Lavash style cracker bread
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.
