Category Archives: Cooking and baking

by | May 13, 2013 · 9:15 pm

Gorgeous crackers that happen to be gluten free

recipe for gluten free crackers

In our quest to transform our kitchen into a gluten-free one, one of our very first stops was Peter Reinhart & Denene Wallace’s book The Joy of Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Baking. Reinhart, as he so honestly shares in the book, has made a career out of the delights of traditional bread-making and all that entails (killer cinnamon buns, anyone?!), making his transformation into a gluten-free baker all the more interesting.

The book, for me, is hit and miss, although I cannot claim to have exhaustively baked everything in it. On the plus side, for our family anyway, is the heavy focus on nut ‘flours’ (which thankfully we can have), and some truly delicious flavour combinations. However, I don’t care how gorgeous tasting a muffin is if it falls apart before I can lift it out of the pan. And muffins that require turning around halfway through an extended 40-minute baking time? That just boggles the mind. Surely, baking any muffin for that long will render it as solid as a brick. On the other hand, I clearly didn’t follow directions or else my muffins would not have disintegrated in my hands…

The crackers that my husband made from page 98, however, were a revelation. Not that our boys would touch them, thank you very much, but I’ve never restricted my baking or cooking to things that the entire family must enjoy. Spoken like a mother who has tried to feed at least one fussy child with a spectacular lack of success, right? I’m well aware of my shortcomings and have moved on; sometimes, I cook or bake purely for the grown-ups, or a special guest, or myself, or – quite frequently – the kids. Often enough we end up with dishes that everyone will enjoy, but now I’m rambling…

Back to the Sesame Seed and Mozzarella Crackers though. When my husband made these, I quickly stacked them in tidy columns in clean jam jars, figuring I’d have a nice photo op and a good way to store them for many meals to come. They just didn’t last that long though, being much too nice. The sesame flour is what seems to make these just a little too exotic tasting for either of our sons, but spot-on and full of flavour for us grown-ups. These came along when we were still squarely in the midst of soup and stew weather, and they were paired with cheese and chutney quite successfully too…I’m wondering if my husband has noticed yet that I’m really trying to telegraph that we need more of these, now!

rack of sesame and mozzarella crackers

Sesame Seed and Mozzarella Crackers, from The Joy of Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Baking

1 1/2 cups sesame seed flour (we ground our own from seeds on hand)
1/2 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 eggs
1 cup shredded or grated mozzarella (or any good melting cheese)

Egg wash – 1 egg, 2 tbs water

Position 2 racks in the centre of the oven. Preheat oven to 300 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats, then lightly mist with spray oil.

In a medium bowl, combine the sesame seed flour, almond flour, baking powder, salt, onion powder, and black pepper and whisk until well mixed. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the flour mixture and cheese and stir with a spoon until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. The dough will be stiff. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and form the dough into a ball; if it’s too dry to form a ball, stir in a bit of water, 1 teaspoon at a time, just until the dough comes together and all of the loose flour is incorporated to make a stuff, playdough-like dough.

Mist 2 pieces of parchment paper or silicone mats with spray oil. Place the dough between the oiled surfaces, then use a rolling pin to roll and flatten the dough until slightly thinner than 1/4 inch.

Put a bit of vegetable oil in a saucer or a small, shallow dish. Dip a 2-inch round biscuit cutter into the oil to coat the cutting edge. Gently peel back the top piece of parchment or silicone mat and cut the crackers.

Peel the cut pieces off the parchment with either your hands or a small metal spatula and transfer them to the prepared pans. They won’t spread, so you can position them quite close to each other, nearly touching. Gather any scraps, roll them out, and cut more crackers until all of the dough has been used.

Bake for 12 minutes, then rotate the pans and switch racks and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crackers are golden brown and crisp. Thicker crackers may require longer baking. Immediately transfer the crackers to a wire rack to cool completely. They will get crisper as they cool.

Texture isn’t everything

In our quest to find the best gluten-free baking out there, I’ve discovered, like so many others before me, that the texture of ‘gluten-free’ doughs is inherently strange. But a batter or dough that’s odd, sticky and fights back, can still turn into something miraculous. Recently we’ve found the very best recipes for gluten-free waffles and chocolate chip cookies, and these observations on pre-baked texture hold true, while making absolutely no difference to the final, truly delicious baked good. You can be sure I’ll be sharing those soon. If you have a favourite GF-baked good recipe, please don’t hold back!

