Dough Prep:

1. In a large bowl, whisk by hand the flour, semolina, salt, sugar and the instant yeast until all the ingredients are fully incorporated.
2. Warm up the milk until it’s about 100ºF. This usually takes 60-90 seconds in a microwave. Make sure it’s not too hot so that it does not kill the yeast.
3. Add the oil to the milk and give them a quick stir.
4. Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk/oil mixture.
5. Give the egg a quick whisk with a fork and add it over the milk/oil.
6. Mix everything gently with a spatula starting from the center of the well and gradually moving outwards to draw in the dry ingredients slowly.
7. As you are mixing, press down with the spatula to ensure the ingredients are bonding together. Keep using the spatula until the ingredients are well incorporated and not too sticky.
8. Knead the dough with your knuckles for about 5 minutes.
9. Form the dough into a round ball.
10. Oil the inside of the bowl or another bowl and place the dough in it.
11. Cover and let rise for about 2 hours or until it doubles in size.

Baking prep:

1. Prepare 3 half-sheet (18″x13″) baking trays and 3 kitchen towels.
2. Weigh the dough. It should be about 1150 grams (more or less). Divide the dough into 18 equally-sized portions weighing about 60-65 grams each.
3. Form each portion into a round ball and place 6 of them on a half-sheet baking tray. No oiling or parchment paper needed.
4. Cover the entire first baking sheet with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
5. Repeat the process for the second baking sheet and cover.
6. Repeat the process for the third baking sheet and cover.
7. Now it’s time to prepare the cheese (see below).
8. Uncover the first baking sheet. Leave the others covered until you place the first one in the oven.
9. Press down the balls by hand starting at the center and gently flatten by moving outwards. No rolling pin needed.

Akkawi Cheese:

1. Squeeze and drain the Akkawi cheese if necessary to ensure it’s not very moist.
2. Crumble by hand or shred the Akkawi cheese.
3. Place 3 tbsp (or to taste) of the cheese on each flattened dough coming as close as you can to the edges.
4. Press them down with your hand to make sure they are flat on the dough.
5. Spray an extremely light amount of olive oil over each one. (Optional)
6. Place in the 450ºF oven for about 10 minutes but check on them often.
7. Remove from the oven when the edges start to brown. The bottom should be just like the pictures.