Lebanese Mountain Bread – A Peak Flatbread Experience

As promised, here is my take on Lebanese Mountain Bread. There are so many reasons why I love this simple bread. There’s the unique texture, gorgeous appearance, and fun-to-make technique, but discovering this also helped me solve a culinary mystery from my childhood.

I used to spend a lot of time at my grandmothers house as a toddler, and every once an a while she would give me something called “Syrian bread,” which was made by a neighbor across the street. It was one of my earliest food memories, and at the time, probably my favorite thing to eat. It was just so much different than the sliced white bread, or crusty Italian bread I was used to eating.

However, the Syrian lady across the street must have been the only person in the area that knew how to make it, since, once she was gone, so was the bread. Over the years, I tried many versions, but I never did come across that exact same experience, and assumed it was lost to history, until I saw something online called Lebanese Mountain Bread, which looked remarkably similar.

After a few (dozen) experiments, I finally nailed it down, and was suddenly transported back to grandma’s kitchen. By the way, this might be as close to a time machine as we ever get. Fair warning, it may take a little practice stretching the dough over the bowl (or Lebanese mountain bread pillow), but your efforts will be richly rewarded, so I really do hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 8 portions Lebanese Mountain Bread:

1/2 cup bread flour

1 teaspoon dry active yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup warm water

then add:

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon fine salt)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup bread flour, plus more as needed

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