Rieska (Finnish Flatbread)

Recipe by Susan Reid

Rieska, an everyday Finnish flatbread, is most often made with barley or rye flour. A simple quick bread, it's usually buttered and served with milk. Our quick-and-easy version is packed with whole grains, and wonderfully tasty.

Prep
10 mins
Bake
15 to 17 mins
Total
25 mins
Yield
2 dozen 2" squares
Rieska (Finnish Flatbread)

Instructions

Prevent your screen from going dark as you follow along.
  1. Preheat the oven to 500°F. This temperature isn't a misprint - this is a wet dough, and the high temperature works fine. Grease a 9" x 13" pan.

  2. In a large bowl, whisk the oats and flours with the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.

  3. Work the butter into the dry ingredients until thoroughly distributed. Stir in the buttermilk. (A dough whisk is the tool of choice here.) The mixture will be very sticky; that's OK.

  4. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and, using wet hands, pat it out so it covers the bottom.

  5. Bake the bread for 15 to 17 minutes, until the top is light golden brown and springs back when gently touched. Remove the bread from the oven and cool it on a rack before slicing.

Tips from our Bakers

  • Substitute an equal amount, by volume, of King Arthur Rolled Oats for the oats in this recipe. They'll add slightly more chew and heartiness (and also more protein!). 

  • Pumpernickel flour is also known as whole rye flour.