Measure the sugar or honey, yeast, and 1/3 cup of warm water into the bowl of your stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl.

Let the yeast dissolve and proof for a few minutes, until it is creamy and beginning to foam.

Measure the flour out into a small bowl, and add most of it and the buttermilk to the mixer or mixing bowl.

Add the salt, and mix with the dough hook or a dough whisk or sturdy spoon.

Stop the mixer, scrape down the horn of the bowl, and add the rest of the flour, sprinkling it over the top of the bowl.

Mix on medium-low speed until the mixture comes together into a slack, wet dough. You may need to stop and scrape down the bowl one or two more times.

If it still seems way too soft or wet, you can add an additional tablespoon or two of dough.

A stiffer dough will be easier to work with, but a wetter dough will make more tender flatbreads.

Scrape down the bowl, and cover it with plastic wrap or another airtight cover to keep it from drying out.

Place it somewhere warm to rise until roughly doubled (30-60 minutes).

You can retard the dough and do a cool rise in the refrigerator (up to a day or two ahead of time).

If you do a cold ferment, bring the dough out and let it warm to room temperature before shaping.

Using a bowl scraper, roughly divide the dough into 4-8 portions.

Smaller pieces will be easier to work with, though big pieces of na'an make a nice presentation and will have more of a soft center to crust ratio.

The dough will be sticky... you may want to divide the dough as you stretch and cook the flatbreads.

Griddle Method:

Preheat your cast iron griddle or large pan on the stove-top over medium-high heat. Turn the heat down to medium-low before cooking the na'an.

Working with one piece of dough at a time and wet hands, hold the dough up in the air and stretch it into a long rectangle or circle (to fit your pan). You'll have to play with the dough to get the hand of it, but try to handle it quickly and minimally, rotating the dough and letting the weight of the dough gently stretch it, working from a ball into a flat disk or oblong shape.

Toss the dough onto the hot griddle or pan, trying to spread it into a thin layer. It's okay if there are small holes, tears, or uneven pieces... these add to the homemade charm!

Flip the na'an with a metal spatula, tongs, or your fingertips (carefully!) and cook briefly on the other side to bake them through. For the first flip, you'll want to use a thin metal spatula. Afterwards if you need to flip them again, tongs or your fingertips may be easier.

Oven Method:

Alternately, to bake your buttermilk na'an, preheat the oven, preferably lined with baking stones, to 475F, and generously oil several half-sheet pans or cookie sheets. Do this while the dough is almost done proofing.

To bake them, stretch the dough out onto the oiled surface of the baking sheet, and use your fingertips to pebble-out and stretch the dough to flatten it, rather than rolling it.

If you're using this method, I recommend stretching the dough once, letting it rest for 10 minutes in the baking pan, then stretching it again on the pan before baking, but gently, so as not to flatten any bubbles.

Place the baking sheets on the preheated baking stone and bake until they're puffed and bubbly. You may want to flip the breads half-way through, and rotate the pans if you are baking more than one.

As you take the hot flatbreads off of the griddle, brush them with melted butter or ghee, or garlic butter for even more flavor.

Stack them up and keep warm before serving, or let them cool and then wrap them for later.