Saturday, November 23, 2013

Black onion seed and rye crackers

Here's a recipe for some nice crunchy rye crackers. I adapted it from a rosemary cracker recipe that my father figured out. It makes about 24 large crackers, but it very much depends on how you cut them.

  • 160 g plain flour
  • 120 g rye flour
  • 80 ml cold water
  • 60 ml olive oil (+ extra for brushing)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 0.5 tsp baking salt
  • 1.5 tsp black onion seeds
  • Crystal salt
  • Black pepper
  • Crushed, dried seaweed
  • Za'atar

Pre-heat the oven to 230 ℃ fan. Put baking sheets into the oven to preheat.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking salt and black onion seeds. Add the water and olive oil and knead briefly to form a smooth dough. Do not overwork the dough; you do not want gluten strands to form.

Divide the mixture into three parts. Wrap two in clingfilm while you work with the third.

Using a rolling pin, roll one third of the dough out as thinly as possible onto a silicone sheet. Using a dough blade or palette knife, gently score across to divide the sheet into crackers.

Sprinkle the top with salt crystals, seaweed, coarsely-ground black pepper and a generous sprinkle of za'atar. Gently pass the rolling pin over the sheet again to press the toppings into the dough.

Transfer to the oven and bake for roughly ten minutes, or until the top begins to darken at the edges.