Yeast-free crackers fun to make and pair well with dips and cheese

These crackling crackers, which are made without yeast, add pizzazz to a bread basket. They pair beautifully with dips and spreads as well as cheeses.

"These are fun to make and quite charming," says Elizabeth Baird, author of "The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book," where this recipe for Crisp Seedy Cracker Bread is featured.

Roll the dough as paper-thin as possible. It will still be strong enough to lift onto a greased baking sheet. The thin layer of egg white pretty well anchors all of the seed topping. But do expect some sprinkles as you break the finished cracker bread into shards.

Crisp Seedy Cracker Bread

925 ml (3 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour (approx)

5 ml (1 tsp) salt

375 ml (1 1/2 cups) water

1 egg white, beaten

75 ml (1/3 cup) sesame or poppy seeds

2 ml ( 1/2 tsp) sea salt

Grease 2 rimless baking sheets; set aside.

In a food processor, pulse 875 ml (3 1/2 cups) of the flour with salt until combined. With motor running, add water in steady stream until dough forms ball. Pulse in as much of the remaining flour as necessary, 15 ml (1 tbsp) at a time, until dough is no longer sticky. Whirl for 1 minute.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead into ball. Cover with bowl or plastic wrap; let rest for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 6 pieces. Leaving remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap, roll out 1 piece into very thin 35-by-23-cm (14-by-9-inch) rectangle; place on 1 of the prepared pans. Brush lightly with some of the egg white; sprinkle lightly with about one-sixth each of the sesame seeds and salt.

Bake in centre of a 260 C (500 F) oven, turning baking sheet halfway through, until edges are browned and golden-brown blisters appear all over, 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool on rack.

Repeat with remaining dough, egg white, seeds and salt. Break into long shards. (Make-ahead: Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.)

Makes about 48 pieces.

Nutrition information per piece: about 42 calories, 1 g protein, 1 g total fat (0 g saturated fat), 8 g carbohydrate, 0 mg cholesterol, 66 mg sodium.

Source: "The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book" by Elizabeth Baird and The Canadian Living Test Kitchen (Random House, 2008).