Comfort Me with Carbs: Khobz from Heure Bleue Palais in Essaouria

We're baking our way around the world, getting recipes from favorite hotels around the world, like Heure Bleue Palais, a drop-dead-chic Relais & Chateaux hotel in Essaouira, a seaside resort town in Marrakech. If you're lucky enough to stay here, as Fathom founder Pavia Rosati was last fall, you'll have a lunchtime feast on the roof, where the bounty of mezze is accompanied by khobz, traditional Arabic bread that is surprisingly easy to make at home.

KHOBZ
Traditional Arabic bread  

INGREDIENTS

500 g. (18 oz.) soft white flour
500 g. (18 oz.) whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. baker's yeast
10 cl. (3 1/2 oz.) lukewarm milk
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
2 Tbsp. sesame seeds
2 Tbsp. anise (or fennel) seeds
10 g. (.3 oz.) salt
1/2 liter (2 c.) warm water

PREPARATION

1. Mix the milk and the baking yeast to dilute the yeast.

2. Mix all the seeds together.

3. Add salt and milk to the flours. Start working the dough, adding water in small quantities depending on the absorption of the flour.

4. Work and knead the dough for about 20 minutes. Cover and let stand until the dough doubles in volume.

5. Cut the dough into small, 80-gram (just under 3 ounces) balls and roll them in the seeds.

6. Cover with a clean cloth and let stand for 30 minutes to rise again.

7. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit).

8. Bake the rolls on a baking sheet for about 15 minutes.

Read more about Heure Bleue Palais on Fathom. And keep baking! See all the Comfort Me with Carbs recipes.