Mother of all Flatbreads
Category: Breads

Suitable for a: vegan diet


Ingredients:
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+ 12" pie plate with 1/2" rim
+ 1 cup flour (mix and match - your choice)
+ 1 Tablespoon oil (any type - your choice)
+ 1 teaspoon salt
+ pepper
+ other herbs and spices as desired (I will sometimes grind sesame seeds
or flax seeds and toss them into the mix)
+ 1 cup water (or more)


Instructions:
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1. Mix flour, oil, spices, herbs, and water in a bowl. Keep adding water
and stirring until the batter is VERY runny. It's better to have too much
water than not enough, because excess water will boil away anyway.

2. Using a sliver of paper towel, coat the surface of the pie plate with
oil (prevents sticking while baking).

3. Pour the batter until the pie plate, and jiggle the pie plate until
the batter has spread evenly throughout the plate.

4. Place the pie plate in a 450F oven for approximately 20 minutes. Perfection
is achieved when the edges of the bread are a little burned while the rest of
the bread has hardened to the consistency of a soft cracker (hard on the
outside and soft on the inside).


Additional comments:
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Hints:
+ You may need to rotate the bread once or twice if your oven has uneven temperature distribution.
+ Oven temperatures vary, so you may want to start at 400F and work your
way up to avoid burning. The only consequence of a too-cold oven is a bit
longer cooking time.

Comments:
While living in Nice, France, I learned to make socca, an unleavened bread
made from chickpea flour (garbanzo bean flour), olive oil, salt,
and pepper. It is sold by street vendors on the streets of Nice.

I generalized the recipe and now regularly fix myself a delightful
flatbread for breakfast. The general recipe is a great excuse to
fill the top level of my refrigerator with a wide range of
flours (e.g. spelt, quinoa, barley, oat, rye, whole wheat, rice,
corn (blue and yellow), garbanzo bean, sorghum, millet, flaxseed
meal, buckwheat, etc.) and oils (e.g. peanut, safflower, sunflower, canola,
olive, etc.) and herbs (e.g. cilantro) and spices (e.g. salt, pepper,
rosemary, etc.) I sometimes whether the exceptionally good health I enjoy
isn't due to the wonderful nutritional variety I get through the flatbreads
I prepare.

Humans have been starting their day with a flatbread since
we first domesticated grains over 10,000 years ago. By making this recipe,
you're partaking in an honorable tradition. Enjoy!

Sorry - that should be 1/4 teaspoon of salt, not 1 teaspoon.

Hmm... this looks really good. I'll have to try it out soon.

Thanks! Have copied. Will try.

Recipe reminds me of French crepes, but without the eggs, and baked rather than fried. And with spices rather than sugar. Hmm, guess it's not so similar after all.....

I tried this for lunch, and it tasted bland and was doughy. I used whole wheat flour, canola oil, salt, pepper, milled flaxseed, and water. I also sprinkled some garlic powder and basil on the top. I cooked it until the edges were almost burned, but I didn't want to actually burn it because then I'd have a different problem. It was still doughy in the middle. Not to mention it didn't taste like anything.

I tried this for lunch, and it tasted bland and was doughy. I used whole wheat flour, canola oil, salt, pepper, milled flaxseed, and water. I also sprinkled some garlic powder and basil on the top. I cooked it until the edges were almost burned, but I didn't want to actually burn it because then I'd have a different problem. It was still doughy in the middle. Not to mention it didn't taste like anything.

Try cutting back on the heat and cooking longer. It should come out more like a cracker than anything else. After about 20 minutes of cooking, I shove a long knife under the bread all the way around to 1) make sure it doesn't stick, and 2) see how it's cooking. Usually, after 20 minutes it is no longer doughy, but it might be a bit flimsy, which means it needs more cooking.

I suggest experimenting with different flours, oils, and spices to discover what you like. For example, I like chickpea flour, olive oil, salt, and pepper, so I'm practically guaranteed to like socca as prepared on the streets of Nice. Another thing you can try is to buy prepackaged mixes such as falafel flour or chili powders, and add them to the mix. The key is to enhance and not overwhelm the basic flavors (flour and oil).

Anyway, sorry your "first time" didn't work for you - keep experimenting! :lick:

I used your original recipe (including the 1 tsp salt!) and chickpea flour, plus 1/2 tsp dry oregano and 1/2 tsp dry basil. I have a convection oven, so I baked it at 425F for 25 minutes. The top cracked, and it was hard to get out of the ceramic quiche dish (I probably didn't oil it enough), but I can claim that it was a qualified SUCCESS!!! It was zesty, and I probably should have waited more before taking it out of the pan, (had to cut it in quarters) but very nice for dipping in hummous, or tzaziki. As it cooled it definitely took on more of a bread-like texture. Tastes very authentic! Lovely for breakfast!

Skylark, I have found that whole wheat flours react very differently in recipes, compared to other flours, especially in breadmaking (even with a machine). Bonne chance!

