Taboon Bread ( Palestinian Traditional Flatbread Recipe)

Published: Apr 2, 2020 · Modified: Aug 28, 2023 by Amira · This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Taboon is a traditional flatbread from Palestinian that is used for just about anything. Taboon is famous to be the Musakhan bread but it can be enjoyed just as pita bread.

Total time 1 hour 25 minutes

Jump to Recipe

Taboon bread is a very famous Palestinian bread that is known as the Musakhan bread as well. One that is east to make and very close to my heart. It is actually the closest flat bread to the traditional Egyptian aish baladi.

Taboon

I just wish I have a real Taboon oven, imagine cooking in an underground oven made of mud, clay, straw and smooth stones and pebbles. I bet the food and bread will smell totally different and will definitely get this earthy smell that you might get from a traditional clay pot.
Taboon bread is very delicious specially with olive oil and Za'atar. It is also the traditional bread used for making Musakhan.
In modern days, we cannot do this kind of oven in our homes, so instead we try to imitate this beautiful oven using our conventional oven and a baking sheet full of pebbles that you can gather from your backyard. I've got some decorative pebbles - the ones that are used in vase- from the dollar store, washed them with hot water and voila I got my taboon ready for baking.

What you'll need?

Taboon Bread ( Palestinian Traditional Flatbread Recipe) - Amira's Pantry (3)

Pretty much what you'll need for any bread. Flour, water, yeast and sugar. Here we've used both all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. You can of course make it with either one alone but just adjust the amount of water as needed. Taboon dough needs to be sticky as you can see from the image or video.. so adjust accordingly as each flour brand is different.

Step by step

Taboon Bread ( Palestinian Traditional Flatbread Recipe) - Amira's Pantry (4)

In a mixer bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
Pour water little by little while kneading the dough until the dough comes together.
You'll need to end up with a sticky dough like the one shown above.
Cover and let it rest and rise for an hour or until double in size.
Divide the dough into 6 balls. I used to divide mine into 3 large balls but this time I needed a smaller size taboons.
Roll dough into a 6 inch circle using more whole wheat flour to aid in rolling.
With your finger tips press or tap lightly into the dough surface.
Place taboon bread directly over the pebbles and bake for about 2-3 minutes.

Taboon Bread ( Palestinian Traditional Flatbread Recipe) - Amira's Pantry (5)

You can serve this bread or stuff it with almost anything. Serve it as you normally serve pitas bread or you can make magnificent falafel sandwiches or shawarma wraps.

Unleavened bread is easy to make and does not require any special ingredients or equipment. All you need is flour, water, olive oil and salt.
Turkish Simit is a beloved traditional street bread with a unique sesame-crusted exterior. Also known as Turkish sesame bagel thiis bread is great with a cup of tea or with feta cheese.

If you like this recipe do not forget to give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating and attach a photo of your finished dish. It is always a pleasure of mine to see your photos and check your own take of the recipe. Thank you.

Taboon bread

Taboon is a traditional flatbread from Palestinian that is used for just about anything. Taboon is famous to be the Musakhan bread but it can be enjoyed just as pita bread.

4.80 from 30 votes

Print Rate

Course: baking, Breakfast

Cuisine: Arabic, Middle Eastern, Palestinian

Diet: Halal, Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Rise time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Servings: 6 Taboons

Calories: 197.6kcal

Author: Amira

Ingredients

▢ 2 cups (260g) all purpose white flour.
▢ ½ cup (65g) whole wheat flour, more for dusting.
▢ 1 Tablespoon dry yeast.
▢ ½ Tablespoon granulated sugar
▢ ½ teaspoon salt , I used pink salt.
▢ ½ to ¾ cup warm water to make it a sticky dough

Instructions

In a large bowl or your mixer bowl, add the first 5 ingredients and mix well.
Start adding water little by little until a sticky dough forms that does not come off the bowl easily.
Cover and let it rise for almost 1hour.
Preheat oven to the max (mine was 550F)
Place baking pebbles on a baking sheet and let it preheat in the middle section of your oven.
Dust a clean working surface with whole wheat flour.
Turn the dough into the surface and divide into 6 equal balls.
Take one ball and cover the rest with a plastic wrap.
Roll the ball into a 6 inch circle.
Take out the baking sheet from oven and carefully place the rolled dough on the pebbles.
Bake for about 2 minutes then turn the broiler on for about 1 ½ minute.
Take the bread out and cover with a clean kitchen towel to keep them soft.

Video

Notes

Some people like using pizza stone or a clay oven if you have it but I prefer the hot stones method.

Please check the nutrition disclaimer policy.

Nutrition

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This recipe originally published March 2013. Updated for some housekeeping things on April 2020. No change to the recipe – I wouldn’t dare, readers love it as it is!