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by | April 20, 2013 · 9:10 pm

Heavenly gluten free bread

Gluten free honey oat bread

When we first considered that we might need to go gluten free as a family in the fall of 2012, I dug my heels in, hard. Well, mentally anyway. In reality, I’m deeply practical, and I knew we had to start switching gears. But it wasn’t fun to consider. Both my husband and I bake frequently – he’s the bread baker, I cover everything else and we both love to experiment – and we had developed a nice list of family favourites that were particularly heavy on spelt, an ancient wheat tolerated well by many of us, though not all. I’m a huge fan of spelt, and I think that turning my back on it is the hardest part of this change.

We’ve only been making the change in earnest for about a month and we are on a steep learning curve, along with anyone who has ever made this kind of dietary change. The whole GF thing is a bit fraught too, what with the fact that people who need to go gluten free often have other food sensitivities, and so there are issues with the gums (xanthan and guar), for example, that I had no clue about until I really starting getting in deep. Having first excitedly made friends with xanthan gum, we’re now parting ways as we look at other options, and so on…

While I have been happy experimenting with new recipes for muffins, cakes and quickbreads, not having a reliable recipe for homemade bread was really getting me down. Buying pre-made gluten free loaves is silly expensive, and just not in keeping with our family tradition of homemade bread. My husband researched GF bread recipes, and not finding anything that made us go ‘wow’, he suggested we buy Peter Reinhart’s new book on gluten-free, sugar-free baking (Reinhart being a guru of gluten-based baking and the source of many of our favourite wheat-based recipes). Still new to that book, we’re not convinced its approach is entirely right for us, although some of the reliance on nut-based flours appeals to us (we’ve both come down heavily in favour of almond flour and other nut flours, which thankfully we like and can have).

Today, after shelling out for a new spice grinder that could be dedicated to grinding seeds and nuts, my husband came home and hit the internet again. Which is when he found the recipe for the loaf pictured here. Thank you, thank you to Yammie’s Glutenfreedom for this wonderful recipe for a GF bread that actually looks, smells and tastes like real bread. My husband made only very minor changes to the recipe, but a crucial one was substituting chia seeds for the xanthan gum in the original recipe. He also completely forgot the honey, and now wonders if – for him – the loaf would be too sweet with it. Naturally he plans to make another loaf in the next day with honey to see how it compares, but tonight’s result is so good that we had to share.

Gluten-free Honey Oat Bread, ever so slightly adapted from Yammie’s Glutenfreedom Original recipe here

3 1/3 cups oat flour
2 scant tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons honey (what we left out, but plan to try next time)
1/2 cup tapioca flour (or corn starch)
1/2 cup brown rice flour (white or sweet white rice flour is suggested in the original)
2 teaspoons chia seeds (xanthan gum in the original recipe)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
Sesame seeds

If you’re using whole oats, blend them in the food processor until they’re pretty fine (as fine as you can get them). Meanwhile combine the yeast and water and let sit for a few minutes. Add the oil, honey, starch, flour, chia seeds and oats and beat until combined. Add the salt, cinnamon, and eggs. Beat for a few minutes until fluffy. Pour into a well greased 10 inch loaf pan and allow to rise for about 45 minutes until doubled. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Sprinkle the top of the risen loaf with some more oats or sesame seeds and cut a few slits in the top with a serrated knife. Bake for about 45 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting.

Knowing we can produce a loaf as tasty as this one is a great relief, and now we can continue to experiment without the urgency that we had before. You can be sure that I’ll be posting more gluten free bread recipes at some point. In the meantime, if you’re sitting on a wonderful GF bread recipe and are inclined to share, we’re all ears!

Spice grinder and jar of oats

Our Delfino coffee/spice grinder, which we’re using to make small batches of nut and seed-based flours, was a great purchase.

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by | April 18, 2013 · 9:40 pm

Hello breakfast! Brown rice is nice

Breakfast brown rice with blueberries and almonds

Rice for breakfast? While I’d love to confess that the dish pictured here was a huge hit with the rice fiend in our family (youngest son), the fact is that he’s not that adventurous and didn’t even try it. Honestly, I didn’t care, because it was so good and it meant that there was more for my husband and me!

