When you walk through the baking aisle, you expect to see things like sugar, flour, pre-made pie crusts and boxes of cake mix. You might not expect to see a box mix for a yeast bread, but they are actually becoming more common as people are increasingly interested in baking savory items, as well as sweet, at home. I particularly liked the look of some new flatbread mixes from Krusteaz because flatbreads are so quick to make and can be so versatile, so I picked up a box to give it a try.
My Krusteaz Garlic and Onion Flatbread Mix included a dry flour mixture, which contained all the flavoring, and a packet of rapid rise yeast. The instructions on the back called for oil and water to be added to the yeast and the flour. The mixture was stirred until a dough formed, then rested slightly before shaping. The package gave several options to shape the dough, providing very specific sizes (two 5″x 14″ rectangles, for instance) and suggestions about whether to use one or two baking sheets. The directions were easy to follow and I only diverged from the recipe by brushing my flatbreads with extra olive oil before baking.
The finished breads were quite good, especially considering how little effort it took to make them. The exterior of the breads had a nice crispness, while the interior remained tender. There were some small air pockets throughout the bread, though I would have preferred to see a few more and might recommend giving your shaped loaves an extra few minutes of rising time to encourage a lighter crumb. The onion and garlic were noticeable, but not overwhelming, and made the bread an excellent choice for pairing with hummus and other Mediterranean dips. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the mix was, as well as by how good the finished bread looked and tasted. I would use the mix again for a quick and easy snack (it’s a very easy option for entertaining), particularly if I had a few sliced onions or some coarse sea salt to sprinkle on top before baking.
What do you think?