Description

Shubbak el-Habayeb, the bread of the month for the Bread Baking Babes, is a delightful and aromatic Iraqi Sweet Bread. The dough is shaped into square buns and scored with vertical cuts that open up allowing you to see through.

Ingredients

Units Scale

480 g/ 4 cups all purpose einkorn flour
120 g/ 1 cup whole grain einkorn flour
2 g/ 1 tsp instant yeast
100 g/ 1/2 cup sugar
225 g / 1 cup milk, scalded then cooled, divided *
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water
1/2 teaspoon rose water
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground mahleb (see notes at end)
12 grams/1 tablespoon salt
50 grams/3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
* Since I used einkorn, I wasn’t sure about the hydration so I started with about 3/4 cup of milk, then added an additional 1/4 cup during kneading

For the Glaze

1 egg **
1 tablespoon water
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar
Sesame seeds, poppy seeds
**I omitted the egg and just brushed the tops with a water/sugar mixture.

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Instructions

Pour the flour into a bowl, and create a well in the middle. Sprinkle the yeast and sugar into the well, and add 3/4 cup of milk. Cover the milk with some of the flour from the sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel, and let rest for one hour.
Add the eggs, flower waters, cardamom, mahlab, and salt to the mixture in the bowl and mix with your hands to form a rough dough. Add additional 1/4 cup milk as needed to ensure the dough isn’t too dry.
Turn it out onto an unfloured counter, and knead for 10 minutes. Add the butter, and knead for 5 more minutes or until the butter is thoroughly incorporated throughout the dough.
Let the dough rest for 15 minutes, then fold and turn the dough. Place the dough into a clean bowl and let rise in a warm spot, covered, for about two hours, until doubled. Fold the dough in the bowl after the first hour, then let it rest for the remaining hour.
Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and form them into balls. Cover with a towel or oiled plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes.
Roll each ball with a rolling pin into a square that is about 1/2 inch thick. Cut the dough with a sharp knife to make short vertical cuts in each quadrant of the dough. Open the slits with your hands to make sure they are cut through.
Place the squares on baking sheets (you will need two sheet pans, prepared with parchment or Silpat), six squares per pan. Cover each sheet pan with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise for one hour.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) with a rack in the middle of the oven.
Whisk together the glaze ingredients and brush the glaze over the rolls on one of the sheet pans. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or the seeds of your choice.
Bake the first pan of rolls for 12-15 minutes, until golden. Remove the buns from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Repeat with the second pan of rolls.

Notes

Adapted from The Book of Buns by Jane Mason

The rose water, orange blossom water and Mahleb can be found at a Middle Eastern market. However, if you can’t find them, feel free to add a bit of orange zest and some vanilla to the dough.

To make your own Mahleb (per Jane Mason’s Book of Buns): Use 1/2 teaspoon of this blend: 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ground bay leaves.

Category: Sweet Bread