Lavosh - Armenian Cracker Bread

Lavosh is a cracker bread, crisp, slightly sweet and (if I may say so) addictive. It's handy to have on hand and keeps for several weeks. Lavosh is pronounced LAH-voshe (though my family calls is la-vosh, no accent) and is some times spelled in other ways, including lavash and lahvosh. This recipe comes from my dear Auntie Gloria, she's been making lavosh for many many years, it's definitely a family favorite! It's easy to make and keeps for weeks.

Lavash (Armenian Cracker Bread) ~ an old family slightly sweet cracker recipe with sesame seeds, poppy seeds @ KitchenParade.com ~ Weight Watchers PointsPlus 2


COMPLIMENTS!
"Yummo! ... Definitely a keeper." ~ LeAnne via Facebook


Ever tried a new recipe and liked it so much you made it again right away?

Such was the case for my mom’s family’s version of lavosh, an Armenian cracker bread. While there are other recipes by the same name that call for yeast and thus yield a result more-bread-than-cracker, this is a true cracker, thin, crunchy, a tiny bit sweet. And did I mention addictive? That too.

Serve lavosh with cheese and fruit or alongside a hearty bowl of soup.

ALANNA's TIPS Be sure to stir the flour lightly with a spoon before spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling. Scooping compacted flour directly from the bin can result in up to 25% more flour than called for and yields a tough rather than delicate cracker. If your baking sheet is rimmed, it's fussy to finagle the rolling pin inside the rim. Consider a flat baking sheet or rolling out the lavosh with a smooth glass jar. A more unorthodox idea? Just turn the baking sheet over and roll on the underside! When baking, the edges may brown sooner since they’re typically thinner. This is okay – the thin parts are actually the most tasty. Prepare for a shock when checking the price of small jars of poppy seeds in the spice section at a grocery store. Instead, if you have access to an international grocery, large bags can be purchased for a couple of dollars. (For St. Louisans, I find inexpensive poppy seeds at Global Foods in Kirkwood.) The sesame seed and poppy seed mix is great. But what's pictured is two varieties of sesame seeds, the typical blond-colored ones and black sesame seeds. Excellent! I’ve experimented with caraway seeds (also traditional, apparently, based on similar recipes) and pretzel salt but prefer the sesame and poppy seed combination. Oh – and you might think about making a double batch!

LAVOSH
(ARMENIAN CRACKER BREAD)

Mixing & rolling: 30 minutes
Baking: 1 hour (requires occasional attention)
Makes 20 dozen small crackers
  • 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring or 345g
  • 1/4 cup (50g) sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup (255g) buttermilk
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
  • 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
  • Flour, for rolling

Heat oven to 375F/190C.

Combine dry ingredients. Blend in butter with a wooden spoon until crumbly. Add buttermilk and stir until well combined.

Divide dough into four parts. Sprinkle some flour onto a clean, flat surface, just like we do for kneading bread. With a rolling pin, roll one section to form a rectangle roughly 6 x 8 inches. Transfer the rectangle to an ungreased but lightly floured (very important step!) baking sheet. Directly on the sheet, roll the dough to the edges of the baking sheet as thin and evenly as possible, first with the rolling pin, then with your hands.

Sprinkle dough liberally with seeds, pressing the seeds into the dough with your palms (another important step!).

Bake until golden, about 13 – 15 minutes. Cool and break into cracker-size pieces, about 60 pieces per sheet.

Store in airtight container, will stay fresh for several weeks.

NUTRITION INFORMATION For four pieces: 65 Calories; 4g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 1g Mono Fat; 7g Carb; 1g Fiber; 26mg Sodium; 4mg Cholesterol; 2g Protein WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 1.5 & PointsPlus 2

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. Follow Kitchen Parade on Facebook!

More Ideas for Crackers & Quick Bread Bites

(hover for a description, click a photo for a recipe)
Herbed Saltines Quick Crisp Flatbread Fried Bread

Serving Suggestions for Lavosh

(hover for a description, click a photo for a recipe)
Strawberry Pepper Salad Easy-to-Elegant Asparagus Soup Strawberries in Wine

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If you like Kitchen Parade's recipes, do visit A Veggie Venture, my food blog packed with vegetable recipes for every course.

Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. Anonymous5/16/2008

    I've never heard of this before, thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous5/28/2008

    Do you think you could roll the dough through a pasta machine like the olive oil crackers recipe at 101cookbooks? I'll have to try these and compare the two recipes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Deanna ~ I'm not sure, actually, since I don't have a pasta maker. The dough is quite soft and really easy to roll thin on the cookie sheet. But if you try, I'd love to know your results!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous5/28/2008

    Seems like the kind of thing Trader Joe's does ...

    ReplyDelete
  5. LeAnne via Facebook4/27/2011

    Planned to make palmiers out of puff pastry today ... and to my surprise, what I had were puff pastry shells, not sheets. So off to Kitchen Parade I went and made your lavash. Yummo! Brushed with olive oil and made half with just sea salt and the other half with a seasoned salt. Definitely a keeper. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Do you know if you can roll out and freeze dough? Am thinking might be nice to have on hand to just pop in oven for fresh lavosh anytime. Also generally what kind of shelf life do they have? I eat them to fast to figure out and want to give some as gifts. Thanks!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous11/19/2014

    What is the calorie count for one serving i.e. 1 cracker?

    ReplyDelete
  8. LeAnne ~ So glad you love the recipe, I need to talk to you about what you’ve learned, so many batches!

    Unknown ~ I’ve never tried freezing the dough so can’t say. Lavosh stays fresh for a couple of weeks, so yes, would be good for food gifts!

    Anonymous ~ Do you see the Nutrition Information in the recipe? It will vary with cracker size, of course but if you get 20 dozen small crackers, 4 crackers add up to 65 calories so ... 65 divided by 4 = okay?

    ReplyDelete

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna