Savoury Paximadia - Cypriot Crispbread

INGREDIENTS
6 cups plain flour
1.5 tablespoons dried yeast
1/2 cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
2.5 cups water
1/8 teaspoon bread improver
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 cup white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
2 tablespoons whole aniseed

METHOD
1. Preheat your oven to 180C (fan-forced). Add both white and black sesame seeds into a pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil then drain. Transfer the sesame seeds on to a wet tea towel and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, sift the flour and add all the ingredients apart from the sesame seeds in and knead either in a standing mixer with a dough hook or by hand until you’ve formed a smooth dough.

3. Grab a ball of dough and roll it out into a long thin sausage shape, about half an inch in thickness and cut into approximately 3.5-inch pieces. Roll each piece into the sesame mix and place it on a baking tray lined with baking paper and let them rest and rise until they’ve plumped up - how long will depend on your environment and weather. Bake for 25-30 minutes until they’re golden and remove from the oven. Repeat this step until you’ve used up all of your dough.

4. Drop the heat down to 100C and bake the paximadia again for 2 hours until they’ve completely dried. Let them cool and store in a plastic container.

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Now, these are eaten daily in our house (mostly by me), dipped in coffee or for breakfast with halloumi and elies (olives), in a salad or soup for lunch, or crushed into fresh warm ricotta with honey and cinnamon. This is Pantelista’s recipe (my mother-in-law). When she makes these, she uses twelve cups of flour but I’ve halved the recipe which will give you about 75 paximadia. Give yourself a day to make them as they take a bit of time and are baked twice. The second bake is for 2 hours on a low heat and they’ll need to be done in batches. The recipe calls for ‘bread improver’ - keep an eye for it in the baking aisle or at you local international grocery shop. It helps with the texture, making them light and crispy and I’m not joking when I say ‘crispy’. I’m forever finding crumbs in the house. If you give them a go, Please tag me. Love seeing your remakes 🥰