Oh, I love this cold-weather hardy grain! It’s extremely tasty, high in fibre, and wonderfully sustaining. Rye flour is a staple in Nordic cuisine, where it’s the dominant ingredient in most crispbreads and plays a key role in a wide variety of dense, dark breads. Its deep, slightly tangy flavour pairs beautifully with both sweet and savoury toppings. Unlike wheat, rye contains less gluten, resulting in a heartier texture and a more complex taste. It’s also packed with essential nutrients, including magnesium, iron, and B vitamins, making it a nutritious choice for bread lovers everywhere.
These rye or wholemeal flatbreads are widely baked in the Nordic region. Their origins lie in Sweden and Finland, where they have been baked in their current form for around 500 years. But why the hole in the middle? Before the invention of the iron stove, baking these crisp flatbreads was a tradition in rural communities, carried out after the harvest and in spring. The hole in the middle helped with drying, hanging, and handling the bread on long wooden poles above an open fire.
This recipe is quick and simple, the only time-consuming part is rolling out the dough. If you’re using a sourdough starter, remember to prepare the dough the night before you bake. These crispbreads are delicious topped with gravlax, smoked meat, or prawns and hard-boiled egg. That said, they’re simply lovely with a mature hard cheese too.
Swedish Crispbread (Knäckebröd)
Ingredients
- 260 g dark rye flour (wholegrain)
- 75 g wholemeal spelt flour
- 50g strong white flour
- 200-240 g whole dairy or non-dairy milk (or water) I find 220g milk perfect if I use a rye sourdough starter
- 80 g rye starter (100% hydration), discard is perfect for this or ½ tsp fast action yeast
- 6 g fine sea salt
- 1 tbls honey
- 1 generous tsp caraway optional
- 2½ tbsp unrefined oil or 40g butter ie. extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Combine the flour, (fast action yeast if using), caraway and the salt. Add the sourdough starter, honey, oil and milk (if using yeast you will more than likely have to add 240g milk), mix until you have a smooth, fairly stiff dough, that's not too sticky. It should be firm, but if it seems too dry, add a little more water, a tablespoon at a time, and work until smooth. (If you're using fast action yeast you will definitely need to add more water)
- Place in a plastic box with a lid and leave to rest overnight at room temperature (8 hours). Or leave at room temperature for 1 hour, then place in the fridge for up tp 24 hours. The mixture will only expand a little but should smell “yeasty” and slightly sour the next day.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C Fan. Have a large baking tray ready in the oven.
- Divide the dough into 24, (approximately 25g each). Shape each piece into a ball and flatten one at a time into a disc and place on a well-floured work surface (use more rye flour) and roll out as thin as you possibly can – around 1-2mm. Use a fork to prick all over the surface of each crispbread if you don't have a dimpled rolling pin. I like baking them with a hole in the middle but that is entirely optional. Continue until you've used all the dough.
- Remove the tray from the oven and place the crispbreads on the hot tray and bake in batches. Bake for around 8-10 minutes until the discs are lightly browned. Watch carefully as there is not much difference between done and burnt! Once you have baked all the crispbreads turn the oven off and leave until it has cooled right down. Place the crispbreads on a baking tray, it doesn't matter if they're piled on top of one another and return to a preheated oven (110°C) and bake for a further 20 minutes, turn the oven off and leave the crispbreads to cool in the oven. Store in an airtight container and they’ll keep for several weeks.
Tips:
- You can use a combination of flours in this recipe. Try khorosan, einkon or emmer
- Add 50g of mixed seeds (sesame, flax & sunflower). *You will have to add 25g more milk if adding seeds
- Add 1.5 tsp caraway or fennel, both add a lovely flavour.
Lingonberries
Absolutely delicious authentic knäckebröd. Very easy to make and definitely reminiscent of my ten months living in Sundbyberg. Gorgeous.
Great to hear! thank you so much for taking the time to comment.
Hi Sophie, just add it with all the other ingredients.
Hi Louise,
Very keen to try it out! Can you tell me if the dough needs to rest in the fridge or out? Have you also got a recipe for the rye starter or levain for this recipe? Many thanks 🙂
Hi Irina, leave it out of the fridge. If you look up ‘how to make a sourdough starter’ on my blog. Just use rye flour instead of white.
Hi Louise, thanks for the answer, trying to bake this morning. My dough is very hard and I have added 220 water with my rye starter. Ps. does starter have to be active?
