Recipe July 21

FlatLand FlatBread

Summary: These are addictive and much more economical than buying them at $8 a pop. Here's three different flavors to try.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (can replace up to 1 cup with whole-wheat flour)
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt (if you find them not salty enough for your taste, increase up to 1 tsp.)
• 2 cups buttermilk (I suggest the real thing)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark, I like the extra richness of dark)
• 1/4 cup honey (clover)
• 1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup flax seed, ground or flaxseed meal
• For Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps:
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (roasted, if you like)
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
• OR
• For Cranberry Hazelnut Crisps
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts (roasted, if you like)
• (Optional) 1 tsp. fresh, chopped thyme
• OR
• Salty Date and Almond Crisps
• 1 cup dried, pitted dates, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds (roasted, if you like)
• 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt ** sprinkled on top before baking **
• OR
• Fig and Walnut Crisps
• 1 cup dried figs, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (roasted, if you like)
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease two 8×4-inch loaf pans or several mini loaf pans, for a smaller crisp.
2. Measure out fruit and seeds and chop nuts and any herbs and set aside. If you are using raisins, you can plump them if you like by soaking in boiling water for 10 minutes and then draining before adding to recipe)
3. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the buttermilk, brown sugar and honey and stir a few strokes. Add the pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and flax seed. Add your fruit and nuts as per the recipe specifications above. Add any herbs as specified. Stir just until combined.
4. Pour the batter into two greased 8 x 4” loaf pans (or several mini loaf pans). *If making Salty Date and Almond, sprinkle salt on top of loaves before baking.
5. Bake for about 35 minutes (less for mini loaves), until golden and springy to the touch. Remove from the pans and cool on a wire rack.
6. Once loaves have cooled, wrap or place in a freezer bag and put in freezer for at least several hours (to make them easier to slice thin). When ready to bake, remove from freezer. Slice the loaves as thin as you can and place the slices in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Preheat oven to 300° F. and bake them for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes, until crisp and deep golden. Remove to a cooling rack to cool and crisp up.
8. Recipe makes about 8 dozen crackers.

Prep time: 10 min | Cook time: 50 min | Total time: 1 hour

Number of servings (yield): 8 dozen crisps