Uri Scheft's Yemenite Jachnun Recipe (2024)

• 8 cups (1 kilogram) all-purpose flour, sifted

• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder

• 2 tablespoons (35 grams) honey

• 4 teaspoons (20 grams) salt

• 2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon (675 grams) warm water

• 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) vegetable oil

• 13 tablespoons (200 grams) unsalted butter, very soft, nearly melted

Make the Dough:

1. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, honey, and salt in a large bowl.

2. Add the water to the bowl and stir until the dough is shaggy and the water has been absorbed.

3. Knead the dough in the bowl for 2 minutes (it will be pretty wet and sticky).

4. Set the dough aside at room temperature to rest for 5 minutes.

Knead the Dough:

1. Slide your hand beneath the dough toward the center so your fingers point up (beneath the dough).

2. Lift the dough from the middle, moving your hand toward the edge of the bowl to stretch it.

3. Release the dough, give the bowl a quarter turn, and repeat 7 times.

4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set the dough aside to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Divide the Dough and Shape It:

1. Lightly oil a large plate. Oil your hand and pat some oil under the dough and over the surface.

2. Grab a corner of the dough and squeeze your forefinger and thumb around it, pushing a baseball-size ball of dough up through the circle made by your finger and thumb.

3. Break off the ball, place your thumb in the center of the ball, and use your other hand to fold the edges over your thumb, using your thumb to pinch down each ofthe edges as they get folded over.

4. Pinch all the corners shut and then set the doughon the oiled plate, smooth-side up.

5. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough to make 10 baseball-size balls.

6. Cover the dough loosely with a kitchen towel and let it rest at room temperature for 5 minutes.

Stretch and Shape the Dough:

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and preheat the oven to 225 F.

2. Fold a long piece of parchment paper in half lengthwise and place it across the bottom of an 8-inch or 9-inch springform pan or kubaneh pan so the edges of the parchment hang over the sides (like a sling).

3. Put the butter in a small bowl close to your work area. Heavily butter your work surface and set a ball of dough on top.

4. Butter the top of the dough ball and use your hands to push and stretch the dough into a very thin (paper-thin) rectangle (stretch it as far as you can without the dough tearing, adding more butter as needed to prevent tearing—but don’t worry if it tears).

5. Fold the left side of the rectangle over the center (lengthwise), lightly butter the top of the fold, then fold the right side over (lengthwise) creating a simple fold. Lightly butter the top.

6. Starting at a narrow, short edge, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Set the cylinder in the parchment paper–lined pan, perpendicular to the length of the paper.

7. Repeat with 3 more balls.

8. Once the first layer of the pan is full, set the next layer on top of the first, across the first layer in a crosshatch pattern.

9. Place the final 2 cylinders around the edges of the pan.

Bake the Jachnun:

1. Butter another doubled sheet of parchment paper and place it, buttered-side down, on top of the dough. Cover tightly with a lid, or a doubled piece of heavy-duty foil.

2. Bake the jachnun overnight, for 12 hours.

3. The next morning, remove the jachnun from the oven.

4. Uncover the pan and discard the parchment paper.

5. Place the jachnun on a platter and serve.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Recipe Tags:

• Kosher
• bread
• kosher
• fall

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