For folks searching for some ingredients they're sure to like: think about this: everyone likes Fritos, right? Well, try the above recipe with nothing more than corn flour (fine, not coarse), olive oil, salt, and pepper. With some practice, you get nothing other than a huge Frito with none of the trans-fats, preservatives, stabilizers, and other crap that Frito-Lay adds to its commercial chips to obtain longer shelf life. Delicious and nutritious! :bobo:

I've made this to go with our dinner the past two nights and it was scrumptious! I *LOVE* it! Thanks for the recipe! :nana:

Blessed Be!
Heidi

I've made this to go with our dinner the past two nights and it was scrumptious! I *LOVE* it! Thanks for the recipe! :nana:

Blessed Be!
Heidi

Great! I recently moved into a new place, and am still trying to get the bread to come out right in the new oven even though I've been making it for years in other ovens. The oven either seems to be too hot (bread edges burn excessively before the middle cooks thoroughly) or too cold (bread takes forever to get done - I'm impatient in the morning). Just shows that experimentation is almost always required unless you're exceptionally gifted in the kitchen. :up:

i was definitely considering cornmeal/"flour" 1/2 and 1/2 with unbleached white flour, and changed my mind...kinda in the mood for italian...awaiting the wonderful results, but when you said to make it runny, it sounds like my pan turned out really runny, as I didn't have to shake it...it kinda just fell into my pan and took form as any liquid might, and I didn't even use all the water?

But I added some italian "bruschetta" spices straight from italy (they're my mom's and she might have a cow, but cows are cute ^_^....nevermind...lol) as well as some garlic salt and I think approx. 1/2-2/3rds a tsp regular salt, so it might be salty!...and a lil extra basil and a couple twists of the fresh ground pepper and one shake of my crushed red pepper ^_^

whew! that was a lot of renditions there ;-)
I had some extra ground flax, so I added about 1 1/2 tsp to maybe get it to stick together better, as a sort of "egg replacement" even though this recipe doesn't call for eggs (you mention you make them with some whole flaxseed, so it should be fine).

I'm so anxious!!! yay!

Different flours are better at absorbing water than others, so one cup is just an average. It's better to err on the side of too much water than too little, because the water boils off as the bread cooks, anyway. You want the batter to spread as evenly as possible. I've been using a 15.5" pizza pan recently with excellent results. Don't be discouraged if at first you don't succeed - I'm still experimenting, and I've been making this for many years.

the inside turned out mushy, but the outside was pretty good...i used some awkward pans, so I might try again in a couple minutes but split it between two pans (they were "silicon" pans, so they are by default 100% non-stick)

I like mine to turn out like a cracker - very crunchy. A thinner batter (larger pan) helps the water boil off. Just keep playing you'll eventually discover something you'll like (I hope). Good luck! :wayne:

i think I chipped a tooth today ;-)

but seriously...I like the taste, but I'm wanting to try something turkish/greek in origin now...on to new things. ^_^ I like variety!

thanks for a good recipe :) kinda difficult, and hard to get a feel with, but well worth the effort!

I love this recipe, I am a bread lover but wanted to cut out yeast breads. This recipe is so easy and you can use just about anything in it, I even added some leftover cooked millet to the mix it was very yummy. I will try the pizza pan idea next time as it took a little longer to cook on my 10 inch pie plate.

This is fantastic..I have made it 3 times since you posted it..I've used spelt flour, rice flour and oat flour..sesame, & flax seeds, dried millet a little braggs, garlic powder...You name it you can use it...Thank you so much, this is my new FAVORITE recipe...I love it topped with hummus..:bobo:

I tried this yesterday and I'm not overly impressed. It was a little greasy from the oil, and it was dense, which should have been expected. I let it bake for about an hour, though. Despite the greasyness (sp?), though, it reminded me of communion bread, a bit. If I try it again, I'll try it without the oil maybe. I have some communion bread recipes that I might try, too. I'll definately play with it again though, since I like playing in the kitchen, as long as I have a guide. I will definately try it with cornmeal as my husband really likes corn bread I think I will just floor him if I actually make it from scratch, and not a Jiffy mix (which all call for eggs and/or milk).

Thanks for the recipe, though.

Laura

I tried this yesterday and I'm not overly impressed. It was a little greasy from the oil, and it was dense, which should have been expected. I let it bake for about an hour, though.

I never have a problem with either greasiness or density. One or more of your cooking parameters must be off-spec. The fact that you cooked for an hour indicates something is amiss. Most likely, your oven wasn't hot enough (they vary quite a bit).

Good luck! :sunny:

I wouldn't doubt it. That's what I was thinking, though I've not had a problem with the Absurdly Easy Chocolate Cake and the slice and bake cookies I've baked since moving here. I will definatley try it again, though, and the Mom's Baking Powder Biscuits, since I want to find a side bread for my husband. (Jiffy is okay, but not healthy, though it's better [and cheaper] than the Grands! Biscuits my husband grew up with. I won't even touch those, well, maybe half of one, when I'm at my in-laws'.)

Thans for the advice.

Laura

Being unleavened, it must either be very thin, or very dense. Unleavened equals dense.

I just made 2 more batches ..For one batch I used spelt flour, lots of seeds, garlic and spices and the other I used oat flour with caraway seeds, fresh ground black pepper and a little dillweed..I make it in a large (brownie type)pan so it is thinner, more like a cracker..If its still a little softer than I like after I break it into pieces, I put them in the microwave for a minute or so to finish drying them out...
I am SOOOO happy you posted this recipe...:wayne: :drool:

I'm taking it to work tomorrow along with some wonderful zucchini hummus..

Hmm, this sounds very interesting, but the only flour I have on hand is whole wheat. Would this not work out as well?

Thats what is so great about Runswithfoxes original recipe...You can use any flour you like...Let me know how yours turns out if you make it...:lick:

In that case I'll probably make it tonight or tomorrow and let you know how it went. :)