Quick Sheet Pan Flatbread—great for breakfast or as a side dish

This morning, instead of rolls, I baked my quick sheet pan flatbread. Not only does it taste absolutely delicious, but it’s also very versatile and incredibly easy to make. For example, as a side dish with salads or for breakfast.

We love it because it’s nice and crispy. You can also slice it in half if you prefer it even thinner.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 300 g whole-grain spelt flour (regular flour probably works too)
• 1 packet of cream of tartar baking powder
• 300 ml water mixed with plant-based milk (regular milk works too)
• 30 g olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Seeds of your choice for sprinkling on top

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients together and then spread the mixture onto a baking sheet. The dough is relatively thin (compared to regular yeast dough) and can therefore be spread out easily. How thin the bread turns out depends on the pan. On a larger baking sheet, the bread will be quite thin, whereas in a smaller pan it will be slightly thicker.

Now sprinkle your choice of seeds on top. I like to use black cumin for this. But anything else works too, such as sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and the like.

Now place it in the cold oven and bake at
180 degrees Celsius on the convection setting
for 30–40 minutes

For me, 30 minutes is usually enough because I use a large baking sheet.
In a smaller baking pan, it might take longer. Just give it a try.
The bread should be lightly browned.

Here are some photos of the finished flatbread:

This is what it looks like coming out of the oven:



Then, after letting it cool for a few minutes, I cut it into pieces:



And then it’s served:




I hope you enjoy making this and bon appétit!

Monika

Oh Monika, I copied this right away! I don’t have time to bake today, but I have to try this first thing tomorrow—we love flatbread. Thanks for the quick recipe. I’ll post a photo, of course.
Best regards, Ines

I’m glad, Ines, that you like it. Feel free to let me know how you all like it.
We’ve only got just under half a tray left for tomorrow. We’ll pop it back in the oven for a few minutes, and then it’ll be crispy again. But in the meantime, it needs to be wrapped as tightly as possible so it stays moist.

Monika, that sounds really delicious (we’d say “gluschtig,” which means something like “makes your mouth water”). Anyway, I’m going to copy this recipe right away—I’m slowly running out of ideas for dinner!

Your flatbread looks super delicious, and what I like is the baking powder instead of yeast.

To the bakers out there: what’s the difference between baking powder and Monika’s cream of tartar baking powder? I’ve seen it listed as an ingredient a lot lately, but I’ve never used it.

I love black cumin, cheese, and salad.... That would make a great dinner for tomorrow.

What do you have against yeast?

Josefa, I have nothing against yeast—I bake a lot with it. But when it comes to bread and rolls, I’ve noticed that if I have plenty of time—for example, to make the dough the day before—the rolls turn out much fluffier and are incredibly delicious. So I have to know the day before that I want to bake today.

For spontaneous baking or when you need something quickly, baking powder is a good alternative. 

Oh, right :-)

Josefa, there are many people who can’t tolerate yeast. And yes, with yeast you always need time for it to rise—but not with baking powder.

Petra, the difference between cream of tartar baking powder and regular baking powder is the ingredients. The regular kind is pretty unhealthy. Especially the phosphate in it isn’t exactly good for the body and has a negative effect on the gut. A naturopath once pointed that out to us. Cream of tartar baking powder contains natural ingredients, including baking soda. You can also use that on its own if you don’t have baking powder. However, I’m not quite sure about the amount.

Christina and Petra, I’m curious to hear how you like it. By the way, it’s also a great idea when you have guests and need to whip something up quickly. 

Sounds delicious, Moni :)

Going on the baking list.

Yeast dough doesn’t take long to rise in a warm place.

Monika, it just wouldn’t leave me alone after all, so I quickly baked the flatbread yesterday afternoon. It’s wonderfully quick to make and it was delicious. For the salt, I used
iodized salt, since I didn’t have any sea salt at home. Since we love rosemary so much, I mixed half a teaspoon of freshly chopped rosemary into the dough. I baked it for 30 minutes and, after the skewer test, decided it was done.
My husband was delighted, and so was I, of course. We had scrambled eggs and a fresh salad with it, so we had a tasty dinner.

