Lora Brody’s Multi-Seed Crackerbread

From the book King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking by King Arthur Flour

Total Time	30 minutes
Yield	8 crackers (24 servings)

Introduction

This recipe comes from our dear friend Lora Brody, who’s written numerous cookbooks and is one of our favorite teachers at The Baking Education Center.

Crackerbread is extremely quick and easy to make, and packs a punch of aromatic flavor from the seed blend that gets rolled right into the dough. A little sturdier than lavash, it’s great with your chunkiest dips.

Ingredients

	1	cup (4 ounces) traditional whole-wheat flour
	1	cup (4¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
	½	cup (1⅞ ounces) whole rye (pumpernickel) flour
	½	cup (2⅜ ounces) whole yellow cornmeal
	2	teaspooons salt
	2	Tbsp. olive oil
	1	cup (8 ounces) water
	½	cup (2½ ounces) assorted seeds, such as sesame, poppy, fennel, caraway, and anise
	2	Tbsp. assorted dried herbs, such as rosemary, basil, dill, tarragon, and thyme
	1	tsp. freshly ground black pepper
	1	Tbsp. coarse salt (optional; use it if you like a salty, crunchy cracker)

Steps

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees, with the rack in the center position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Make the dough: Combine the flours, cornmeal, and salt in a medium bowl, or in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Mix in the olive oil thoroughly, then add the water. (You may not need the entire cup of water, so hold back a couple of tablespoons and check the texture. It should be stiff, not crumbly.)
Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead it until it’s a stiff yet supple ball of dough. You can feel it get supple as you’re kneading. Add more all-purpose flour if the dough is too wet. (This dough does not require a long kneading period, just enough time to get it to hold together well.)
Combine the seeds, herbs, pepper, and coarse salt, if using, in a small bowl.
Make the crackers: Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and cover them with plastic wrap. Working with one piece at a time, scatter about 1 tablespoon of the seed mixture on the work surface. Press the dough onto the seed mixture and begin to roll it out with a rolling pin. If the dough sticks, flip it over, apply more seeds, and continue rolling. The goal is to get the dough as thin as possible and impregnated with lots of seeds.
Once you have the dough as thin as you can get it, place it on the prepared baking sheet. You may find it easier to finish the rolling right on the sheet.
Bake the crackerbread until the top is medium brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks before serving.