These lavash crackers, made with sourdough and rosemary and topped with roasted tomatoes and feta cheese, make a delicious appetizer or snack.
The Sourdough Surprises challenge for August is sourdough crackers. I’ve been experimenting with sourdough crackers for several months so this wasn’t a challenge so much as an opportunity to make more crackers.
Since I’ve made sourdough crackers before, I decided to do something totally different this time. I made a sourdough lavash cracker that is big enough to hold slow roasted tomatoes. It can be eaten as an appetizer or a snack.
I got the idea for these crackers after I made Bruschetta with roasted tomatoes. The flavor of the roasted tomatoes and the crunchy texture of the toast was so delightful, I decided to stick with that theme awhile. And, since it’s the height of tomato season, I have tomatoes galore from my garden to experiment with.
I enjoy the flavor of herbs in dough so because the tomatoes were roasted with rosemary and thyme, adding rosemary to the cracker dough seemed like the perfect complement.
Why I chose to make Lavash Flatbread
I chose lavash because it’s a crispy flatbread that can be broken into pieces.
I had made lavash crackers during the BBA Challenge, but I must admit the experience and the result was less than memorable. In fact, my oldest son tasted those crackers and rated them a fail. That was not a good start to my cracker-baking adventure.
Fast forward a few years, take a different recipe, add sourdough and rosemary to the mix, and what you get is a crunchy and light Sourdough Rosemary Lavash. I give this one an A.
Sourdough Rosemary Lavash (Lavosh)
My inspiration for these crispy rosemary crackers came from:
- Rosemary Croccantini Flatbread Crackers by Joanne of FifteenSpatulas.com;
- Lavosh from GroupRecipes.com
- Lavash Crackers from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart
Makes
: 4 sheets of crackers, rolled thinly
The key to making crisp Lavash is to roll it paper thin.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup sourdough starter (fed or unfed)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons water, more if needed
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, more for rolling
Method:
1) Mix the sourdough and oil, then add in the flour, sugar, salt, rosemary and water. Mix using a wooden spoon or Danish dough whisk.
2) Form the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter for at least seven hours. Or, let the dough rest on the counter for a couple of hours, then place it in the refrigerator overnight.
After making these crackers several times, I think I like them better baked just after the seven hour, room-temperature rest, but having the option of putting the dough in the refrigerator works if you’ve got a tight schedule or you want to bake them for dinner the next evening.
3) Divide the dough into four equal pieces using a knife or bench rest. You can divide it into more pieces if you prefer, but this seemed to be the right amount to roll on the parchment paper.
4) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. If you want to use a baking stone, preheat it at this time. I tried baking these crackers on a pizza stone, but they seemed to burn more easily so I switched to just using a baking sheet.
5) Roll each piece as thinly as possible on lightly greased parchment paper. If you only want to make one or two batches of the crackers, just wrap the other balls back up and place them in the refrigerator. They will last a couple of days.
6) Spray the top with water and add extra salt or sprinkle sesame or other seeds on top if you prefer, but I didn’t think it needed anything extra, especially since I was going to top it with the roasted tomatoes.
7) Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top. The time will depend on how thinly you rolled the dough.
8) Remove the pan from the oven and let the crackers cool for about 10 minutes. Snap off shards and serve.
I ate a lot of the crackers plain, but I also enjoyed some of them topped with roasted tomatoes and feta cheese. However you enjoy them, you won’t be disappointed.
Happy Baking!
Cathy
shelley c. says
I love the idea of larger crackers like these to really be a part of a meal – I bet it was absolutely delicious! Great job.
Gingered Whisk says
Oh my goodness, these look amazing! I would have eaten them all in one sitting! 🙂 So delicious!!
Joan says
They look yummy! Bigger is sometimes better!
Marisa says
I love the idea of being able to break off the size piece you need. I hope to try these sometime soon!
Jessica Kuligowski says
They look yummy-nice job!
Rebecca says
I love these! I’m going to eat half the crackers for lunch anyway, might as well make them meal-sized.
Jane says
I like making big crackers too. These look delicious!
ELIZABETH BRADSHAW says
These are stunning! Proud to serve them to guests (and grandchildren, and husband, and self!)
Cathy says
Hi ELizabeth! Thanks for the feedback! I’m so glad you like the crackers.
Natalia says
Thank you for my favorite use of sourdough to date! I have recently (last week…) been given a sourdough starter, and my breads have been rubbery and meh. This recipe turned out perfectly! I used a 1/4 cup starter and tablespoon by tablespoon water til a dough came together, however, I had to add additional flour and flour for rolling otherwise it wouldnt roll out after a 15+ hour rest. I will be trying a sweet version with cinnamon and sugar today. Thanks again!
Cathy says
Hi Natalia,
I’m so glad the crackers turned out well for you. A cinnamon and sugar version sounds awesome! Do let me know how it goes!
Happy Baking!
Cathy
Natalia says
Great success with a cinnamon sugar version. Had 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 2 tsp sugar in the dough, then sprinkled a little of both on top before baking. Used only 1 heaping tablespoon of my rye/spelt starter and let it rise for over 12 hours, close to 18 maybe, dont remember 🙂 Served them, to myself, with cream cheese and homemade sour cherry jam. This time I used my mixer with the dough hook, and was able to roll them out without extra flour. Thanks again!! Endless possibilities.
Cathy says
Oooh! That sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing! I might have to try your version sometime.
Mariana says
I made this last night I used dried oregano and crumbled blue cheese on top. They are amazing thank you so much for sharing this recipe- I will try the cinnamon sugar version as someone suggested.
Cathy says
I’m so glad you liked them. Dried oregano sounds delicious. I need to try the cinnamon version myself.
Sarah says
These have been my go to cracker for several years now. So delicious! Thank you!
Cathy says
Thank you for your feedback! I’m so glad you like these crackers.
Ronnie says
I’m still making these for Christmas every year maybe for the last seven years? My absolute faves.
Cathy says
What a great idea to make these for Christmas. I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying them. Thanks for the feedback!