Seeded Za’atar Crackers

(Za’atar Malatit)

On a chilly January afternoon a few years back, I took a drive up north with my friend, photographer Haim Yosef, to bake with Nabila Doha in the Christian Arab city of Rameh. Upon arrival, we were surprised to be greeted not only by Nabila, but forty other women chatting and rolling out cookies from pliant dough, shaping them with molds and crimping them with decorative pincers into tiny works of art. They were part of a women’s collective that Nabila founded years ago to raise money for her church. Twice a year they plan for weeks, then bake to raise tens of thousands of dollars, which they dutifully hand over to the priest. Nabila’s friend Soraya showed me how to make an oil-rich dough studded with multicolored seeds and za’atar, which we rolled out on parchment paper, scored with a pastry wheel, and slid into the oven. Soon we had fragrant, crispy crackers that have spoiled boxed ones for me ever since.

Makes 80 crackers (or more depending on how thin you roll the dough)

Active Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour (including cooling)

1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

⅓ cup raw sesame seeds

3 tablespoons Za’atar Spice Blend (or store-bought)

3 tablespoons nigella seeds

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

Arrange the oven racks in the top third and lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, olive oil, sesame seeds, za’atar, nigella seeds, salt, baking powder, and red pepper flakes and mix well to incorporate. Add ½ cup water, mixing until the dough is pliable, a bit spongy even, but no longer sticky (give the dough a minute to absorb the water and oil; it will become less sticky with a very short rest), adding more flour by the tablespoonful if necessary. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough between 2 large sheets of parchment paper to ⅛ inch thickness (or even a bit thinner if you like wispier crackers). While still between the 2 sheets of parchment, transfer the dough to a large, preferably unrimmed baking sheet and peel off the top layer of parchment. Using a pastry wheel, pizza cutter, or sharp chef’s knife, cut the dough into 2-inch squares, then cut them on the diagonal into triangles. Repeat the same procedure with the remaining dough.

Bake, rotating the baking sheets midway through, until the crackers have separated themselves and are golden and fragrant, 15 to 16 minutes total. Remove the crackers from the oven and cool completely on the baking sheets (if any have stuck together, gently separate them with your hands once they’re cool enough to touch). The crackers will keep stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or can be frozen for up to 6 months.