Jachnun Recipe

Ingredients:

DOUGH:

500 grams AP flour
25 grams whole wheat flour (50AP ok )
15 grams of sugar
10 grams honey
10 grams salt
350 grams water (you may not need all of it)
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of Nutmeg

PREP:

About 200 grams butter/margarine at room temp

Directions:

DOUGH:

Place the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, honey and nutmeg in a mixer, start mixing on low while slowly pouring in the water until a ball forms, then knead for 3-5 min on medium-high speed.

Remove from the mixer and place in a greased bowl. Allow to rest for 2 hours, we are just looking for the gluten to relax. (There is no yeast here so the dough is not proofing, just relaxing after a long knead)

After it's rested, transfer the dough to an oiled surface and divide the dough into 8 equal pieces (about 100-110g each), roll the pieces into balls and place on a tray, covered with plastic wrap. Allow to rest a minimum of 2 hours and up to 5 hours (the longer it rests, the easier it will be to stretch each piece)

PREP:

Preheat the oven to 215F and grab the butter/margarine

Now we are ready to stretch and roll, bring the dough balls back to your work area, oil your surface, and take one ball at a time and start padding it out GENTLY with your hands, (rolling pin is useless here with all the oil, and also there really is no need) until a 10” diameter forms, no need to be precise here, then start stretching the dough, you want it as thin as possible without tearing it, it should be almost see through. (Do this by grabbing the edges of the dough and gently pulling each edge to stretch the dough).

Grab some of the butter with your hand or a brush and spread a generous amount all over the stretched dough, being gentle, as to not tear it.

Now, tri-fold the dough like a letter and start rolling it up until you get an elongated piece of dough, almost like a hotdog bun.

Place the rolled up pieces of jachnun in an aluminum pot lined with foil.

Place a small piece of parchment on top of the jachnun and add up to 7 whole eggs that will bake with the jachnun

BAKE:

Cover the pot and place it in the oven at the 215F for 8 hours minimum up to 18 hours (the longer it stays the more brown it gets)

This Jewish-Yemenite morning pastry is mostly served savory with schug (a spicy dip), crushed tomatoes, tahini and the hard boiled eggs we had cooking overnight with the jachnun.

Us as kids used to eat it with sugar/honey/chocolate/peanut butter, but traditionally this is a big no no (but I won’t tell if you won’t)

chef-ish?