Tonight is the first night of Passover, so we are baking matzo (matzoh? matzah! I can never decide which spelling to use) this morning instead of challah (hallah!). Inspired by a sweet post on Gourmandistan, I took their advice and didn’t use their recipe, instead opting for one that Mark Bittman published in the NY Times a couple years ago. Already untraditional in its use of olive oil and salt, I took the glad-not-to-be-actually-fleeing-Egypt spirit one step further and sprinkled the tops of some with the outstanding fennel and nigella salt from SugarPill and others with a dukkah blend from World Spice.
The result? Truly delicious crackers.
The recipe admonishes you to roll the dough paper-thin. And when you say paper-thin, I say pasta roller. That did actually work quite well, but I will also share that the much thicker rounds that my three-year-old rolled out by herself were equally delicious and only marginally less crispy. So this is not a fussy dough. Enjoy yourself. And once you try these, you may decide to make them a year-round staple. I am already thinking of the dips I want to serve these with after Passover is over and I can avoid the spelling conundrum by simply calling them “flatbreads.”
Homemade Olive Oil Matzo: Combine 2 c. flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/3 c. olive oil in the bowl of a food processor. With motor running, add 1/2 c. water and allow mixture to come together into a ball. (This didn’t happen for me using my dough blade, but it only took a few more seconds to knead the dough together, and I didn’t need any additional flour.) Divide dough into 12 pieces and roll out very thin, or into 6 pieces and run them through a pasta roller and then cut into crackers. Sprinkle with sea salt or other seasonings if desired. Prick all over with a fork and bake at 500 degrees on a pizza stone or cookie sheet. Watch closely; you want the matzo to be just puffed and golden brown (it burns quickly). On the hot pizza stone I baked the matzo for two minutes on the first side and one minute on the second side; on the cookie sheet it took a little longer.
Emmy Cooks 
These look way too delicious to be Matzah–Can’t wait to try it! Happy Passover!
Thanks, same to you! These are definitely a far cry from the dusty box. I don’t think I’ll be going back….
:)
looks yummy!
Thanks for the shout-out! Great post. And, yes, those look really much better than our austere version. Flatbreads, yes!
Thank YOU for both the original idea and the tip to seek out a recipe with olive oil and salt! These were seriously good crackers. Next time (and it will be soon) I am going to mix in a little rosemary.
Oooh, and guess who just happens to have that very salt you mention? Cha-ching! I’ll be interested to know how they age.
Ooh, no, they don’t age well at all. I didn’t wrap them up, but by tonight they were already less crisp & now they’re really softening. I’ve been meaning to try that salt on other kinds of bread, though–and I also love it on vanilla ice cream, if you can think of a good vegan parallel!
Ok, good to know. I will try the salt on Vanilla Coconut Bliss (which, if you haven’t tried, and if you can eat coconut, you really really must). I put it on a fruit salad last weekend that had banana, Bosc pear, toasted almonds and candied ginger, and it was mighty fine.
These look like delicious crackers! I might just stick with calling them flatbread… and I’ll be giving these a go soon :)
Oh good, I can’t wait to see how you spiff them up for us. :)
Oh Emmy, these are awesome! Do you celebrate passover? Too cool!
We did have a very sweet Passover seder tonight. It was the first time that my oldest could participate by reading part of the seder, and I was so struck by the fact that my baby isn’t a baby anymore! I love family traditions for how they both create continuity and show us changes over time. :)
I got Liebtered, and knew right away that your blog was on my list. http://mightstainyourshirt.com/2012/04/06/take-that-bainbridge-scholars/
Well, thank you! As you know, I’m a fan of yours as well, so I especially appreciate the compliment.
These crackers look so appealing, and they sound like fun to make!
They’re fun because they’re so easy! It was also a great project to do with the kiddos because the dough was so easy to handle–and crackers are so popular with younger set.
Wow, you have a great blog, really dedicated to write everyday. We are Australians living in Ghana, and have been struggling with the very sweet, very white, local bread, or crackers loaded with vegetable oil. I’ve been making bread at home, fantastic foccacia yesterday, and have been keen to try a cracker recipe, and here you are. Thanks!
What an adventure! Crackers loaded with vegetable oil? Sounds like the U.S. :) I do recommend these crackers, and If you click on the “snacks and apps” category on the sidebar, you’ll see a few other crackers that I’ve liked recently. Enjoy!
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These look amazing! I love the idea of different salts and dukkah!
No reason to not use olive oil. I think not having to wander the desert anymore is cause for celebration!
(Is that insensitive of me?)
It’s insightful. That’s basically how I told my kids the story of Passover: we get to have a big feast because we’re so lucky! (That’s the story, right?)
I’m saving this one! Looks wonderful!
Thanks! Enjoy.
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