Falafel spices and tahini, a natural flavor pairing in Middle Eastern food, team up in these homemade crackers — which have disappeared in a flash every time we've baked them! This recipe comes to us from Maura Kilpatrick, chef and owner of Sofra bakery. Her story appears in the Holiday 2018 issue of Sift magazine.
To make the dough: Combine the buttermilk and tahini in a small bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, combine the flours, sugar, salt, cumin, allspice, and butter. Mix until the butter is in very small pieces.
Add the buttermilk mixture all at once and mix until a wet dough forms.
Line a baking sheet with parchment. Divide the dough in quarters; work with one quarter at a time, keeping the rest of the portions in the refrigerator.
On a floured work surface, roll one portion of the dough into a rectangle about 12" x 13" and 1/16" thick. Sprinkle the parchment on the baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the cornmeal.
Transfer the rolled dough to the prepared pan, place another sheet of parchment on top, and sprinkle another tablespoon of cornmeal on it.
Repeat with the remaining dough pieces, placing them on cornmeal-sprinkled parchment and stacking them on the baking sheet. When all are done, wrap the baking sheet with plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours, or as long as overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
To bake: Take one sheet of parchment with dough on it and place it on an empty baking sheet. Prick the dough all over with a fork. Brush it lightly with water and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of the kosher salt from the topping ingredients and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the sesame seeds. Use a ruler and a pizza cutter to cut the dough into roughly 3" squares.
Bake the crackers for 6 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for an additional 6 to 7 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack before breaking into individual crackers. Repeat with the remaining sheets of dough.
Store crackers cool and dry in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
