Lagom is a gorgeous new cookbook every Scandi-design lover needs. Aimed at exploring “the Swedish art of eating harmoniously” it offers simple but elegant whole-food recipes that look as good as we feel eating them. This recipe for seed-packed homemade rye crispbread pairs perfectly with our favorite dips, spreads and fermented food accessories…
These are wonderful to make, as they fill the house with the rich smell of baked rye. They are also completely bulletproof and could probably survive a nuclear attack and still be edible. In an airtight container, they will last for ages and are equally good with cheese, as a canapé base or as a substitute for cereal.
The shaping is pretty essential. I favor the more modern rectangular shape which is much more practical in terms of storing and eating: in Sweden the traditional shape is circular and about the size of a dinner plate. These would also have a hole stamped out of their middles, so that you could thread them onto poles to hang up and dry out completely. This recipe makes a big batch but can easily be halved.
Rye Crispbreads
Ingredients:
1 oz fresh yeast
2 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp honey
3 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups rye flour
about 2 1/4 cups spelt flour
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
generous 1/3 cup flaxseeds
about 3/4 cup sesame seeds
Directions:
Crumble the fresh yeast into a large bowl and add 2 1/2 cups “finger warm” (just warm to touch) water. Stir to dissolve then add the honey and 3 teaspoons salt.
Tip in the rye flour and 1 1/2 cups of the spelt flour, reserving the rest for later. Mix the seeds together in a small bowl and add half to the dough, then mix together for a few minutes until sticky. Allow to rise in a warmish place for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 430ºF and line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Divide the dough into 15 pieces and roll into balls. Dust the work surface with some of the reserved spelt flour and roll out each ball into circles, about 1/4-inch thick. It will be quite sticky, so do keep dusting with more reserved flour. Make a hole in the center of each circle (using a small glass or jar) for traditional crispbreads. Or divide the dough into 4, roll into large rectangles and cut into strips about 1 1/2 x 6 inches. Place onto the prepared baking sheet and dimple each cracker with a fork. Sprinkle with the remaining seeds.
Bake in batches for 10–12 minutes. Once all the batches are done, turn off the oven and pile all the breads onto 2 baking sheets. Put these into the still warm oven and allow to dry out completely for a few hours before eating.
Recipe excerpted with permission from Lagom: The Swedish Art of Eating Harmoniously by Steffi Knowles-Dellner, published by Quadrille February 2018.
Add your homemade rye crispbread to this gorgeous deconstructed guacamole board.
