Frena – Moroccan Bread

There are few things that I enjoy as much as dabbling in bread dough of various and sundry kinds. It both relaxes me and of course, tastes ever so much better than store bought and also gives you a kind of satisfaction that you have produced the staff of life.

This is a bread that’s soft and fluffy and has a rich flavor due to the olive oil you use. There are some recipes for Frena that practically drown the bread in oil which I find too over the top, so I went with my own version here. It strikes a balance between enough oil and not too much.

The ingredients are simple, but if you can get bread flour, do, it’s a springier dough although all purpose flour works well too.

So gather your ingredients

Now you can make this in a mixer or a bread maker, whichever you have. Simply place the yeast and sugar in the mixer/bread maker

and let proof (bubble together to show it’s alive and kicking) with one cup of the lukewarm water.

It should look like this:

This way you know your dough will rise properly. K. Now add the flour, salt (don’t put salt directly next to yeast since it retards growth and can even kill it. Put it on top of the flour) and add the rest of the water and the first amount of oil and mix with mixing paddle in mixer, dough cycle in bread maker. My way with the mixer, start with the paddle and when water/flour etc mixture is just mixed, switch to the dough hook. In mixer with dough hook, mix about 10 minutes. Bread maker does its own thing on the dough cycle. K.

scrape down the sides and take the second lot of oil and pour over the top of the mixed but not yet risen, dough.

Don’t worry, the picture looks like it’s a ton of oil but it’s a quarter of a cup.

Now cover mixer with plastic wrap or cloth to rise, for the bread machine just close cover.

When about an hour passes, peek at dough to see if doubled in bulk. It will fluff up nicely but a way to check if risen properly, poke your finger into the dough about an inch worth and if it doesn’t rise and remove the indentation, you’re good to go. Depending how hot or cold your kitchen is, will determine in part the rising time of the dough.

Note the oil has not fully absorbed into the dough (the coating oil) and it’s a bit puddly. That’s correct. Gently deflate the dough by removing it to a piece of parchment paper or mat to shape it. The coating oil will make dough easy to handle, just be aware the dough is very soft. Now comes a surprise. You do NOT bake the dough, you BROIL it. Yup yup, weird but true, that’s how this works. No worries, it will work a treat. So preheat the oven to low broil.

The dough is a bit loose but easy to scoop.

Take 2 baking sheets and line with parchment paper and lightly spray oil on it or smear a little olive oil on the parchment paper. K. Scoop up a handful of dough like so:

Gently pat in a round. I chose not to make these too large but really you can adjust the size bigger or smaller as you like.

Place on oiled parchment sheets in rounds till you use up all the dough.

You should get 16 medium sized frena out of the dough. Smooth tops gently with fingers. Let dough rise about 15 more minutes. Broil the dough for 3-4 minutes on one side till top is browned and gently flip over and brown about 2 minutes on other side till browned and cooked through. You can serve these right from the oven or let cool and serve. Freezes extremely well.

Frena – Moroccan Bread

2 tablespoons instant yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 kilo (2.2 pounds) bread flour or white AP flour

1 tablespoon salt

750 ml warm water (approximately 3 cups)

1/4 cup (59 ml or 4 tablespoons) olive oil

1/4 cup olive oil (59 ml or 4 tablespoons)- this is NOT a typo. The first lot of oil goes into the dough. This lot goes on top.

Directions:

In a mixer bowl or a bread making machine, place the yeast and sugar and 1 cup out of the 3 cups of warm water in and stir. Let sit about 5 minutes till the yeast bubbles. Now add the flour, salt, 2 additional cups of water (totaling 3 cups altogether) and 1/4 cup of olive oil. In mixer, use the paddle to mix the dough. Once incorporated, switch to the dough hook and mix about 10 minutes and then pour second amount of oil over top of dough and cover to rise. In bread machine, use the dough cycle to mix. Once mixed, pour second amount of oil over top of dough and close cover of bread maker to let rise. Once dough has doubled in bulk, approximately an hour depending how warm your kitchen is, preheat the oven to low broil (not bake! broil) and take 2 baking sheets and line with parchment paper. Lightly oil the parchment paper. Form 16 medium flat balls (dough is very soft and you will scoop it in your hand) and place evenly apart on baking sheets, 8 to a baking sheet. Pat lightly to smooth dough. Let rise 15 minutes and then broil on one side about 3-4 minutes till browned and flip over and brown on other side about 1-2 minutes more. Don’t let it burn, just till cooked through.