I love how easy it is to change the flavor of homemade lavash flatbread. I’ve used sesame and poppy seeds, as well as rosemary, thyme and fennel from my garden. You can’t go wrong using Weisenberger’s flour products in these crackers. I used my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook and these were a snap to make. This recipe makes almost 3 dozen large crackers. They keep for weeks, but you can halve the recipe; 15 to 18 of these is still quite a few. One more tip: I found that rolling all the rounds out and keeping them separated with parchment or wax paper made the baking go much easier.
Ingredients
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- ¼ cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 (.25-ounce) envelope active dry yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, coarse sea salt, fresh-cracked pepper, minced herbs as desired for toppings
- Olive oil — between 2 tablespoons and ¼ cup
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir together the water, whole-wheat flour and yeast until moistened. Mix in the salt and 1 cup of all-purpose flour. Gradually mix in the rest of the flour using a mixer with a dough hook attachment or wooden spoon.
- When the dough comes together, knead in your mixer or on a floured surface for 8 to 10 minutes to make an elastic ball. Add more flour or water if needed to keep dough from getting sticky or too stiff. Pour a little bit of oil in the bowl and turn the dough to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Punch down the dough and divide into 30 pieces about the size of small walnuts. Rolling the dough into a long log helps to divide it evenly. Roll each piece into a ball and cover with a damp kitchen towel for 30 minutes to rest.
- Preheat the oven to 500°. Place a baking sheet on the center rack of the oven so it can preheat at the same time. Do not grease it. (If you have a pizza stone, that is ideal to use instead of the baking sheet.)
- Roll each ball into a circle about 8 inches across. The dough should be paper thin, almost translucent. If they are too thick, they will bubble up like pita breads (still delicious). Before you finish rolling them out, sprinkle on the topping of your choice and roll them into the bread. Brush with a bit of olive oil all over the tops. Use a light hand with the oil, but don’t skip putting it on the rounds.
- Pull out the oven shelf and place as many crackers on your baking sheet as you can fit, 2 or 3. Close the oven and bake for about 3 minutes — keep an eye on them. The crackers should be lightly browned on the top with small bubbles. You may have to adjust your thickness for the next batch.