The recipe, Breakfast Brown Rice with Blueberries and Almonds comes from Not Your Mother’s Casseroles by Faith Durand (helpful short review found here). I got this fresh take on the world of casseroles (and other one-dish recipes) as a birthday gift from my oldest, dearest friend who had picked up on my love of one-pot cooking.

This dish was super easy to put together, fit our new requirement for gluten-free fare, and was absolutely delicious as well as chock full of healthy ingredients. It did require a bit of planning as it takes about an hour to bake, but that really wasn’t problematic. I’m a bit of a dyed-in-wool oatmeal fan, loving my bowl sprinkled with dried cherries and suchlike, but I’d choose this dish over my usual oatmeal any day.

Breakfast Brown Rice with Blueberries and Almonds, from Not Your Mother’s Casseroles

1 cup short-grain brown rice
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup chopped raw almonds
1/2 tsp salt
Zest of one orange
2 cups water
1 cup milk
1/4 brown sugar [actually, we found this dish sweeter than it needed to be, and would recommend halving the sugar or replacing it with just a tablespoon or two of maple syrup or another natural sweetener]
Pinch of cinnamon [my only addition]

Step 1 – Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly grease the baking dish with butter or non-stick cooking spray. Stir together the rice, blueberries, almonds, salt and orange zest in a medium-size bowl. Spread the rice mixture evenly in the pan.

Step 2 – Bring the water, milk and butter to a boil in the microwave or on the stove. Immediately pour over the rice. Cover the dish tightly with a lid or a double layer of foil and bake for one hour.

Step 3 – Remove the dish from the oven and uncover carefully. It will be hot, with plenty of steam under the foil. Fluff the rice with a fork, stir in the sugar [or syrup], and let it sit for five minutes before serving.

Variations: Try dried currants or dried cranberries instead of the blueberries, and lemon zest instead of the orange. Hazelnuts and dried figs are a very good combination, too. [I'd also recommend dried cherries and golden raisins, and I did add a pinch of cinnamon.]

Brown rice dish for breakfast

I’d love to know if you have a favourite breakfast dish that’s a bit out of the ordinary!

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by | March 24, 2013 · 11:26 pm

Slow cooking in the Ironheart: Brown rice and fennel casserole

Baked brown rice casserole

This weekend was all about taking a breather and catching up around the house. Just back from a special holiday, there were a lot of loose ends at home and it was extremely comforting to cook on the woodstove after meals out for two weeks straight. With a fennel languishing in a fridge drawer and thoughts of a comforting baked dish in mind, I went hunting around for an inspiration recipe. The one I found struck me as a touch dull but a very solid starting point.

The combination of brown rice, onions and fennel seemed appealing enough, but the original method just had those scant few ingredients tossed together in a casserole dish along with the liquid and summarily placed in a hot oven to bake. Not a fan of slow-cooker recipes that don’t involve any initial browning of key ingredients due to the lack of resulting flavour, the first thing I did was saute my leeks, fennel and garlic with a bit of olive oil and butter to release the flavours and soften things up. (Note: I undertook this step on my conventional stovetop, as I had my hob lids down on the Ironheart to hasten the heating up of the oven box; normally I’d have cooked on top of the Ironheart as well.)

Leeks and chopped fennel in a saute pan

Into my pre-greased casserole I placed the long grain brown basmati, along with the garlicky leeks and fennel, some chopped carrot and a generous handful of currants, as well as salt and pepper.

Casserole dish with rice and veggies

The original recipe called for a mixture of water and milk for the liquid, and I stuck with this suggestion. When I incorporated the milky liquid I really felt for a moment as though I were making a rice pudding, but I guess a baked rice casserole is much the same thing.

Casserole dish with milky rice mixture before baking

The original recipe called for the milk mixture to be heated before being added to the other ingredients, and I plum forgot this step, which is bound to be one of the reasons why my casserole took much longer to bake than indicated in the original recipe. Where the original indicated 60 minutes at 375F, mine took closer to three hours at the bottom end of the “Very Hot” range on my Ironheart. Which, in fact, turned out to be a nice way to slowly cook this dish. I also found myself needing to add more liquid, which I did roughly once an hour, about a cup or so at a time.

