this is exodus

bon appetit’s recipe | flaky bread | technique modification | ingredient substitution | ingredient minimization

passover.

my favorite feast of the year. the first feast of the year.

it symbolizes so many things: a new day, a new calendar, a new life, freedom.

every year, i remove all leaven from the home. yeast, baking soda, baking powder, toothpaste with potential leavening agent ingredients in them — all removed.

although many people may scratch their heads if they saw me doing so, it symbolizes obedience. it symbolizes tradition. it symbolizes that this is the same God since creation. and He still speaks and acts on behalf of His children. and He still likes the same things. He likes when His children remove leaven from the home.

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“and they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.” (exodus 12:39)

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so we need a good bread to eat. we need an unleavened bread to celebrate.

this bread has a soft, stretchy, textured outline coupled with a flaky, oh-so-buttery inside. beautiful, flaky maldon sea salt gives this bread a wonderful, special taste.

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technique modifications:

• earth balance vegan butter defrosts at a quicker rate than regular cow butter due to its vegetable oil base. so there was no need to defrost the butter overnight. butter was taken out of the refrigerator to defrost only after the dough was ready to rest at room temperature.

• to knead the dough, a stand mixer with a dough hook was used. why use my arms when i can use a stand mixer? this freed up my arms to do other fruitful tasks.

• the stand mixer was set at speed 1 to mix the flour and melted butter together. the water was added.

• then, the stand mixer was set at speed 2 for 5 minutes.

• after resting, each individual ball of dough was wrapped singularly in plastic wrap. this avoided the need to use parchment paper and oil to stack the layers of uncooked bread. instead, the rolling and cooking steps were merged. since it takes roughly 5 minutes to cook each round, the waiting period was used to roll out the next round of dough.

• when heating, a cast iron pan was used but set at medium temperature. cast iron pans retain and transfer heat so well, following the instructions to set the pan at medium-high heat was too high in my opinion.

ingredient substitutions:

• earth balance vegan buttery sticks replaced the butter called for in this recipe. i like the traditional earth balance version (i.e., the original in yellow packaging). a direct one-to-one ratio of substitution worked well.

ingredient deletions:

• as stated in the technique modifications section, olive oil and parchment paper were eliminated.

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“seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cutoff from israel.” (exodus 12:15)

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bonus tips:

• be precise when measuring out the ingredients for this recipe. if done correctly, the dough kneads perfectly in a stand mixer. there is no need to use a spatula to scrape off excess stuck dough. it all rolls up in itself with no effort after 5 minutes of mixing. also, when rolling out the dough prior to cooking, it will roll out perfectly. just measure out the ingredients exactly as the recipe stated.

• how to measure out flour:

  • Option 1: take your measuring cup, and use it to fluff up the flour. simply dip and fluff, dip and fluff — continue until the top five inches of flour in the container are fluffed. then dip the measuring cup in and use your finger to glide across the top of the measuring cup, removing all excess flour. dip and fluff again as needed.

  • Option 2: king arthur flour has an excellent ingredient weight chart. if you want to weigh out your flour, this chart lists various flours and relative volumes and weights. every time i bake cupcakes, i use this chart.

• maldon sea salt is beautiful and provides an exceptional sea salt flavor. it is worth locating, and it is worth purchasing.

• there is a typo in the recipe, unless the book has been revised and updated. when rolling out the dough, make sure to not flour the surface. oddly, the ingredient listing states to flour the surface, but the text says to not flour the surface. i repeat, do not flour the surface.