Khobz Eddar (Version #2 Whole Wheat)

I don't know why but for some reason, I always had this idea in my head that making bread was so difficult. There are just so many things that can go wrong, like for example, the yeast might not dissolve/rise correctly, so the bread won't be fluffy enough. Or the bread won't be completely baked from the inside, but on the exterior it's brown. Or even the simplest thing, like not enough salt, could mess up an entire loaf of bread. And you can't exactly sprinkle salt on bread to make it better.

Then I was introduced to my KitchenAid dough hook. And my fears were quickly laid to rest. 

Of course, I give props to my mother's no-fail recipe. But boy, does this hook know how to knead dough to perfection.

Khobz Eddar (Whole Wheat Leavened House Bread)

Ingredients:

4 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup of fine semolina
2 tablespoons yeast
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 tablespoons black seeds (also known as "habat el baraka" or "habba sawsa" in Arabic)
1/2 teaspoon anise seeds

Directions:

Pour the whole wheat flour and semolina into the KitchenAid mixer bowl. Add salt, black seeds, and anise seeds. Put the yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water, add a teaspoon of sugar, and allow it to dissolve. When it makes small bubbles, add it to the mixer bowl. Then, just keep adding warm water to the bowl until a soft dough forms. (I discovered that this kind of flour gets wet quicker than the semolina, so it didn't take much water to get it soft). Start at low speed to get everything mixed together, then increase the speed to medium. Once the dough has formed, and is soft, and doesn't need any more water, increase the speed to high and beat for about 5-7 minutes.

Cover the dough with a cotton towel and let it rise for about an hour. Then after an hour, pour some oil on the table (or any flat surface you can use), and spread it out with your hands. Knead the dough on the oiled surface for about 3-4 minutes. Then pinch the dough into 4 small balls. Evenly flatten the dough balls out into circles, then place them on a greased baking pan. Cover the pan with a towel, and let them rise for about 30-40 minutes. (I discovered that this kind of dough doesn't rise as much as semolina bread dough when it's on the pan).

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (10 minutes on the bottom rack, 10 minutes on the middle rack). (This bread confused me while baking because it's exterior turns brown really quickly, and you would think that it's burnt but in reality, it's actually not even done cooking. So be careful with this, and make sure you check the bottom because that's usually your clue as to whether the bread is done yet)