Hällakakor (Soft Flatbread) with Einkorn and Semolina

Norrländska Hällakakor, a traditional flatbread from Sweden, is fun and easy to make.  You may be familiar with the Swedish flatbread, Knäckebröd, which is a crispbread, but Hällakakor is more like a soft, flat, thin cake.

The appeal of this flatbread is in the way it is rolled out using a notched or grooved rolling pin.  This helps with scoring but also gives it a unique texture and appearance.

These breads are made with a little fat and syrup or honey and should be baked very briefly to keep them soft.  Originally, this type of bread was baked as a thin flat cake in a pan or on a scorching hot flat stone over an open fire.  Nowadays, these flatbreads can be baked in a conventional oven on a hot baking stone.

Hällakakor can be made with any combination of flours, or just all-purpose flour, if preferred.  Various recipes online incorporate wheat, rye, or barley.  The dough can be seasoned with aniseed and fennel, or caraway, or left plain.  My version is made with einkorn and semolina, and because I love the combination of semolina and fennel, I also included crushed fennel seeds.

Rolling out the dough

The dough for this flatbread is rolled using a deep, notched pin, called a kuskavel, or a large randkavel with wide grooves.   I don’t happen to have either one of those so I used a tagliatelle cutting roller I picked up when I was in Tuscany a few years ago.

If you’re organized and have everything ready to go, it doesn’t take very long to roll out and bake the flatbreads.

I started out rolling the dough using only the cutting roller, but after rolling out the first piece, I realized the dough could end up in strips. So, I decided that rolling them out using a smooth rolling pin first, then following up with the cutting roller to score them was a better option.  It still cut through a little bit but this provided an easy way to tear the breads when eating them.

After rolling out and baking a couple, I got the process down.  I placed one bread in the oven, got another one ready to go on the cornmeal-dusted baking peel, and had one on the work surface ready for rolling.   With this process, I was done in no time and ready to enjoy some.

Baking the Hällakakor

These flatbreads are baked on a really hot baking stone or baking steel so you have to watch them or they will burn.  Air bubbles and the brown border are the signal to pull them out.   Thinner breads are more likely to have air pockets, and you don’t want to overbake, lest they lose their softness.

These breads can be used in a variety of ways, but a common way to enjoy Hällakakor is to spread it generously with good, salty butter while it’s still warm.  Another option is to top it with cheese. I enjoyed mine warm, spread with unsalted butter.

Hällakakor reheats very nicely and pairs well with soup.  I haven’t tried this yet, but I think this bread could also be used in the same way you use a pita pocket.   It’s flat enough and opens up.  At least mine did.

Storing the Hällakakor

Evidently, in Sweden, it used to be customary for residents to hang their Hällakakor in the attic and dry them.  The dried bread was for the winter rations and they were quite hard.

Hällakakor can be frozen and then reheated straight out of the freezer on a flat toaster, toaster oven, or hot pan.  They should refresh well and taste like they were freshly baked out of the oven.  I reheated a couple of mine in the microwave for a few seconds and although not optimal, it worked, especially when I was really hungry.

Kelly, of A Messy Kitchen, introduced us to Hällakakor, the monthly bread for the Bread Baking Babes.  Check out her blog for more background information and links to other sites for inspiration.

Hällakakor with Einkorn and Semolina

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• Author: Bread Experience
• Yield: 8 Flatbreads 1x

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Description

Norrländska Hällakakor, a traditional flatbread from Sweden, is fun and easy to make. The appeal of this flatbread is in the way it is rolled out using a notched or grooved rolling pin.

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Ingredients

Units MUS Scale 1x2x3x

• 350 g wholemeal wheat flour (I used home-milled einkorn)
• 62 g wholemeal rye flour (I used semolina)
• 1 g (1/4 tsp) deer horn salt (baker’s ammonia), dissolved in water (I used baking powder)
• 6 g yeast
• 8 g sea salt
• 25 g golden syrup or honey
• 20 g butter
• 235g milk (dairy or non dairy works fine)
• Crushed caraway, aniseed, or fennel, optional (I used 1 Tbsp. fennel, crushed in a mortar/pestle)

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Instructions

1. Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and knead thoroughly for 15 minutes.
2. Let rise for 6 hours at room temperature and knock back and briefly knead 2-4 times in between. (The dough can also be chilled overnight.)
3. Cut off ~85 g portions and shape into round balls. Flour lightly and let rise briefly, about 20 minutes.
4. Roll out round dough circles to about 25cm or 9in with a notched or regular rolling pin. Dock well if using a flat rolling pin. If using a grooved pin, follow with the notched pin.
5. Preheat the oven to the highest possible temperature (~500ºF/260ºC) and ideally place the flatbread directly on a baking stone or steel and bake them into golden, soft flatbread.
6. Bake for 3-4 minutes each.

• Category: Flatbread
• Cuisine: Swedish

Happy Baking!
Cathy