Scandinavian seeded crispbreads made with minimal flour, some salt, oil, water and sesame, flax, poppy and sunflower seeds (and a few aromatic ones too) are a crunchy, delicate platform for butter, cheese, pickled herring and anything at all savoury.
- 100 g rolled oats
- 100 g rye flour or wheat flour
- 50 g flaxseeds
- 50 g sesame seeds
- 50 g sunflower seeds
- 50 g pumpkin seeds
- 25 g poppy seeds
- 2 tbsp kombu or dulse seaweed flakes optional
- 2 tsp fennel seeds cracked
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp kalonji seeds aka nigella or black onion seeds (optional)
- 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 3/4 tsp flaky salt plus extra for optional topping
- 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 150 ml warm water
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Heat the oven to 180C/160C (fan)/350F. Take out two large baking trays and a roll of parchment paper.
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Add all of the dried ingredients to a very large, spacious bowl, stir with your hands, then tip in the oil and water. Stir very well. Squidge with your hands if needs be. The dough is very thick.
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Take three sheets of parchment paper and place the baking trays on them and pull up on all sides to form the shape of the trays. This will be your rolling guide. Half the dough and place on one piece, topping with one of the others. Roll as thinly as you can, patching and shaping as you go. With practice and daring it gets easier to obtain a uniform thinness.
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Peel off the top paper and lay the dough with the underneath paper on one of the trays. Lightly score into pieces with a sharp knife, if you wish. Carry on with the remaining dough. Sprinkle over flaky salt if you like.
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Place the trays in the oven and bake the soon-to-be crackers for 15 minutes. Swap the trays around and bake for a further 15 minutes. Do another swap and bake for 10 to 15 more minutes, until quite golden. Let cool and break into pieces, or crack along the scored lines with a heavy knife. Store in an air-tight container for up to two weeks.
Variation: If you want to pair this with both sweet and savoury foods, why not leave out the optional ingredients and add 2 tsp of maple syrup? It doesn't make this sweet but it will make it more agreeable for slathering with jam.
Serving suggestions: pickled herring (traditional), soft cheese, butter, pate (traditional), hummus (here is my favourite hummus recipe) and other dips, with soup, topped with hard-boiled eggs and radishes, etc.
The nutrition label is based on the recipe making 80 crackers, with one cracker as the serving. Inevitably and hopefully you will eat more than this!