Here’s a recipe for homemade matzah. These might not be kosher for passover, but they’ll make your house smell incredible, will keep little hands busy for some time and make a fantastic vessel for chocolate-covered matzah over the weekend. Enjoy making these crackers and send us photos (or tag us on Instagram) of your creations!
A year or so ago, Shiho Yoshikawa, a beloved ice cream maven from Japan, and I, a lapsed Catholic frenchie, were tasked to develop a matzah formula for a new restaurant. We spent a couple of days formulating the best-flavored matzo possible and found, quite to our delight, that the ones made from Spelt flour were by and far the best tasting and had the loveliest texture.
Specialty ingredients are hard to come by, so work with what you’ve got! If you are using white flour (all purpose or bread, you may need to reduce the water a bit).
Matzah
- 2 cups (260g) whole wheat flour (we love Spelt, but any whole wheat flour will do)
- ½ cup (120g) cold water
- 2 tsps Kosher salt
- 2 Tbsps olive oil
Preheat your oven with a pizza stone to 500°F OR with a large cast iron pan.
Mix cold water, oil and salt or in a large bowl. Add flour and mix just barely enough to hydrate; adding a few tablespoons of water at a time if needed. Your dough should feel a little tackier than play-dough. Let sit for 3-4 minutes. Knead only 3-4 turns and let sit another 3-4 minutes.
Divide the dough into 10 pieces for crackers about 8″x4″. Roll out paper-thin using either a rolling pin or (preferred method), a pasta machine to the second thinnest setting, using as little flour as possible.
Place your thin crackers on parchment papers lightly dusted with flour, ready to load. Prick the dough generously with a fork. Flip a cookie sheet upside down (or use a pizza peel if you’ve got one) and slide the cracker-loaded parchment onto it, using this to then slide the parchment into the oven’s hot surface.
Bake for 2 minutes and flip, baking another 30 seconds to 1 minute.