Just mix up some ingredients into a dough, knead the dough for 10 minutes or so, let it rise until doubled, roll out very thin, sprinkle on some toppings, cut, and then throw in the oven. Fast and easy! Does that sound like a Daring Bakers challenge to you? Well if it doesn’t, I’m not surprised, as the challenges I’m used to usually entail a recipe with many steps to keep track of and hours of toiling in the kitchen. Well this month we were given a bit of a break with the challenge to make lavash (a thin Armenian flatbread) and create a dip/spread/salsa/relish to accompany it. The recipe came to us by way of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering The Art of Extraordinary Bread, by Peter Reinhart. So what made this worthy of being a Daring Bakers challenge? This was the first time that an “Alternative” Daring Baker was at the wheel, so this challenge was vegan and/or gluten free. I was excited about this challenge as it was a savory challenge and I had never made crackers before. I love all of the sweet challenges, but it’s nice to shake things up a bit (although my family was a bit upset when they heard they weren’t going to get to sample any sweet confectionery this month–they look forward to being my Official Taste Testers when decadent desserts are involved).
The dough came together quickly and easily. I used whole wheat flour in mine. It took awhile for it to double in size, but it finally did.
I split the dough into 2 balls and carefully rolled it out until it was paper-thin, then topped it with some toppings, cut it, and then into the oven it went.
Some of the crackers got a bit darker than I meant them to, but those ended up being the best ones because they were extra crisp! So if you make these, don’t worry if they turn a more golden brown in color.
For half of my crackers I gave a little shout out to Japan and made a yuzu infused honey glaze which I brushed over the dough and then sprinkled with black sesame seeds (recipe at bottom of post). I googled honey to figure out whether or not it was vegan and/or gluten free. I discovered that, yes, it is gluten free but probably not vegan (though a few sources tended to argue with that). So for the topping on these crackers I was gluten free but probably not vegan.
For the other half of my crackers I sprinkled them with black sesame seeds and coarse French grey sea salt.
To accompany my sesame sea salt lavash I made a simple mango salsa (recipe at bottom of post).
I served my yuzu honey and sesame lavash with some orange marmalade.
The crackers were delicious by themselves, and even better when eaten with the salsa and marmalade. They were crispy and a bit nutty from the whole wheat flour and sesame seeds. The crackers topped with the glaze were just a bit sweet with a hint of citrus. Squirrel loves Wheat Thin crackers so she absolutely adored the lavash. My favorite were the yuzu honey and sesame crackers, though I liked the sesame sea salt crackers a lot too. I was very happy with the way my mango salsa turned out. Now that I think about it, the yuzu honey and sesame crackers would also be really yummy with a bit of Nutella spread on them. Hmmm, while I go and try that out, I’ll leave you to check out the recipes!
The lavash recipe can be found here.
Yuzu Honey Glaze
Makes 1/4 cup of glaze
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. dried yuzu peel
1. Heat the honey and yuzu peel in a saucepan until the mixture thins. (Heating helps infuse the honey with the yuzu flavor and also thins the honey so that it can be spread on the crackers.)
2. Extra glaze can be spread on toast. Mmmm…
Mango Salsa
Makes approximately 1 1/2 cups salsa (depending on size of mango used)
1 medium-sized firm ripe mango, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/2 Tbsp. fresh mint, minced
lime juice, to taste
1. Mix the mango, red onion, jalapeno, and fresh mint together in a bowl.
2. Add lime juice to taste. Mix well and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving to help set the flavors.
* For more about yuzu, see my post Yuzu Euphoria
* For another savory dip option, see my post Easy Peasy Curry Dip
* A big thank you to Sheltie Girl of Gluten A Go Go and Shel of Musings from the Fishbowl for hosting this month’s challenge. To see what other Daring Bakers’ did with their lavash, please go here.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Wahoo! I love mango salsa! Hey I just got some black sesame seeds so I need to try your cookie recipe from a past post sometime. Yummy post!
These lavash look delicious. I never really love DBC because I’m not a big sweets person, but this challenge I would’ve been down for. love the contrast of the black sesame seeds.
Ooo, your lavash looks great! Your toppings sounds amazing as well!
Mango salsa and yuzu infused honey glaze sound so exotic but delicious!
Excellent job on the challenge! I particularly love the yuzu glaze….love my yuzu allright!!
Well done!
Whoa, that salsa looks amazing!
+Jessie
a.k.a. The Hungry Mouse