Moroccan Msemen

These square 'pancakes' are extremely popular for breakfast/tea time in Morocco and honestly one of my favourite things! Especially during the month of Ramadan, they are a perfect Iftar option. They're perfect with a cup of Moroccan tea and spread with jam, cheese or my favourite melted butter and honey.

They're best served warm but once cooled you can freeze them and keep them in the freezer for a month. The perfect Msemen has a slightly crispy outside with a slightly chewy interior

Below are some tips for when you are making this recipe:

• When mixing the ingredients together I would suggest using a large plate however when its time to knead the dough I would use your kitchen countertop or a mixer if you have dough hooks (make sure to clean before)

• When spreading the Msemen out be very gentle as you don't want to create wholes in the dough

• Make sure your hands are constantly greased whilst shaping the msemen, as soon as you see your hands starting to dry up put some vegetable oil on one hand and rub both together

As always you can watch me make this on my Instagram and don't forget to tag me in any pictures/videos if you try any of my recipes!

Ingredients

For the dough:

360g plain white flour

150g fine semolina

1 tsp salt

300ml lukewarm water

For folding the Msemen:

80g melted unsalted butter

70ml vegetable oil

70g fine semolina

Instructions

Making the dough:

1. Melt your butter and set to the side.

2. Pour your vegetable oil and semolina into bowls and set to the side.

3. In a bowl add your dry ingredients and mix the ingredients with your hands so they are combined.

4. Add the water in parts and combine to make the dough.

5. Knead the dough by hand for about 5 minutes or use a mixer using the dough hook.

6. The dough needs to be smooth, soft and elastic but not sticky. If the dough is sticky then add flour whilst kneading or if your dough is too dry add some vegetable oil.

7. Once your dough is ready, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil on it and brush over your dough. Lightly grease a plate with vegetable oil, place your dough on the plate and cover with a plastic bag or tea towel and leave to rest for 20 minutes.

8. Once the 20 minutes is up, take your dough out of the plate lightly grease the plate with vegetable oil again and divide your mixture into 7-8 balls. Be careful not to tear your dough, the balls should be smooth. Transfer the balls to the greased plate, lightly grease each ball with vegetable oil and cover and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

Shaping the dough:

1. When the 15 minutes is nearly up, get your workspace ready. You'll need your butter, oil and semolina next to you. Oil your work surface and your hands and place one ball on the oiled work surface.

2. Using your hands, lightly spread the ball outwards creating a thin circle shape. You should be able to see your work surface through some parts of the dough. Remember to oil your hands when they start to dry up as this will help massively in spreading out the msemen.

3. Add two teaspoons of butter to the centre of the rolled out msemen and spread around the msemen then sprinkle with semolina.

4. Fold the edge closest to you towards the centre and add a teaspoon of butter on top and spread.

5. Fold the upper edge on top of the edge you just folded, add a teaspoon of butter, spread and sprinkle some semolina on top.

6. Now fold the right and left edges towards the centre, on top of each other to form a square.

7. Repeat with all your balls.

8. Heat your pan to high heat then lower the heat to medium heat.

9. Now take a square and flatten it with your fingers until you get a thin square about double the original size.

10. Spread a bit of melted butter on both sides of your square and add to your pan.

11. Cook the msemen for about 4 minutes on each side, the outside should be crispy and a nice golden brown colour and the inside should be slightly chewy.

12. When I'm cooking my msemen I cook each side for 2 minutes at a time and flip after every 2 minutes until I reach 8 minutes. Whilst the msemen is cooking I also place my fingertips at the centre of the msemen and rotate it so that it cooks evenly.

13. Repeat for each msemen in the order that they were shaped and after each one is ready add them to a plate and cover with a towel until ready to serve.

14. Spread with jam, cheese, butter or honey and roll to eat it the traditional way.

To make the melted butter honey topping I talked about above, add equal parts butter and honey to a pan (I use about 3 tablespoons of each for 2 msemens) , mix together and when the mixture starts to bubble add one msemen to the mixture. Turn the msemen to the other side so both sides are coated and place on your plate. Do the same with the second msemen.

Serve and enjoy! :)