This post is sponsored by California Lavash - all opinions stated are my own. Thanks for reading and supporting my blog!
It’s no surprise I love to bake. And if it is a surprise to you, well, it must be your first time here, so welcome! Anyway, I love to bake, but the thought of baking bread kinda’-sorta’-really terrifies me. I’ve tried once before, and instead of a beautiful, fluffy, golden brown loaf, I think I pulled a football made from flour out of my oven. I haven’t tried anymore homemade bread since then.
Bread is one thing I’ll leave to the experts, like the bakers of California Lavash. This family of bread-makers, located in the town of Gilroy in Central California, uses traditional baking methods and simple ingredients to produce whole-grain lavash, naan, and pita the way their family has done so for years. All ingredients are vegan, non-GMO, and free of artificial preservatives.
If you didn’t already know, I’m kind of a nerd when it comes to nutrition, so you can bet I check the ingredient list on most packaged foods when I’m grocery shopping. Several store-bought breads are made with whole-grain flour (one of the first ingredients on the list, where it should be!), but several of those also contain different modified versions of sugars, gums, and other preservatives to keep them on the shelves for longer periods of time. These won’t kill you (at least I think they won’t?), but it’s best to consume as few of these as possible and as many whole foods/ingredients as possible, don’t you think? I’m not exaggerating when I say I was amazed when I looked at the ingredient list on the California Lavash package - just whole-wheat and wheat flour, water, oat fiber, yeast, oil, and cultured yeast. Each of those ingredients serves to produce the flavor and structure of this flatbread, and because the grains are in their whole form, the ingredients also serve nutritional benefit. Win, win.
Lavash is a bit different from other breads - it doesn’t boast many air bubbles and isn’t shaped in a loaf form. Instead, it’s… well, flat, as the name “flatbread” implies. I’m a firm believer in fluffy, yeast-risen bread, but lavash deserves some love, too. Though it doesn’t rise, it still comes out of the oven light and airy and yields itself to several possibilities for both the creative cook and the quick-and-easy eater. Keep it as is fresh out of the package for a veggie-packed wrap with hummus, or bake it with your favorite sauce and toppings for a twist on thin-crust pizza. Slice it into smaller squares and bake those into chips (sweet or savory!) or taco shells.
Because it’s free of preservatives, the flatbread is best stored in the fridge for immediate use, and in the freezer for longer-term storage. Click here to visit the website, and select “store locator” to find them near you, and stay tuned for a lavash-chip recipe coming later this week!