Ka’ach bilmalch, spiced savoury sourdough cookies

Ka’ach bilmalch, spiced savoury sourdough cookies for the #realbreadweek

We have been hooked onto these back in December and from the second batch onwards I made them using sourdough. They are extra crunchy and has a deep sour flavour from the wild yeast. Original recipe with instant yeast is from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.

Here’s how I made them using sourdough. Ingredients

Sweet stiff starter

25 gr starter

5 gr caster sugar

25 gr water

50 gr wholemeal flour

Biscuits

500 gr plain flour

100 gr unsalted butter (softened)

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 ½ teaspoon fennel seeds

100 gr sweet stiff starter

100 ml water

100 ml sunflower oil

1 egg whisked

2 teaspoon black & white sesame seeds

Method

1. Start with making the sweet stiff starter the day before. Mix the starter with sugar and water, whisk and add flours. Knead 6-7 minutes and leave to rise overnight (or 8 hours) until doubled in size.

2. Place the flour, spices and 1 ½ teaspoon of salt in a large bowl, add butter and mix with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Loosen the stiff starter with a little bit of water and add it to the flour with remaining water and sunflower oil.

4. Knead it for 10 minutes by hand or using a stand mixer until dough is smooth & stretchy.

5. Leave to rise for 3 hours.

6. Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment.

7. Pinch app 25 gr pieces from the dough and shape into small balls. Roll each ball into a long sausage about 1 cm thick and put two ends together to form a ring. Place on the baking sheet 3cm apart, cover and leave to prove for 1 hour.

8. Preheat the oven to 180° fan.

9. Brush with whisked egg and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until golden brown.

10. Allow to cool and store in a clean jar.

Enjoy it as a snack or with beer, keeps well for 10 days in the jar.