It all started when Rania shared an old man’ouche recipe, and I was bored on a Sunday!

Although she did do the initial translation, I’ve changed some of the elements to reflect only 4 Mankoushe’s which can serve 2-4 people (depending on your appetite).

Be warned, Rania’s version made enough for 10!

Dough ingredients

1. Salt – just a dash
2. Baking powder – 1 medium tablespoon (or you can mix some yeast with warm water and let it process for 20 min before putting in the dough)
3. Sugar – 2 large tablespoons
4. Milk – 1 cup (warm milk. Or you can replace with warm water and later add a spoon of milk powder. Many say water but I prefer the richer creamier taste of dough)
5. Flour – 1.5 cup.
6. Flour – another 1 cups.
7. Olive oil – 1/3 cup.
8. Butter – a thumb sized chunk.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit or 260 Celsius – or higher if your oven ahs that option. If you have a wood fire oven then you have a small piece of heaven to look forward to.

Kitchen utensils:

• Large Bowl
• Whisk
• Large oven tray or two
• Clean hands.

Mix the first 5 ingredients into a bowl with a whisk, and let rest for at least 20 minutes to get a fluffy rise.

While kneading the goo with your hands, add the olive oil and butter, then gradually add the flour till you get a large ball of dough.

Build round 6-8 inch mini-pizza sized.. um.. thingies..  and make sure you have your tray lightly covered with flour to avoid burning and sticking.

Trick: cover your hands with olive oil and rub the outside of the dough gently to minimize cracking and stretching, keeps it healthy like a baby’s skin.

True pizza and manakeesh affectionados will let the dough rise for 48 hours, but who has time for that?

Add one of these other ingredients in the center of each dough plate, leaving room for a finger off the side. The only ones I like mixed are the cheese on one side and Thyme on the other.

• Lebanese Thyme, sumac, sesame – mix generously with olive oil.
• Cheese (salty Mozzarella is the standard, but you can use cheddar or Nabelsi cheese as an addition)
• 2 eggs, minced meat, and butter (if it’s hard to get your hands on Bayd w Qawarma)
• 1 Apple, honey.
• Kishek (a kind of dried yogurt)
• Spinach and lemon.

You can also use this dough to make an Apple Pie, by adding slices of apple and lots of honey. No I was not watching “American Pie – the movie”.

Put in the preheated oven for exactly 17 minutes for standard Mankooshe’s, and 26 for the apple pie. If you’re using a small toaster, on high heat it would be 12 minutes.