Category: Food

I am positive that this is not authentic Lavash, aka Turkish/Armenian flatbread, BUT I looked at a lot of lavash recipes and have been making this lavash style cracker bread for a snack/appetizer through the holidays and am very happy with the result.

I have been using Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day’s Olive Oil dough which is their master dough with a bit of olive oil and sugar…but I sub honey for the sugar and use 1/2 white whole wheat and 1/2 white flour (Wheat Montana flours). The sugar or honey makes a crispy-chewy thin flatbread. For a dinner plate sized amount I use hunk of dough about the size of a large lemon or small orange. For a salad plate sized amount a large walnut sized bit of dough.

Roll the dough as thin as possible on a floured Silpat. Traditional lavash has a light cornstarch wash with sesame or poppy seeds – the wash holds the seeds on the dough and the result is a thin crispy-chewy cracker-flatbread that stands up to hummus or other dips or a slice of cheese (smoked goat cheese has become my new fav!)

I have also been using just a small amount (VERY small drizzle or you will have fried crackers) of olive oil spread over the dough, then various other toppings…but using a very light hand for the topping: a bit of blue cheese and some rosemary, capers and goat cheese, some smoked salmon and dill and goat cheese and today: roma tomato, goat cheese and rosemary.

I like to cut the dough into large cracker pieces with a pastry cutter – before baking. A pastry cutter cuts the dough but not the Silpat as opposed to a pizza wheel which will probably damage the Silpat. And the pastry cutter leaves a pretty edge :) !!

Pop into a 450 oven for 5-7 minutes and out comes a wonderful, delicious and not too heavy snack, appetizer or a nice cracker bread to go with soup or salad.

I continue to be a huge fan of the high moisture, no knead doughs. I’ve read that people do not like making room for storing 4-6 pounds of dough in their refrigerator. I have yet to make a full batch of the dough and find that 1/2 and even 1/4 of a batch works fine for just me. I store a 1/2 batch in a small casserole dish vs 4-6 pounds in a large tub container. And guess what??? The doughs all freeze well. Going from frozen to in the oven means a bit more planning ahead, but not much if you freeze in small hunks vs large. If I want to make a large loaf of bread, I grab several of packages – they come to room temperature in 20-30 minutes. As soon as they are soft, I combine and shape them for whatever and if a rise is required, it is the normal rise time so the only extra time involved is the first 20-30 minute thaw. Easy-peasy and for something like the lavash or pizza crust which doesn’t require a rise, it is just the thaw time.

High moisture, no knead dough…lavash style cracker bread.

These may not be the prettiest holiday cookie, but I love them!

Last week, I saw a recipe for tahini cookies. Tahini is sesame seed “butter” and is an ingredient in hummus which I make often. Sesame seeds are chock full of good stuff and I have also been making a tahini salad dressing. The cookie recipe was very intriguing. I made it, they were good and the texture reminded me somewhat of Russian Tea Cakes.

I have no idea if Russian Tea Cakes are actually “Russian”, but that is what they are called in the Betty Crocker cookbook from WAAAAYYYY back. My mother made Russian Tea Cakes as part of the Christmas Cookie repertoire and although they were not my favorite as a kid, I did like them and haven’t had them since leaving the nest some 39 years ago. Yikes!

I looked at the Russian Tea Cake recipe side by side with the Tahini Cookie recipe and made my own Tahini Tea Cake recipe which I think is wonderful and since it is heavily adapted from two different recipes, I am violating no one’s copyright by disclosing it here!

Without further ado….Tahini Tea Cakes: (this is a smallish batch and is easily doubled)

1 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp (heaping) cinnamon
1/4 tsp (scant) nutmeg
1/4 cup finely crushed nuts (I used pecans…walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts…I think they would all be good)
1/4 cups coconut oil
1/4 cups tahini
2 T butter unsalted w/ 1/4 tsp sea salt or use salted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar divided 1/4 and 1/4 cups

Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheet (I used a half baking sheet) with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and nuts – stir well or sift together and set aside. The nuts can be lightly roasted which brings out their flavor a bit more.

Combine coconut oil, melted butter, tahini and 1/4 cups powdered sugar in a separate bowl and beat until creamy.

Add dry ingredients gradually, mixing well – use your hands if you want :)!

Take a teaspoonful of dough at a time and make a ball. Set on cookie sheet leaving about an inch between.

Bake 12-15 minutes until slightly brown/gold. Let sit on baking sheet 5 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and cool on a rack.

Store in an airtight container…I used a Mason Jar.

I am going to try another version with almond flour instead of wheat flour which makes them gluten-free…providing it works!

When all else fails, read the directions :) !!

I saw the wreath bagels on Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day last night as I was getting ready to fix a pizza for my supper. I grabbed an additional hunk of dough to try a wreath bagel – not really a bagel as it does not get boiled, but it is the size of a bagel with cut and shape using the Pain d’epi (wheat stalk looking bread) technique. The ABin5 folks had previous posts about full loaf size wreaths and traditional Pain d’epi but I’d never tried it. It struck my fancy last night and in a fit of naive overconfidence, I thought I knew how to do it.

This morning’s effort, after reviewing the photos on the ABin5 post, went much better!

Into the oven with pointy-points!

Out of the oven with pointy-points!

The sections pull apart and are wonderful bites of crispy crust with a chewy crumb and plenty of pockets for butter or whatever you like to spread on your bread.

Christmas Bagel, round 2: success!