The resulting casserole was nicely fragrant and very delicious in a homespun, comforting kind of way. It was well worth the wait and I enjoyed the anticipation as I got other things done around the house while it baked.

Brown Rice and Fennel Casserole with Currants

(adapted from this original recipe)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups brown rice (I used long grain brown basmati), dry
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup milk
1 fennel, roughly chopped
2 leeks, chopped (the original called for onion)
2 carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup currants (or raisins)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (or more if you like!)

Method:
Step 1 – Get your Ironheart close to baking strength (low end of “Very Hot” range) or preheat your conventional oven to 375F

Step 2 – Chop leeks and fennel, crush garlic and saute with olive oil and butter for a few minutes

Step 3 – Grease a casserole dish with a bit of olive oil; pour in rice, leek-fennel mixture, and remaining ingredients; stir to combine

Step 4 – Cover with foil and place in Ironheat / oven for 60 minutes

Step 5 – Check rice for doneness and general moistness level; add water if needed, and continue baking as required (see notes above)

Step 6 – Continue checking the casserole for doneness until ready; in the Ironheart this recipe took about three hours to finish baking thoroughly and the cheese was sprinkled on top for just the last few minutes in the oven

Enjoy on its own or with a green salad or another simple green vegetable.

Esse Ironheart burning at low end of Very Hot range

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by | March 2, 2013 · 10:09 pm

Sweet treat: coconut macaroons

Late in the evening is usually when my husband and I have time to sit down with our teenager, just the three of us. There are other windows in the day, but none as quiet or relaxing as this time.

Often we’re in the mood for a little treat, and I love these coconut macaroons as they are small (so we won’t be overdoing it), incredibly easy and fast. With dessicated coconut being a good source of healthy saturated fat as well as dietary fibre, I can even feel a little good about serving these. You can read more about the health benefits of dessicated coconut here.

coconut macaroons dipped in chocolate

Of course, these can easily be nudged into decadent territory with a quick dip in a bit of melted chocolate.

I’ve found recipes for macaroons across the internet and no longer have a single source to point back to for this recipe, though most recipes are extremely similar to this one.

unbaked coconut macaroons

Coconut macaroons (makes 9 or 10)

Ingredients
1 1/3 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut
1/3 cup sugar
1 – 2 tbsp unbleached flour
2 egg whites
3/4 tsp vanilla

Method

Step 1 – mix dry ingredients in a small bowl

Step 2 – combine vanilla with egg whites

Step 3 – gently combine wet and dry ingredients

Step 4 – form into small rounds and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 325 degrees F

Step 5 – melt chocolate and partially dip macaroons (once cooled slightly) – OPTIONAL

baked coconut macaroons

These are a great size for tucking into lunches or to take on a hike or ski outing. We just got almost a foot of fresh snow a couple of days ago, so maybe we’ll take some snowshoeing.

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by | February 18, 2013 · 9:07 am

Eggs!

first eggs from Americauna chickens in winter

Our first eggs are here! My youngest helped me to take out the food and water the other morning, and as he’s prone to snooping around, he was rewarded with the first eggs laid by our Americaunas since taking on Esme and her eight (then) tiny chicks last September. We were warned that Americaunas are unreliable layers compared to other breeds, and in the deep freeze that we’ve experienced this season we knew not to expect anything.

I guess the warm spell that we just had gave Esme and the other girls the right signals. This picture does not do these pretty blue-green eggs justice, but it’s all I could get as everyone here was very enthusiastic. I’m hoping to have more egg news to share soon.

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by | February 13, 2013 · 11:49 pm

A perfect day, a perfect treat

Father and son skiing on a perfect mild winter`s day

Sunday was a perfect day. Fresh powdery snow, mild temperatures, bright blue skies. Somehow we haven`t really managed to fit skiing into our winter this year. Perhaps the snowshoes that get us around our land so effortlessly have made the preparation required for a ski less attractive, perhaps the really cold days we experienced when we could ski put us off. I`m not sure, but it doesn`t matter.

This past weekend, we made up for it with a wonderful ski outing on a local trail in the most perfect conditions. Our youngest, chronically tired this year, went shooting off ahead of everyone. He tired for the return trip but not before enjoying the peace and quiet of gliding through the woods and a few fun hills along the way. His grumbling disappeared as we finished up our circuit, ready to head home for a well earned snack.

