LAVASH CRACKERS AGAIN, WITH A ROASTED BELL PEPPER DIP…GUILT-FREE SNACKING!!
“Good taste is as tiring as good company.”
Francis Picabia
There’s something about these crackers. Never has guilt free snacking been this indulgent, this happy! Munch till you drop? These crackers take food addiction to a new level…no stops here. This is the only time I’ve actually repeated a Daring Baker challenge, that too, more than once. The vegan lavash crackers continue to entice me. The dip I made this time is inspired by the one I saw at Meeta @ What’s For Lunch Honey? . The look of it had me absolutely mesmerised…the Ajvar dip; a Middle Eastern eggplant & roasted bell pepper dip. 
However, I have quite an aversion for eggplant, & have never taken well to it for some strange reason. A lot of people love eggplant, & though I’ve been brave enough to try it a couple of times, it just didn’t work for me. So, I made my dip with roasted bell peppers, & threw in a few roasted tomatoes to add flavour.
Meeta served the dip with crackers sprinkled with zatar, a herby middle eastern spice, which I enviously don’t have. I did have the other one she used, called sumac, a tangy spice made from red berries. 
The lavash recipe is as simple as crackers can possibly be, & once you master the art of getting the dough consistency right & rolling it out really thin, there’s nothing that can come between you & this addictive cracker. The first time I made them for the DB challenge, I did 2 variants, sweet & savoury, & they were both delicious. (I did a sweet cinnamon & brown sugar lavash with slivered almonds; the savoury version was with alternate rows of black & white sesame seeds…fun, fun, fun!)
This time I made 2 savoury versions…a Middle Eastern & an Italian. The Middle Eastern ones were tamed into diamond shapes but the Italian ones were broken into shards. Addictive & yum, both of them! I preferred the ones with red chili flakes, roasted garlic & a sprinkling of Italian grill herbs. The jagged edges of the shards won me over!
Roasted Bell Pepper & Garlic Dip
as adapted from Ajvar Dip @ Meeta’s What’s For Lunch Honey?
Ingredients
Red bell peppers -3
Tomatoes -2
Garlic cloves – 3-4
A small bunch of chopped coriander leaves
Juice of 1/2 lime
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Green chili – 1-2/ finely chopped
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper 
Method:
Method:
Grill the peppers, tomatoes & garlic over an open flame as I did, or in a pre-heated oven.
Roast them till the skins have completely charred & blistered. Seal into a ziploc & leave for 10-15 minutes. Peel the skins off, deseed. Squeeze the garlic clove out. Place in a large bowl and mash or purée depending how chunky or fine you would like it to be. (I left mine chunky)
Add olive oil and the remaining ingredients. Season with sea salt & freshly ground black pepper. Store in air-tight containers in the fridge for up to a week.
Lavash Crackers
from the book, ‘The Art Of Extraordinary Bread’, by Peter Reinhart.
Ingredients
Flour – 1 1/2 cup
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Instant yeast – 1/2 tsp
Sugar – 1 tbsp (or agave syrup)
Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp
Water – 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 , at room temperature
Roasted garlic paste
Ingredients
Flour – 1 1/2 cup
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Instant yeast – 1/2 tsp
Sugar – 1 tbsp (or agave syrup)
Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp
Water – 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 , at room temperature
Roasted garlic paste
Sumac, Italian herbs, Roasted garlic, Poppy seeds, Sesame seeds, Roasted red chili flakes or sea salt for toppings
Method:
-
Stir together the flour, salt yeast, sugar, oil, and add just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water. Knead to a middle-firm dough, smooth & not sticky.
-
Turn into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, & allow to rise at room temperature for about 90 minutes, until doubled in size.
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Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square & dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.
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Preheat the oven to 200 C. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices if you are doing the Middle Eastern/sumac version (or poppy seeds, sesame seeds etc).
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For the Italian version, brush the rolled out dough lightly all over with roasted garlic paste, sprinkle with Italian grill herbs, red chili flakes & sea salt. Just a light sprinkling is enough.
