Homemade Matzo
When you think of matzo you probably think of perforated cardboard-like squares that taste just as they look. I was a lucky kid though, my mom knew how to transform those squares into delicious matzo brei, matzo lasagna, and matzo ball soup. (And to be honest, spread enough cream cheese, peanut butter, or raspberry jam on top and I didn’t really mind them out of the box either.)
But what if you could serve matzo that was nice on its own, matzo that didn’t require you to disguise its flavor? These may not be strictly kosher for Passover, but if you’re like me, not kosher but wanting to honor the holiday, give these matzo a try. With the addition of olive oil and salt, and just-out-of-the-oven freshness they’ll improve your Passover meal and impress your family. And isn’t that what the holidays are all about? I should mention they’re super easy to make too, so check out the recipe below.
Homemade Matzo Recipe
The recipe is adapted from Melissa Clark’s recipe in New York Times Cooking. While the ingredient list is similar, my method makes rolling out the dough as thinly as required much easier. There’s less clean-up as well, because you don’t need to flour your work surface. You’ll just need some parchment paper.
Yield:
Four, 8-inch matzo
Difficulty:
Easy
Ingredients:
285 grams all purpose flour
4 grams kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling*
60 ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil
118 ml (½ cup) water, room temp, plus more as needed
*You could also sprinkle your matzo with your favorite bagel toppings like sesame or poppy seeds, dried garlic or onion flakes, or even sunflower seeds.
Instructions:
Place oven racks in top and bottom thirds of your oven. Preheat the oven to 500° F.
The dough may be made by hand or in a stand mixer.
In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine all ingredients with a spoon or spatula until a rough dough forms and no dry spots of flour are visible. If the dough is too dry, dip your fingers into a bowl of water and flick a few drops of water on top of the dough and combine. Repeat as necessary. Knead the dough by hand on a clean, un-floured work surface or in your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment until smooth. This should only take a couple of minutes. The dough should be soft and smooth but not sticky. Sparingly add more water or flour as needed.
Divide dough into 4 even portions, around 117 grams each, and shape into balls. Cover with a damp towel and let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes.
Tip: Resting the dough makes each matzo much easier to roll out. It relaxes the gluten strands so they don’t spring back at you while you’re rolling the dough.
Place one ball of dough on top of a piece of parchment and flatten into a disk with your hands. Place another piece of parchment on top of the dough and roll out into a circle until it is super thin. Thinner than a tortilla, if possible, and around 8-10 inches in diameter. Your circle doesn’t need to be perfect, your family will still love you if it isn’t.
Tip: Rotating the dough/parchment a few times as you roll out the dough will make it easier to create a circle.
Did you notice that I switched rolling pins? I found that the heavier, marble pin helped the parchment slide around a little less.
Leaving both parchment sheets stuck to the dough, flip over and place on top of a baking sheet. Peel off the now top layer of parchment. Flip it back over so the dough is right side up on top of the baking sheet and peel off the remaining layer of parchment. Using a fork, poke holes all over the matzo making sure you go all the way through the dough to the pan with each poke. This is important or your matzo will puff up, and matzo should be flat. Sprinkle with additional salt if desired.
Tip: I move my fork around a little with each poke to make the holes slightly larger. This paid off in cracker-like flatness.
Tip: Don’t leave the parchment in the pan. Parchment isn’t oven safe at 500°F.
If you have 2 baking sheets, repeat with a second ball and bake both sheets for approximately 8 minutes. Rotating the pans top to bottom halfway through. If baking one matzo at a time, check it a little sooner.
Matzos are done when they look dry, and are pale with patches of golden brown in color. Keep an eye on them in the second half of the bake so they don’t burn. Remove from oven and immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool.
While the first matzos are baking, roll out the next batch and leave in their parchment until ready to bake so they don’t dry out.
To store:
Store at room temperature in an airtight container for about 3 days.
