World Bread Day 2009 - Flatbreads

It's World Bread Day! I missed it last year, so I really wanted to participate this year. I have a rather unconventional recipe for you too. Usually when I bake my first bread of the season, which this was, I always use yeast. But I decided that I wanted to look for a recipe that might somehow honor Gourmet Magazine.

I have the cookbook, The Best of Gourmet 2002, which I had never used, so I figured I'd see what I could find. Sadly, there are just three pages of bread recipes, so I didn't have much to choose from.

But on page 143, I found a recipe for Anise Seed Flatbreads. It looked quick and easy, so I decided to try it. I don't have any anise seeds though, so I used anise extract to retain the spirit of the recipe.

Now I can't say that I love the recipe. I'm not a huge flatbread eating kind of a person, but they aren't bad. And if I can find the right topping, they will make a great appetizer. The texture of these flatbreads is quite nice. They are firm, but not crumbly and have a nice crunch. The anise extract gives the dough a wonderful fragrance and I am looking forward to experimenting with the toppings.

Technically these flatbreads are my "first bread" of the season, but I still feel like I need to bake one with yeast for it to be legit. Well, here's the recipe if you'd like to give it a try. Please let me know what you think!

Anise Buckwheat Flatbreads
(Makes about 32)
(Adapted from The Best of Gourmet 2002)

1 cup oats
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup Smart Balance
1/4 tsp. anise extract
2/3 cup rice milk

Measure out the oats and pulse in a food processor until they are ground well. Pour into a large bowl and mix in softened Smart Balance. Or you can use butter or margarine. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Flour the counter, then work the dough into a ball.

For the sake of time, I only baked 1/4 of the dough to make 8 flatbreads. Tonight was good TV on ABC: Flash Forward, Grey's Anatomy, and Private Practice. The rest is in the refrigerator and I'll make it tomorrow.

Roll out dough and cut into pieces. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Let cool and serve. Enjoy!

*Updated 10/26/09* The World Bread Day 2009 Roundup is up! Check out all the other bread recipes from the blog event here.

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