Playground Love

- Makes about 2 loaves (about 100 crisps)

I like these crisps a lot. This recipe makes a tonne. These are great for munching, packing as a snack when we go out (A loves these). They are a great way of getting A to eat seeds as well- protein, yum!

¼ cup unsalted butter

4 cups all purpose flour, levelled off

1 ½ cups seedless raisins and dried apricots combined

1 cup sunflower seeds

½ cup sesame seeds, toasted

¼ cup brown sugar (use less if you want and substitute honey)

1 tbsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

13/4 cup buttermilk

1 tbsp molasses

1 egg white, whisked

Preheat oven to 375 F. Position rack in centre of oven. Stir butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted and golden, about 3 mins. Remove. Combine flour, fruit, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir to blend. Combine buttermilk, molasses and melted butter. Pour over flour in bowl. Stir until four moisture is moistened. Transfer dough to a floured surface and gently knead until dough comes together. Do not over knead. Divide dough into 2 logs (the original recipe says to divide into 4- but there didn’t seem to be enough for four loaves to do this, but try it and see if it works for you). Form into loaves- 2 inches x 10 inches and gently flatten top of loaves with your palm. Place on baking sheet. Brush with egg white. Bake for 35 mins. Loaves should be golden and sound hollow when tapped. Cool on a rack. To make into crackers, heat oven to 350 F. Use a sharp serrated knife to thinly slice each loaf into ¼ inch slices. Lay out in a single layer on a baking sheet (you might need two baking sheets to fit all the crisps) and bake until golden and crisp- 15-18 mins.

I froze half of these once they had cooled. Even fresh, these crisps keep a long time! They are great plain or with extra old cheddar. Yum!

-          From Taste magazine (Spring 2009) – the freebee mag from the liquor store.

1 Tbs yeast

1 cup warm water

Combine and let sit for 5 mins.

1 Tbs salt

1 Tbs sugar

2 Tbs olive oil

2  1/2 cup flour

Mix dry ingredients. Add water and yeast. Knead until happy.

Cover with cloth and let rise for 30 mins. Roll out onto pizza stone or other.

Add ingredients for pizza. Our favs include crumbled goat’s cheese, mushrooms, sliced red peppers, extra old cheddar cheese and mozza. M likes to add cooked farmer’s sausage.

Enjoy!