Truly an ancient form of bread, even without yeast, these crackling crackers add pizzazz to a bread basket. As you might imagine, they pair up beautifully with dips and spreads – and cheeses, too!

Ingredients

• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 1/3 cup sesame seeds or poppy seeds
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Preparation
1 Grease 2 rimless baking sheets; set aside.

2 In food processor, pulse 3 1/2 cups (875 mL) of the flour with salt until combined. With motor running, add water in steady stream until dough forms ball. Pulse in as much of the remaining flour as necessary, 1 tbsp (15 mL) at a time, until dough is no longer sticky. Whirl for 1 minute.

3 Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead into ball. Cover with bowl or plastic wrap; let rest for 30 minutes.

4 Divide dough into 6 pieces. Leaving remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap, roll out 1 piece into very thin 14- x 9-inch (35 x 23 cm) rectangle; place on 1 of the prepared pans. Brush lightly with some of the egg white; sprinkle lightly with about one-sixth each of the sesame seeds and salt.

5 Bake in centre of 500°F (260°C) oven, turning baking sheet halfway through, until edges are browned and golden brown blisters appear all over, 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool on rack.

6 Repeat with remaining dough, egg white, seeds and salt. Break into long shards. (Make-ahead: Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.)

Makes about 48 pieces.

PER PIECE: about 42 cal, 1 g pro, 1 g total fat (0 g sat. fat), 8 g carb, trace fibre, 0 mg chol, 66 mg sodium. % RDI: 4% iron, 10% folate.

Visit canadianliving.com for more great recipes.