At Whispering Pines Bed and Breakfast, we pair these versatile, homemade flatbread crackers with cheese plates, salads, and include them in our celebration packages. I used to purchase flatbread crackers, but after coming across a recipe for something VERY similar, I now prepare and bake them pretty much to order. Typically, we use this Three Seed version but feel free to experiment with Rosemary and Sea Salt or any of your own favorite toppings, spices and herbs.
Homemade Flatbread Crackers
A delicious choice for any cheese lover! The cracker dough can be refrigerated for 2 days or frozen for up to a month, and then thawed for 2 hours at room temperature.
Ingredients
For the topping:
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
- 2 teaspoons fennel or caraway seeds
- ¾ teaspoon salt – preferably kosher
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
For the dough
- 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour; plus more for rolling
- ½ cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat oven to 450°.
- In a small bowl, stir the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and fennel/caraway seeds. Crack the egg into a separate small bowl, lightly beat and set aside, along with a pastry brush and the kosher salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour and table salt. Add the olive oil and ½ cup of water to the flour; stir with a rubber spatula until it collects into a soft, crumbly ball of dough. You can also use a food processor with a pastry dough blade here (just make sure not to over mix!). Use the spatula or your hands to press the dough against the sides of the bowl to gather all the stray flour.
- Set the dough on a lightly floured work surface and portion it into thirds. Pat each portion into a square. Set two of the squares aside. Roll out the remaining dough into a rectangle about 1/16 “ thick and 7-8 inches wide by 14-15 “ long. Whenever you feel resistance, lift up one edge of the dough and sprinkle more flour underneath before you continue rolling to avoid tearing the dough. Another option is to use your pasta rolling machine; makes for quicker and less effort experience.
- Poke with a fork (or a dough perforator) to create air release holes. With a pastry brush, brush the dough lightly with the egg & water mixture and sprinkle about a third of the seed mix evenly over the surface. Sprinkle with ¼ tsp of the kosher salt, crumbling it between your fingers while sprinkling it.
- With a dough scraper, pizza cutter, or sharp knife, cut the dough in half lengthwise and then cut across to make rectangles roughly 2×4 inches. Don’t bother trimming the edges; rustic edges add character. Transfer to a lined baking sheet. Bake until nicely browned about 6 mins, rotating baking sheet after 4 mins; watching closely the last 2 minutes. (They will burn fast, so keep a close eye on them!)
- While each batch is baking, clean the work surface as needed and repeat rolling and cutting with the remaining portions of dough. Store the cooked crackers in a zip-lock bag for up to a week.
Notes
Yields about 3 ½ dozen 2×4 inch crackers. They’ll keep for up to a week.
Variations:
- Rosemary and sea salt crackers – Add 2 TBS chopped fresh rosemary to the dry ingredients in the dough. Skip the seed topping and sprinkle each batch of crackers with ¼ tsp fine sea salt.
- Sweet Endings – Sprinkle with a mixture of 1/4 cup Sugar and 1 TBS Cinnamon
- Cayenne and Mixed Peppercorn – Sprinkle with a mix of these to your spice liking