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About Amira

I’m overjoyed that you have stopped by! My hope is to introduce you to new flavors, creative ways and fresh takes on favorites. To help you create food with style that will bring everyone around your kitchen table. From weeknight dinners for crazy busy days to desserts with the “wow” factor, and classic comforts from the Mediterranean. One thing in common, they are all recipes that have been tried and tested by family and friends.

Reader Interactions

Comments

John
November 30, 2023 at 7:50 pm

shukran!
Reply
Anna Likousis
August 19, 2021 at 6:18 pm

thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Reply
Dee
May 09, 2020 at 3:25 pm

Dear Amira, first thank you for your blog and posts. I made your taboun recipe, but the first one I rolled out a bit too thin and put it directly in oven on oven rack, just in hopes this would give more authentic Taboon flavour but to my surprise the bread poires like a pita. After towards the rest I cooked in pan and they cake out perfect like you described, but I wanted to know can this recipe also be used for pita? Thank you in advance!
Reply
- Dee
  May 09, 2020 at 3:26 pm
  
  One more thing I had to add about half cup water to dough as it was bit dry while I kneaded by hand... I used regular all purpose flour.
  Reply
- Amira
  May 13, 2020 at 5:53 am
  Dee, thank you so much for sharing your experience with all of us. I guess you could use it for pita. I have another recipe for pita bread if you are interested. Thanks
  Reply
  - Patricia
    November 20, 2021 at 8:19 am
    Hola Amira!
    I just stumbled across your web site via Pinterest - I grew up in Egypt (well my first childhood years)…it is very close to my heart.
    My parents said that one thing I was demanding on a daily basis was my “Aish balady” - do you have the authentic recipe for it? I would love making it for my parents as a surprise And will check the rest of your web site for Egyptian recipes
    Reply
    - Amira
      November 23, 2021 at 8:38 am
      Thanks Patricia for your sweet comment, unfortunately I haven't reached a good recipe for Aish baladi yet. I hope I will soon.
      Reply
Bindhu
November 29, 2019 at 8:45 am
Amira. I am a bit confused. Dont we have to turn the bread ,
Reply
Dalal
August 20, 2019 at 7:47 am
This looks amazing. It’s not clear though, once the pebbles are hot, do I remove the baking sheet from the oven, or leave it in there while cooking the bread? Thank you.
Reply
- Amira
  August 22, 2019 at 10:58 am
  Dalal, sorry for the confusion. Yes dear, take the baking sheet with the pebbles out, place the raw bread on then return to the oven to fully bake. Hope this will help. Let me know if you need anything else.
  Reply
Samantha mawed
April 01, 2018 at 5:36 am
Salam. What an interesting way of doing these breads. I sometimes use the oven but find it easier and faster to use two frying pans, well of course I do twenty thirty every time a couple of times per week but never tried it on pebbles. Will definitely try that, oh and by the way, no salt in your dough? Salt will help the dough become more elastic. Thanks for a great site, I originally came for the maqloobi and found a treasure 🙂
Reply
- Amira
  April 01, 2018 at 5:57 pm
  Thanks Samantha for your kind words. It is an interesting way of baking bread right? I actually got it from a friend and I made it as is, next time I will add salt , thanks for the tip .
  Reply
robert
August 07, 2017 at 11:51 am
I live in USA, here we call it pita bread, or Texas flat bread. From my study, every nation on the planet seems to have a flat bread recipe, and all are interesting.
See Also
Holiday Pie Recipes with a Twist
I make my bread with a natural yeast starter made from organic grapes, then mix half white flour with half whole wheat flour, and water.
To cook it, I build a hot wood fire in my BBQ then set the lid on by half or more, and when the lid is hot, I put the bread on the top of the bbq, the result is a lovely flat bread, which I serve with the usual greek gyro ingredients.
To any and all, if you have a small Weber bbq, the lid, set over a small, hot wood fire, makes a really nice place to make flat bread.
Reply
- Amira
  August 07, 2017 at 12:18 pm
  Robert, what a great suggestion, this would be very helpful to my readers. Unfortunately I do not have a weber. I even thought of inverting a wok over stovetop to get the same result. Thanks again and hoping to see more of your great tips around here.
  Reply
Williammug
May 06, 2016 at 1:51 pm
Hey, thanks for the forum post. Fantastic.
Reply
hey
February 18, 2016 at 8:02 pm
yo
Reply
Caroline
December 15, 2015 at 7:21 am

