
- Grease a 9" springform pan.
- After the dough has risen, punch it down and divide into 4 equal pieces.
- Divide one portion of dough into 4 equal pieces. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece into a circle, about 6-7 inches in diameter, and top with about 1 teaspoon filling, spreading it toward the edges. Stack the four circles on top of one another and roll up into a log; pinch seam to seal. Set aside and repeat with remaining portions of dough for a total of 4 logs.
- Use a serrated knife and cut each log into 4-5 V-shaped pieces; the point of the V should measure about ¾" and the base should measure about 1¾".
- Arrange the pieces, cut sides up, in the springform pan.
- Cover loaf with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- About 15 minutes before dough has finished rising, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Brush top of loaf with remaining filling and egg wash and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until golden.
- Remove pan from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Then remove ring and transfer loaf to a wire rack. Let cool slightly before serving.
I got a KitchenAid stand mixer for Christmas (I cried) and I’ve been searching for the perfect recipe to christian is with. I think this is it!
You will love the mixer – and hopefully the bread! Enjoy!
I have done this today and it came out wonderful for the eyes and for the taste.. Thank you Alison for sharing this recipe with us…I wanted to post the photo but I did not know how ..
So glad you liked the recipe – I bet your bread was beautiful!
I LOVE za’atar (found you through pinterest looking for new recipes to try). I can’t wait to try this—the bread looks amazingly flaky. You nailed it! Look forward to checking out more of your recipes.
Thank so much for the kind words, Beth! Hope you enjoy the recipe.
beautiful layers i am sure it it is equally delicious too.
If I wanted to prepare this the night before and serve it for breakfast the next day, would you let the dough rise overnight in the fridge and then roll out and put the filling in the morning? or could you prepare the whole loaf with the filling and put in the fridge overnight?
Hi Chantal – Since it’s not essential to serve the bread straight from the oven, you could assemble and bake it the night before, and then reheat the loaf if you want to enjoy it warm. Just an idea!
I was searching some unique pull-apart bread recipes when I came across your link. I absolutely love the picture of your bread. Tender and crunchy layers, all at once. I’ve made plenty of herb-infused breads, but never tried this zaatar variation. Bookmarking this for my weekend baking. Za’atar is indeed a versatile spice blend and use in every middle eastern food I make. The mainstay of the blend is the real Lebanese zaatar herb with flavor notes of thyme, oregano, marjoram, and savory packed in one herb. But you often end up with regular thyme in most store-bought mixes. The brand of zaatar I use makes all the difference taste-wise. If I am allowed to recommend, I’d suggest readers check out this shop from where I get my fresh spices — http://www.eatzaatar.com.
Hi Joan – Thanks so much for the kind words and for sharing your za’atar source! Happy baking!
It was my first time experimenting with Zaatar and making pull apart bread. It’s delicious and the bread is so soft. Thank you for this gem! All the way from Singapore 🙂
Thanks so much for stopping by to say hello! I am so glad you liked the recipe – once you start baking pull-apart bread, you won’t stop. 🙂
Hi. Is there a video on how you cut and fold the bread to bake?
Hi there – Unfortunately, I didn’t create a how-to video. Sorry!
Thank you for this recipe! It turned out wonderful and looks beautiful! I had never baked anything other than a regular loaf so I was worried without an instructional video but I didn’t have any trouble understanding the written instructions and it turned out gorgeous with all the layers intact!
Thanks again!
I am so glad you had success with the recipe, Tamara! And thanks so much for the feedback – it’s always so nice to hear!
Can Rhodes rolls be substituted for making the dough?
Hi Kelli – The flavor and texture of the finished product may be a little different (since the dough is lighter), but I think it should work. Let me know how it goes!
I see it’s AP flour. Does it come out better than with bread flour?
Hi Beth – I’ve never made the recipe with bread flour, but I imagine it would work well and the finished product would simply have more chew.