Cross country skiing in the woods

Teen in skiing gear on a warm winter`s day

I wrote recently here about comfort food (not my first post on that topic, and definitely not the last), including a brief reference to a cinnamon breakfast loaf. I promised to come back and post the recipe, and today is the day.

My baking older son, pictured here, made the original version of this recipe from the hilarious and tasty cookbook, Bite me. I`m providing the original, very indulgent recipe first, followed by the more nutritious but still deeply delicious version that I concocted last weekend.

Cinnamon Swirl Breakfast Bread, from the cookbook Bite Me

Bread
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Cinnamon Swirl
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp melted butter

Method

1) Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a 9×5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2) For the batter cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt just until moistened and the flour has disappeared.

3) For the cinnamon swirl, in a small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon.

4) Spoon half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Pour remaining batter over the top. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar and drizzle with melted butter.

5) Place the loaf pan on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drippings. Bake for 55 minutes. Let cool in the pan 10 minutes before removing. Serve warm.

Healthier Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Breakfast Loaf

Loaf
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cottage cheese (but sour cream, low-fat yogurt or ricotta would work equally well)
1 cup pumpkin puree (I actually used roasted squash)
2 cups spelt flour (I love spelt for its high fibre content and it`s much less gloopy than plain whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Cinnamon Swirl
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup finely ground nuts (walnuts are a good choice)

The method is pretty much the same as in the original recipe, but with the additions and changes noted above, which really come down to reducing the butter and sugar, swapping out the plain flour for fibre rich spelt, and adding pumpkin or squash puree, as well as ground nuts to the topping.

I was very interested to see what my older son thought of this version, having first tasted the butter and sugar laden original. I was thrilled when he gave it two very enthusiastic thumbs up, declaring it ‘absolutely delicious’. For our after-ski snack on Sunday I paired slices of it with apples sauteed with cinnamon. Generally, I think this combination – particularly with the sauteed fruit – makes this a much more appealing option for breakfast (empty carbs aren’t really a great idea, as we know) or tea-time.

Pumpkin cinnamon swirl loaf

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by | February 3, 2013 · 10:36 pm

Comfort food

Cheesy pasta with red chard

It is late on a Sunday evening and the weekend is coming to a close in a way that I like. I have just deposited in the oven the red chard pasta dish with cream and Parmesan pictured here, next to the cinnamon breakfast loaf that my older son whipped up for the week ahead. Both are due to come out of the oven in about ten minutes.

This weekend I fell on the ice, we fixed up our hoop house after a bout of apparent mild vandalism, my husband and I fit in a long work meeting and I plodded through our finances for our little company’s year end, but we also fit in many chapters of our family book, made a crazy outing for doughnuts, and enjoyed some good moments together, with lots of laughter.

My kitchen is in chaos as we’re having some work done, and I’m staring down another busy week, but I’ve got comfort food. Here’s hoping you do too, whatever you’re doing.

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by | January 15, 2013 · 1:05 pm

Homemade gerbil treats

Dog pawing rock in icy pond with boyThis post was created my youngest son, who will go by the moniker of PetKid here. He loves looking after all of our various animals, and today he’d like to share a method for making gerbil treats at home.

I decided to make gerbil treats today because I have an old gerbil, Flapjack, who isn’t feeling very well. His brother died suddenly before Christmas and he’s lonely. Here’s a picture of him when he was younger.

Gerbil on the run across a desk

Flapjack on the run!

So, I looked on the internet for a recipe or an idea of how to make gerbil treats. Here is a link to the YouTube video that I found; it’s useful to watch. Here is my version:

Homemade gerbil or hamster treats

Makes 3 medium-sized treats

Ingredients
6 tsp gerbil food (whatever you have to feed your gerbil or hamster with)
2 tsp birdseed (make sure it has no additives to keep away other wildlife)
1 tsp currants
1 tsp golden raisins
2 tsp unbleached flour
1 tsp spelt flour
1/2 tsp cornmeal
1/2 tsp dried unsweetened coconut flakes
1 to 1 1/2 tsp honey (liquid)
1 egg white

homemade gerbil treats

Gerbil treats

Method
1. Combine dry ingredients and put them in a bag and hit it with a rolling pin or grind them very briefly in a small grinder. You want to end up with medium sized pieces and grainy bits all combined.

2. Then add the wet ingredients and mix it all together.

3. Spoon mixture into mini muffin cups or onto a baking sheet. Bake at 250 degrees celsius for about 25 minutes, and then check to see that they are no longer squishy in the middle. It could take up to an hour for them to be hard, which is what they need to be, otherwise the pet won’t eat very much!

Put one of these treats in your pet’s cage every two weeks or when there is just a little bit left. And a tip: before you give it to your pet, put the treat in the fridge for a few minutes if it’s still hot.

Hope your pet likes these! Please leave a comment if you have time.

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by | December 30, 2012 · 7:16 pm

Lavash crackers by Peter Reinhart

Home made crackers sprinkled with herbs and spices

When I wrote about our Christmas treats yesterday, I promised to come back with the recipe for lavash crackers, the Armenian flatbread that my husband loves to bake (and we all love to eat!). These are a really delightful crunchy cracker covered in seeds and spices that is essentially free form and pairs well with everything from cheeses and dips to nothing at all. They would be great with any meal requiring something bready for mopping up sauces too.

The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart is a much-loved tome in our kitchen, having been given to my husband by my oldest, dearest friend some years ago. It’s his bible for breadmaking and where he sources everything from ciabatta to cinnamon buns to these crackers. Actually, he occasionally makes things not beginning with the letter ‘c’ as well!

In his book, Peter Reinhart writes “Lavash, though usually called Armenian flatbread, also has Iranian roots and is now eaten throughout the Middle East and around the world. It is similar to the many other Middle Eastern and North African flatbreads known by different names, such as mankoush or mannaeesh (Lebanese), barbari (Iranian), khoubiz or khobz (Arabian), aiysh (Egyptian), kesret and mella (Tunisian), pide or pita (Turkish), and pideh (Armenian). The main difference between these breads is either how thick or thin the dough is rolled out, or the type of oven in which they are baked (or on which they are baked, as many of these breads are cooked on stones or red-hot pans with a convex surface).” He goes on to note that the key to crisp lavash is paper-thin dough, and we’ve discovered that for us the easiest way to achieve this is our pasta bike.

Pasta bike on a butcher block counter

These crackers are always a hit with our youngest, as coming along at the key moment to help sprinkle on seeds and spices is just plain fun. We tend to favour the suggested sesame, poppy and caraway seeds, paprika, cumin and sea salt, but there is a whole world of seeds and spices out there that would be fantastic on lavash. Today, my husband rolled out his third batch of lavash in about ten days; we were out of parchment paper so he made do with some tinfoil.

Man making lavash crackers

Lavash Crackers from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart
Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vegetable oil (we use sunflower)
1/3 to 1/2 cup water (at room temperature)
Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher salt

Method (with a few notes on how we tend to do things)
1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, yeast, honey, oil and just enough water to bring everything together in a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup of water, but be prepared to use it all if it’s needed.

2. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77 to 88 degrees F (we never test for temperature!). The dough should be firmer than French bread dough but not quite as firm as bagel dough, satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (we tend to use a dinner plate).

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading.)

4. Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper-thin sheet about 15 by 12 inches. (Note: this is where we prefer to use our pasta bike, in order to achieve those ultra thin pieces, and we aim to produce strips that are very similar in width). You may have to stop from time to time so the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. Once you’ve created your squares or strips, allow the dough to relax for five minutes. Line a sheet with parchment paper (though foil will do in a pinch). Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors (again, with our pasta bike method, this generally isn’t an issue).

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the rack in the middle. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle with a covering of seeds and/or spices. Be careful with the spices; a little goes a long way. If you want precut crackers, use a pizza cutter or other curving blade and cut diamonds or rectangles. You do not need to separate the pieces as they will easily break apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first (we love this method best).

6. Bake for 12 to 17 minutes (Reinhart suggests 15 to 20; we find that 12 is often enough, but the important thing is to watch for browning, which is the key to doneness with this recipe, and it will depend on how evenly rolled and thin your dough is).

7. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about ten minutes. You can then snap them apart or break into shards and serve.

Enjoy!

Sprinkling seeds and spices on lavash crackers

Lavash crackers with spices

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