Thank you so much for the delicious taboun , they are awsome !!!
I cook them without the pebbles .. I went outside I looked everywhere in Canada , I didnt find one pebble in the ground!! they turned yummyy though
Reply
- Amira
  December 15, 2015 at 11:38 pm
  You are welcome dear, I'm glad you liked it.
  Reply
Theresa
March 17, 2015 at 5:37 am
Just wondering, do you put the rolled dough directly on the stones?
Reply
- Amira
  March 17, 2015 at 10:49 am
  Thanks Theresa for passing by, and yes I put it directly on the stones.
  Reply
Mairi
November 10, 2014 at 2:10 pm

Amira,
I made this for our family dinner this evening alongside a Palestinian stew, it was delicious!! Thank you so so much for posting these wonderful recipes, I will defiantly be making more of them. And thank you for attaching pictures of how things are to look at various stages, I found them very helpful as this was the first arabic dish I have made.
Shukran! Nahaarak Saeed.
Reply
Dave Clinch
November 02, 2014 at 9:21 am

Dear Amira
As salaam alaikom
Just making some more Taboon bread according to your recipe. Now waiting for the dough to prove. By 4.30pm we'll be dipping in to the zaytoun wa za'atar again!
Ma as salaameh!
Dave
Reply
- Amira
  November 04, 2014 at 10:52 am
  I'm really happy that you are making these again :).. Thanks for keeping me updated, I was going to make it today for dinner too.
  Reply
Sawsan Abulaimoun
January 12, 2014 at 2:03 am

Thank you so much! I'm Palestinian and as a kid I saw my paternal grandma make taboon. I'm gonna make some today in the oven on an overturned skillet using your recipe 🙂
Reply
Dave Clinch
November 11, 2013 at 2:18 am
Sabah al khair ya Amira. Kefik?
I made the tabun bread. It was quite successful, slightly too doughy though. It did taste good mind.I was quite pleased with it.Dipping it into the zaytoun and za'atar was sublime, reminding me too of my time in the villages in South Hebron Hills.
I've just made some more this morning. I have improved the kneading technique I think and it looks drier while it's proving. I'll let you know if the bread is better than last time.
Reply
- Amira
  November 20, 2013 at 5:31 pm
  Well well well I am so pleased that this recipe reminded of the good time although it was not the same taste. I've never tasted the original one before so this is my only experience with it. Please let us know how you did this time. I highly appreciate your feed back.
  Reply
Dave Clinch
October 18, 2013 at 11:18 am
As salaam alaikom
I was in Palestine for five weeks last November. I was working with students at schools in Umm Al Khair and Susya in the South Hebron Hills. I stayed in the villages for some of the time. I saw tabun bread being made in the oven in the ground in Susya by Sannah whose family i stayed with.
I also had srak bread in Umm Al Khair, a Bedouin village.
Both breads are just beautiful. No need for cutlery, as everything can be picked up with the bread. I have beautiful memories of sharing bread in the villages, especially with za'atar and olive oil.
I am about to make some tabun bread in the morning, for the first time..
Ma as salaameh
Love and solidarity
Dave Clinch
Reply
- Amira
  October 21, 2013 at 3:43 pm
  Wa Alaykom Assalam Dave 🙂
  What a great opportunity you had ... I guess it is very rare to see such ovens these days- as I've heard from my friends over there. I hope this recipe will turn out so close to the one that you used to have. Oh and with zaatar and olive oil yummm, a heavenly taste. Hope to hear from you again.
  Reply
Charles
April 02, 2013 at 4:41 pm
Well, I'd have to find a whole load of pebbles, but this looks positively delightful. I love learning about world breads, and baking techniques too - thanks for sharing this - I'm going to give it a try sometime, although I'm not sure where I will find the stones from... must look around at local gardening stores!
Reply
- Amira
  April 03, 2013 at 10:53 am
  Hi Charles, I've got mine from the decorating section in a dollar store- where everything is only $1- check your cheapest store you may find them there.
  Reply
Shady
April 01, 2013 at 11:08 am
Very Nice Pics, makes it Yummy to try and eat!
Reply
- Amira
  April 03, 2013 at 10:52 am
  It is indeed yummy , thanks for your sweet comment
  Reply
Denise Browning@From Brazil To You
March 31, 2013 at 4:27 pm
Amira: How interesting!!!! I love to see both the traditional and modern ways that this bread can be baked. Flat breads have always been one of my favorite...This Palestinian Taboon is a must-have. It's so versatile!! It can be eaten filled with many things as a sandwich or just an an accompainment for meat or vegetable stews. Well, I hope you have had a great holiday!
Reply
- Amira
  April 03, 2013 at 10:51 am
  That's true Denise, you can stuff them with anything and enjoy .. try them and tell me what do you think.
  Reply
  - Deema
    November 16, 2014 at 2:08 pm
    
    This bread gave me a little taste of home. It turned out great. I had a hard time moving the dough from the counter to the rocks without it ripping but it just needs practice or just more flour. Thanks!
    Reply