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If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter & cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.
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Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).
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When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Pull the cut one apart, or break the Italian one into shards & serve.
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Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
27 Comments
nicisme
This makes me feel all happy and sunny, and in the mood for a party! (Which is a good job as the weather stinks here today!)
The crackers look so crisp, perfect dip to go with them.
MeetaK
i’ve made this a few times again too! the dip looks great too even without the eggplant. lovely!
Nags
your pics are so lovely! what program do you use to edit them?
btw, love your new template!!
Manggy
Guilt-free indeed! I’m not a fan of eggplant but I tolerate it and when cooked the right way it can be quite enjoyable. Roasted red peppers, on the other hand– they are always excellent!
noble pig
It’s definitely worth repeating because they are so versatile. Sweet or savory, what a wonderful weekend snack!
Bellini Valli
I really enjoyed these Lavash crackers too…nice paiting with the dip as well…totally guilt free:D
Lori Lynn
The photos are great. I agree with you there’s something about those shards…
A while back I served avjar with cevapcici. It was a big hit. Your dip looks lovely.
Alexa
The lavash recipe makes a wonderful thin pizza crust too. Yours looks so delicious with that lovely dip. Great snack!
Rosie
The lavash crackers my family throughly enjoyed when baked for D.B. so I can fully understand you making these again! The crackers look beautiful and crisp and what a great dip!
Rosie x
Helene
I’ve seen these crackers on blogs but did not make them yet. Yours looks so good and perfect.
Psychgrad
I never did get to try any of the Lavash my mom made. It seems like the most feasible Daring Baker recipe out there, so I should give it a go. Maybe when I’m having guests over and want to impress.
I like the changes you your blog template. Very classy.
Curry Leaf
The crackers and the dips are looking great.As always perfect presentation and lovely post.I am yet to try lavash crackers at home.Lovely
Divya Vikram
Nice way to roast the peppers..Nice change in template!
Cakespy
You are too cool. LOVE all of the different flavors and dips going on here!
anudivya
This is almost like bread but rolled out thin and topped with whatever one is in the mood for! Right? Lovely I am so making this.
Aparna
Revisiting the DB challenge, eh?
Not that I blame you. I think this was definitely my favourite DB challenge to date.
Shaheen (Coco)
Oh so this is the roasted bell pepper dip you were talking about! Aha. I can only imagine how wonderful this would taste.
And the new look? I like it! Can never go wrong with pristine white can you? I think the fork and knife bg is too cute.
StickyGooeyCreamyChewy
I really loved those lavash as well. Your Italian flavored ones are brilliant! I would so be into those! That dip looks and sounds amazingly good too!
Pearlsofeast
Lovely presentation Deeba, and the dips sounds awesome.
I am going to try out ur crackers soon.They are tempting.
Kalai
I completely understand how those crackers can be so addictive, Deeba! They look fantastic and the dip must have just took them over the top. Awesome one! 🙂
Sunshinemom
The crackers have been on my mind too, and now the dip is too:)
Bunny
Deeba I love the dip, I never got to make the lavish crackers, now I wish I would have!
Andrea
What a gorgeous blog you have here! I love the look of your crackers and how great that you discovered a recipe you want to make again and again. I’ll definitely be back!
Laurie
You are right Deeba.. these Lavash crackers are so good and they were so easy to make. I love your roasted bell pepper dip with them. Very yummy!
Mediterranean Turkish Cook
I have half a jar of the ajvar in my fridge. The ajvar you made looks much better than the commercially sold ajvar; even though you omitted the eggplant. I used it on baked chicken as a sauce and it turned out great. The lavash crackers look wonderful. Lavash bread which I really enjoy is also made in Southern Turkey. I love the pictures!
Jeanne
I must say, if I were a daring baker I’d be tempted to make these again too – they just look so versatile and delicious… Glorious pics!
meeso
That looks like something perfect to snack… makes chips out of a bag and canned salsa look REALLY bad 🙂