Bailey was the most common grain in the viking age (in Scandinavia). The Danish word for barley; “byg”- means grown grains. The archaeologists think that barley crackers flour have been common. Most bread was baked on a hot stone next to the fire – it seems likely that they would make barley crackers as well as flat breads.
Neither barley and oat flour courses the dough to raise because they do not have any wheat gluten, so both grains are good for crackers and crispbread.
I baked a batch of these the other day and they are really lovely. I baked them on a dry skillet. I have also tried to bake them on a pizza stone in a hot oven, but that courses them to raise a little. It take some time to bake the whole batch on a skillet, but the problem with the oven is of course that there is heat all around the crackers.
I store mine in a tin so they don’t get too soft.
They are really tasty with cheese or salami.
Barley crackers
Ingredients
- 600 milliliters barley flour
- 2 tablespoons linseed
- 75 milliliters water or whey
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 egg
- salt
Instructions
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Mix all the ingredients and knead it.
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Roll out the dough into a big sheet of dough.
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Cut out the crackers and prick them with a fork.
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Bake them on a hot dry frying pan - flip them a few times so they don't burn. They need about 5 minutes on each side. They are light brown when they are done. If they get a bit burned it is ok, it still taste wonderful.
Recipe Notes
Source: Mit vilde vikingekøkken af Jim Lyngvild