Petra, I also bake bread often, especially with yeast, and I have a great recipe if you’d like it. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of it right now, but I’ll bake one again on Friday and then post it here. It doesn’t need any rising time, despite the yeast.

Thanks, Monika, for explaining cream of tartar baking powder. I’ve also been baking with baking soda more often lately.

Ines, the one with rosemary sounds delicious, too. I’m looking forward to your bread recipe—I’m curious to try it.

I’ve also noticed lately that yeast doesn’t agree with me. Not with bread, but with tarte flambée and my stuffed pizza bread. Sometimes it just sits heavy in my stomach. I suspect it’s because I eat it warm. But it’s so delicious....... I need to find some alternatives.......

Have a great day

Ines, I’m also looking forward to your recipe. I really enjoy baking bread and braided loaves, but I don’t do it very often (braided loaves are for special occasions)—I wonder why?

Ines, you’re so quick, and your flatbread looks delicious. Congratulations!
Oh, I’ll have to try the version with rosemary sometime—that sounds good. Or I could definitely imagine adding pizza herbs to it. 

The thing with yeast is that bread is easier to digest, for example, the longer it rises. That’s because certain enzymes form in the dough that make it more digestible. My husband, for example, can’t tolerate baked goods that have only risen briefly. Ever since we started baking with yeast water and just a tiny bit of yeast, he’s been able to eat any kind of bread. That does take 3–4 hours, though. It’s worth giving it a try. A friend once explained it to us and sent us information about it. I’m very grateful to her for that. Now I can even eat our homemade bread or rolls in the evening without it feeling heavy in my stomach.

Another thing that’s very easy to digest and takes longer to rise is bread made with baking ferment. I really enjoy baking and eating that.

Thanks Monika for the recipe. Your flatbreads look so delicious, and so do the different ingredient variations. I’ll have to try this sometime too.
Could I use dry yeast for it as well? I also have baking soda here.

What is the bread like when it comes out of the oven? Is it more like crispbread, or just like regular bread?

Enjoy it!

Andrea, the bread turns out so that you can cut right through it. In some places, it’s even too thin for that—it’s more like fresh crispbread. It depends on how big the baking sheet is. You could try using baking soda. I’m not sure, though, how much baking soda is equivalent to one packet of baking powder. I haven’t tried this recipe with yeast yet. It’s worth a try.

Yes, it’s really delicious and offers lots of possibilities for variations.

I baked it yesterday. For me, it turned out as thick as a slice of bread—I used a small baking sheet. Just like a slice of crispy bread. Unfortunately, I didn’t use enough rosemary, but that wasn’t a big deal. It still tasted very, very good. I sprinkled flaxseeds on top—I still had some in stock.

It baked very quickly, and I’ll definitely be making it regularly from now on. 



Here’s what my two miniature versions look like! Next time, I’d bake the flatbread a little thinner. It tastes great and comes together super fast, but I still prefer focaccia (made with yeast).

Thanks, Petra and Christina, for your feedback and your variations!

Petra, what did you use to bake it—dry yeast or baking soda? And how much did you use? I haven’t tried the version with the smaller baking sheet yet, but I’ll definitely give it a try. 

Christina, your variation looks really delicious, too. Did you use baking pans for that? On a baking sheet, it turns out thinner and gets very crispy on all sides. And depending on how you season it, it always tastes different.

Monika, I followed the recipe and used pure tartar baking powder—18 grams per packet. My dough wasn’t very runny; it kept the shape I gave it when I spread it onto the baking sheet.

In any case, I’d like to make some changes and try using other ingredients as well.

Petra, I can’t wait to see your new variations!

This morning I realized we had neither bread nor rolls in stock. So I quickly popped a flatbread into the oven. This time, I sprinkled it with black cumin and sesame seeds. Hmmm... it was delicious again, and there’s still enough left for tomorrow’s breakfast.