Lavash style crispy crackers recently helped me to address a shortage of store bought crackers. Because these are so nice with home made hummus, but also with cheese and even peanut butter! The lavash style crackers – with an Armenian root- have a great taste, are easy to make and store surprisingly well without losing their snappy crisp. Make sure you store them in an air-tight, closed box. You can vary the spices that you sprinkle on. Do not forget to partially cover the dough with kosher salt before baking. Also you can add some whole wheat or rye flour in the dough for taste. In this recipe we use a leavened flat bread, according to Turkish tradition.
The art of making Lavash style crispy crackers
As we need crackers and not a soft bread, we are careful with water in the dough. We ensure to use sifted flour as we need to create a very supple dough, that can be rolled paper thin.
Do not forget to moisten the rolled dough just before covering it with cumin, sesame or caraway seeds or with kosher salt and placing it in the hot oven. And watch the color development in the oven: too light yields a still soft bread, too dark will impair the taste.
Let the cracker bread cool down on the baking plate for 10 minutes; thereafter you can take shards off and use them or store them in an air-tight closed box or container.
Special equipment
- baking tray and oven
- dough pin
- parchment paper
Lavash style crispy crackers
Ingredients
Ingredients for the dough
- 6.75 oz (190 g) white flour
- 1/2 tsp dry yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/3 - 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp olive oil or other neutral tasting vegetable oil
Ingredients to cover
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp caraway seeds
- 1-2 tbsp kosher salt
Instructions
Instructions to make and roll the dough
- In a mixing bowl, bring all the dough ingredients together into a ball. You may not need all the water, but if you have to, do it
- Sprinkle some flour on the counter and kneed the dough with the palm of your hand slowly, but repeatedly for 10 minutes. The dough should be firmer than that for a normal bread but should be less firm than the dough for bagels
- Oil a bowl lightly and let the dough double in size at room temperature (about 90 min). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap
- Thereafter oil the kitchen counter surface (I use a brush) and place the dough on top of it. Lightly sprinkle flour on the dough
- Use the dough pin to roll this in a paper thin sheet in the form of your oven baking tray. You may interrupt this process to let the dough relax. You can take the dough from the counter and wave it a little, that will help also. But be patient. Cover the dough with plastic wrap while waiting for the gluten to relax
- When the right size and thickness is achieved for the dough, let it rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 178 C. And place parchment paper on the baking sheet. After the resting period, lift the dough and place it on the parchment paper on the baking sheet. Remove any overhanging dough with a knife or with scissors.
Instructions to cover the dough and bake it
- Mist the top of the dough with water, or use a brush to carefully moisten the surface. Then sprinkle the seeds and kosher salt over the dough surface
- Place the baking tray in the middle of the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, when the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top
- After the bake, let the crackers cool down for 10 minutes on the baking sheet. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve them. At this time you can store excess shards in a closed and air-tight container.
Notes
Remarks
- The exact time in the oven depends on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough, the location in the oven and the oven temperature. The surface of the baked layer must have colored evenly, but not too dark. Practice makes perfect.
