Knackerbrod (Cracker bread / Flat Bread)

I honestly never thought much of flat bread -- it was kind of, well, flat. Not much to get excited about, whole wheat, dry -- and we know how much fun that is. But the flat bread I've been bringing to the farmers market has been such a hit, I'm getting a new appreciation for it. I get calls almost every week asking if I'm going to have some more on Saturday or if I'd share the recipe. I've also started making some with flax seeds in it to add a little more crunch. [I'll add some pictures next week when I make more.]

This recipe comes from my Aunt Delores who said it was the best flat bread recipe she's used. It's actually pretty simple to make. The most difficult part is baking all those pieces one at a time -- it just gets a bit tedious, but it's not hard at all.

Flatbread (Knackerbrod)

Mix in a medium sized bowl:

2 Cups Oatmeal

1/2 Cup Whole wheat flour

1/3 Cup Sugar

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Salt (I use sea salt, but Kosher works well too)

Add 2/3 Cup melted butter and mix until everything is coated

Add 1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk, mix well.

Add 2 Cups Unbleached AP flour, mix well.

The dough will be very sticky. Cover with plastic and let it rest for at least 30 mins. (Overnight in the fridge works too.)

Rolling

Dust a piece of parchment paper with the same whole wheat flour you used in the dough. Scoop out about 1/3 - 1/2 Cup and pat into a rectangle. (Sprinkle with more whole wheat flour as needed so it doesn't stick to your hands.) Roll with a rolling pin (I use my lefse pin with cross hatch lines and a pastry stocking for this, but a plain rolling pin would probably work too.)

It's a little tricky to roll the sticky dough on the parchment while keeping it in place on the counter -- it wants to slide all over -- but once it gets started, it works ok.

Once or twice while you're rolling, peel the flattened dough off the parchment, sprinkle some more whole wheat flour on the dough and flip it over, then roll some more. It hangs together pretty well. Get it as thin as you can. One little scoop of dough will become the size of a whole cookie sheet when rolled out completely.

Once it's the size you want, then sprinkle the flax seed or whatever you like. Press in with a few rolls of the pin.

[If you want, you can score it at this point into squares with a serrated knife. After it bakes it will break apart at the score lines. I started out scoring into uniform shapes, but then I figured it was homemade anyway, so now I skip this step.]

Bake on the parchment in a 375 oven for about 10 mins. (I bake it directly on my pizza stone, but you can use a cookie sheet too.) It should be golden brown for the best flavor. The edges may get darker.

Cool on a rack for a few minutes and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container. It keeps for a long time. (No, I mean a LONG time. The Vikings used to take it with them on their voyages because it never spoiled.)