Running out of time, my plans to bring some bread of lavash crackers to a party were dashed. Flipping through my bread books, I found a recipe that seemed to fit my requirements - no yeast, quick prep/quick time, and snack food. Rye and seed crackers; they looked beautiful in the book and sounded great paired with a strong cheese. I took the ingredient list to the grocery store.
And, umm, the grocery store failed. Rye flour? Nope, you can have light rye flour but not the good stuff. Pumpkin seeds? Seriously, no, you have to buy a pumpkin if you want those. But I improvised and they turned out pretty damn good. As I haven't cooked the original, I don't know how the flavor compares. To take care of using light rye, which has less flavor, I added a dash of buckwheat flour. Careful with this, though; buckwheat is very strong stuff in flavor. It was about 10% buckwheat and 90% rye, but you could only taste the buckwheat.
To substitute for the lack of pumpkin seeds, I just used more sunflower seeds to balance it out. Again, the overall flavor was very hearty, with a strong buckwheat kick to finish. Paired with a goat cheese, it was sublime. The only limiting factor in this recipe is number of cookie sheets - I had to half it, which was enough for two full sheets of crackers; sufficient as a snack or as one of many dishes around a room.
Crispy [Light] Rye and [Not Pumpkin] Seed Crackers (makes 2 cookie sheets, modified from a recipe in Artisan Breads Everyday)
- 1/4 cup (42 g) sunflower seeds
- 1.5 tbsp (14 g) flaxseeds
- 3 tbsp (56 g) sesame seeds
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (115 g) light rye flour
- ??? tbsp (10 g) buckwheat flour
- 1 tbsp (14 g) vegetable oil
- 1/2 tbsp (10 g) honey
- 6 tbsp (85 g) water, room temperature
- Additionally, 1/2 tbsp honey, 1 1/2 tbsp warm water, sesame seeds, sea salt, ground black pepper, ground walntus, or whatever other garnish you want
Grind the sunflower seeds into a flour; I used my burr grinder (for coffee). Also grind the flaxseeds, or just use pre-ground flaxseed powder. Combine the ground seeds, the solid seeds, and the flours. Mix together, then add in the water, oil, and honey. Stir for a 2 minutes until all ingredients are incorporated. If the dough is sticky (it was for me), add more rye flour. To test for stickiness, push your finger against the dough and pull it back - if the dough grabs your finger and then lets go, its fine. But if any dough is left on your finger, add more flour.
Flour a work surface and knead for 30 seconds. Separate the dough into two equal piles. Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Flour a large work surface and a rolling pin; roll the dough as thinly as you feel comfortable, checking and flouring as necessary. Slice the slice dough into cracker shapes using a pizza cutter (or, if you don't have one, a sharp knife held at a high angle). Transfer the sliced crackers to a baking sheet.
Combine the honey and water, whisking them together. Brush over the sliced crackers and sprinkle garnish on top (sea salt, ground pepper, more seeds, ground nuts, or really anything you want). Place in oven for 10 minutes; rotate; cook for 10 minutes more; rotate again; cook for 25 more minutes, increasing the temperature to 325 degrees.
Final note: I consider honey vegan. If you don't consider it vegan and want to be a vegan, use agave syrup.
