RECIPE: Homemade lavash crackers will leave no crumbs
As we enter into the holiday season, it’s always nice to have a few crowd-pleasing recipes in your repertoire.
Cookies, brownies and the like are all fun and good, but when it comes to holiday entertaining, it’s all about the meat and cheese platter, aka the grazing board.
You know the scene: Lots of small talk and catching up, maybe one too many holiday cocktails, and that beacon of goodness mounded perfectly with cheeses, charcuterie, olives, gherkins, mustards and dips. The vehicle to shovel it all into your hungry holiday mouth is the lavash cracker.
Hailing from the Middle Eastern region, lavash is a slightly leavened dough, rolled paper thin, and baked quickly over high heat, traditionally in a tandoori oven. Seasoned with za’atar, Maldon salt and lots of black and white sesame seeds, these crackers are the ideal flavorful accompaniment to any cheese board.
This recipe uses sourdough discard starter (you’re welcome, sourdough fans), which produces light, bubbly crackers with a hint of tangy flavor. However, you can replace it with a poolish, a starter made with commercial yeast as opposed to wild or natural yeast, to yield a similar product. Instructions for making a poolish are included below.
If you wish to make your own sourdough culture, you can find step-by-step instructions on the internet. You can also order fresh sourdough starter at kingarthurbaking.com.
Sourdough Lavash Crackers
If using a poolish instead of sourdough starter, stir together 125 grams all-purpose flour, 125 grams room-temperature water and 2 grams active dry yeast in a medium-sized bowl. Let sit 1 hour at room temperature. The poolish is ready when it’s bubbly and floats on water.
- 100 grams (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
- 20 grams (3 tablespoons) whole-wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 248 grams sourdough discard starter or poolish (see note)
- 57 grams (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 tablespoons room-temperature water
- Olive oil for brushing (optional)
- White sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, za’atar and Maldon salt, for seasoning
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour and salt. Add sourdough starter and mix on low speed, until the mixture takes the shape of a dough ball.
- Add the butter and mix on medium speed until the dough is smooth, sprinkling water as needed until the dough is no longer greasy and is elastic, stretching when pulled.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
- Roll dough into paper-thin sheets and stretch over a 18-by-13-inch half-sheet pan lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. If desired, cut the dough into squares or circles (I prefer to bake as a whole sheet and break into pieces once cool).
- Brush rolled dough with water or olive oil and season generously with Maldon salt, sesame seeds and za’atar.
- When ready to bake, heat the over to 375 degrees. Bake 10 minutes, then rotate the sheet pan 180 degrees and bake another 5 minutes, until crackers are light brown. Let cool 20 minutes before breaking apart and serving.
- Crackers can be stored up to 1 week in an airtight container.
Nutritional information
Per serving: 108 calories (percent of calories from fat, 34), 2 grams protein, 16 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 4 grams total fat (2 grams saturated), 10 milligrams cholesterol, 98 milligrams sodium.Sarah Dodge is an Atlanta-based bread baker, pastry chef and baking instructor. She is the owner of Bread is Good, which offers bread subscriptions to the general public and wholesale baked goods to local markets and restaurants.
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