You don’t need an active starter no, discard is perfect for this recipe. I start by cutting the dough into small pieces ready to roll, making sure you cover them as you go. It is quite a stiff dough but as long the dough can be rolled it should be fine.
I’ve made this recipe, but I didn’t have rye starter so I did what I usually do for rye bread and started 24 hours earlier with 7g of wheat starter (at 50% hydration), 7g rye flour and 7g water; 12 hours later I’ve added 20g rye flour and 20g water, and again 12 hours later I’ve used it as the started in the recipe.
I’ve also cheated and used a pasta machine to flatten it, because I had it ready and it was too tempting 😀
Great that you converted your starter. Using a pasta machine is a genius idea,
:-))
Hi Louise, could I use all rye flour? I don’t have spelt. Or is there a substitute for spelt flour?
Thanks!
Hi Sarah, you can indeed use just rye flour, I often make them like this. The amount of water you add is not an exact science so add the majority and see how the dough feels. It shouldn’t be dry however it is a firm dough. I hope that helps.
Hi Louise, I made my first batch of rye tack, using 100% rye flour. It turned out great!
Very Best,
Sarah
That’s great Sarah, I’m glad they turned out well for you.
Hi Louise,
I just made this crackers and they are delicious! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
Just wanted to leave a suggestion to make the rolling easier, I used a tortilla press to flatten each little ball and it worked very well, no need for rolling pin.
So glad you like my recipe Laura and I love your top tip too😊
Hi Louise
This recipe looks amazing and I’m looking forward to trying it. Silly question but if pricking with a fork do you press all the way through the dough to the work surface?! Thanks for your advice!
Lucy
Hi Lucy, glad you like my recipe 🙂 The answer to your question is yes, all the way through to the work surface.
Thanks for the crisp bead recipe.
Where can I get the special knobby rolling pin?
Hi Roger, you can use a fork if you don’t want to buy a dimpled rolling pin. If you live in the UK they are available here…
https://www.bakerybits.co.uk/crispbread-knobbly-rolling-pin-kruskavel
I absolutely love these and have made them many times. I am keen to try a charcoal variation – have you any suggestions of how to adapt your recipe?
Many thanks
Hi Diane,
Great to hear you like my recipe. Strangely enough, I have just purchased some charcoal to use in sourdough so I may work on a recipe for knäckebröd too!
I have a large meat tenderizer that is such a good substitute that I can’t be bothered to buy such a specialized tool. Even the smallest meat tenderizer would be no less efficient than a fork and it leaves a more pleasant texture to my mind. .
A meat tenderiser sounds like a great substitute Val! Thanks for sharing :-))
Question please, Made them and taste great but very hard, too hard for us old people to eat. Before I try again, wonder if you have any ideas or is it supposed to be very hard? Maybe I baked too long? Anyway, thanks. Tom
Hi Tom, okay you can do one of two things. Roll them super thin, this helps or add a little white flour to the mixture. Hope this helps.
Thanks! Mine were super thin, but I’ll try the white flour. Maybe mine are just how it should be, and we’re a little too old to eat this kind of bread. If so: Darn!
I’m responding to my own message of February 2022. I like this hard bread very much and wanted to get it so I didn’t have the problem mentioned above. I have tried making it even thinner as is the suggestion and also baking a little less. Now they are now fine to the point where my wife can eat them (and enjoy them). We all like them very much as we like some of the other bread recipes from this site we have tried. This last batch I used a heritage purple corn flour in rolling out the dough, and this led to a pleasant new variation. Thanks very much for your recipe and patience. To
Thank you for taking the time to write this Tom and great to hear you’ve adapted my recipe to your liking. I can’t say I’ve seen purple corn flour here but I’d be very interested in using it in this recipe.
Responding to my own reply of February 2022. Have tried a few more times and rolling super thing (as suggested and baking a little less on the first baked make it so my wife is able to eat it and enjoy it. Thanks for your patience. There are two or three other recipes of Louise we have tried, and found them super. Thanks. Tom
Luxusní, skvělé, vynikajici!!!. Prostě ňamka veliká. Děkuji moc za recept a mávam z Čech.
Thank you! :-))
Hi there,
I don’t have a rye starter, only a 100% hydration wheat stater. Can I just use that? Don’t know if I can manage keeping two different starters going:)
Hi Stacey,
It’s absolutely fine to use your wheat starter. Or you could just take a small amount from it and feed it with rye flour. Hope this helps.
Hi, I have found if the ginger thins are stored in an airtight container, they stay crisp and fresh for several weeks.