Fauzia's Kitchen Fun

Baked Mandazi/Mahamri

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Baked Mandazi/Mahamri

Perfectly soft and delicious, these cuties are awesome with tea, either for breakfast or as an evening snack. Since mandazi/mahamri are normally fried, these are an ideal and healthier alternative because they are baked.
Servings 16 Mandazis

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups plain/all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp. instant yeast
  • 1/4 tsp. powdered cardamom
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp. milk powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 4 tbsp. oil or melted butter
  • 7 tbsp. sugar
  • some warm water for kneading

Instructions
 

  • Sieve the flour, add all the ingredients, then slowly start adding the warm water whilst kneading. Knead the dough well until it is nice and soft…even slightly sticky. If you slit the dough with a sharp knife, you should be able to see tiny bubbles formed inside the dough, that’s how you know you have kneaded it enough.
  • Cover and set aside for about an hour or until it is doubled in size. Divide the dough into 3-4 balls. (3 if you want bigger mandazi, 4 if you want tinier ones). Whilst the rest of the balls are covered, take the first ball and roll it out into a circle of about half an inch (or slightly more) thickness. Cut the rolled out dough into 4 pieces, and place them on a greased baking tray. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
    Once all are done, cover the tray lightly with a soft towel that won’t put weight on the mandazi as they need to rise again. Set them aside for another 45 minutes or so until they are again doubled in size.
    Pre-heat your oven at 200 C. Place the tray on the lowest rack for about 10 minutes first, then put the tray on the highest rack for another 5-8 minutes or until the mandazi are a lovely brown color.
    Remove and keep covered with a cloth to retain softness. You can dab them with some butter if you like. Serve hot and fresh.
    Enjoy! 🙂

Notes

If you have fresh coconut and want the yummy coconut flavor without all the extra calories from the coconut milk, break open the coconut and reserve the WATER from the inside of the coconut. Use that to knead your dough instead of regular water, this way your mandazi will have the perfect coconut flavor. If you want to use coconut milk, then omit the powdered milk and oil/butter from the recipe and use just enough coconut milk to knead the dough into a soft ball.

Join the Conversation

  1. Assalamualikum Fauzia,

    I love your website simple and elegant and main thing is letter font are perfect.would u please add Printble version too in your recipes card so we can easily print ingredients and method instead of wasting color ink and print the whole page.
    I have active dry yeast at home so if i follow ur recipe in which it says instant yeast how much i should put active dry yeast. i hope u understand my point.

    1. W/Salaam, thank you Naseema! We will put your request under consideration. In the meantime check this note for yeast conversion. 🙂

    2. Hi Fauzia. I love your kitchen insights. Very nice indeed.

      I’d love to try the recipe for a bigger serving, say 40 pieces.

      What would be the ideal measurements of all ingredients using 1kg of flour, for instance?

      Thanks.

  2. asalaamalikum, can i use desiccated coconut instead? or the texture will be all wrong then?

  3. this is like absolutely wow!..
    i only knew abt the frying version of it..
    we really enjoyed it but i would always feel guilty making them since its not so healthy to have fried stuff
    thank you
    GOD BLESS

  4. Assalamualaikum. I have a query. We have to preheat the oven from both side but when we will place the tray on lowest rack as you have said, and after that on highest rack, all the while do we have keep the oven temperature 200^C and from both side???kindly let me know because as i have very few cooking experience, i am really confused what to do. Thank you.

    1. W/Salaam, my oven doesn’t have separate settings (top/bottom). But what you can do is first preheat the oven with both on, then turn the top off and leave just the bottom, bake for the 10 minutes, then turn the top one on and move the tray up. Finish baking and serve. And yes the temp is constant.

  5. The mandazis taste great! The
    The mandazis taste great! The only down side is the prep time being too long. Have you ever used baking soda instead of yeast?

    1. Thanks! Unfortunately they do
      Thanks! Unfortunately they do not turn out as good with baking powder, have never tried baking soda. You can prep the dough ahead of time and freeze it. Up to 2 weeks ahead, just knead and wrap it well and freeze. Then thaw it overnight in the fridge and leave it out on the counter until it can be rolled out, roll and allow it to rise and fry. Cuts down the prep time immensely. 🙂

  6. how to get nice brown color
    how to get nice brown color on the top of mandazis by using stove top baking method?

        1. That would be difficult, but
          That would be difficult, but if you have coal then light them up and place the lit coals on top of the lid covering the pot. This will generate enough heat from the top to colour the bread.

    1. W/Salaam, did you knead the
      W/Salaam, did you knead the dough well? And did you follow all the instructions?

  7. I did all the requreiment
    I did all the requreiment still they are not soft n they are filled c oil inside it.what is wrong there.

    1. Sounds like you may have used
      Sounds like you may have used more oil than specified in the recipe? Did you follow the ingredient list exactly?

  8. Can i use a casserole, dish
    Can i use a casserole, dish if i don’t have a big enough baking tin? Esp for this and the honey-comb bread?

    1. Yes you can or even an oven
      Yes you can or even an oven tray will do, just grease it well.

  9. if i dont have milk powder,
    if i dont have milk powder, ahwt should i use for substitute or leaving the milk powder will make a difference?

  10. Hi…I would like to double
    Hi…I would like to double the number of mandazi, please advise me how to measure the yeast and baking powder if i double the flour. Thank you

    1. Hi, if you double one thing,
      Hi, if you double one thing, double everything else in the recipe. 🙂

  11. Assalamwalekum Faiza… Love
    Assalamwalekum Faiza… Love all ur recipes.. Thanku fr the luvly help…just a lil query… Can i put coconut powder in it?

    1. W/Salaam, yes you can
      W/Salaam, yes you can although if you already used coconut milk, it is not necessary to add coconut powder too. 🙂

  12. This is perfect! thank you 🙂
    This is perfect! thank you 🙂 you are awesome

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