I have to be completely honest and tell you that this recipe was a complete accident.
This is also the exact comment Mr. Crumbs made when he ate this:
Oh my goodness, this is the best thing you’ve ever made.
So, if you’ve ever looked for a rosemary sea salt flatbread recipe, you can stop looking. This is it.
I was originally inspired by this recipe, but turned off when I saw it started with refrigerated pizza dough. Then I was even more turned off when it called to fry the dough in olive oil.
What’s wrong with this scenario, you may ask?
First, refrigerated pizza dough.
Refrigerated pizza dough – or any other refrigerated dough for that matter – often has high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, or both.
Now, my family operates by the 80/20 rule, where we aim for 80% of the food we eat to be real food and not worry so much about the other 20%. After living and eating a real food lifestyle for several years now, I’m happy to say that our ratio is more like 90/10! (That 10% includes ice cream and salt & vinegar potato chips.)
However, there are two ingredients we draw hard lines at, meaning they are absolutely, without a doubt NOT entering the house. Those are the two I just mentioned: high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils.
By not allowing those two ingredients in the house, we easily meet the 80/20 ratio we aim for. By adding these five unhealthy ingredients too, we eliminate nearly all processed food by default and greatly increase the amount of healthy food we’re eating! (Evaluating your food priorities is one of the foundations of my eCourse Grocery Budget Bootcamp!)
So instead of using refrigerated pizza dough, use my homemade pizza dough recipe that is SO easy to make and 100% real ingredients.
If your fridge is stocked with other types of refrigerated dough, try this easy dinner biscuit recipe. It’s not related to the rosemary sea salt flatbread recipe below, BUT it’s still super good.
Another healthier option to replace the pantry mixes is homemade Bisquick mix. It works in all your favorite recipes and you’ll never go back to the fake stuff again!
Second, frying in olive oil.
Olive oil is high in monounsaturated fat and ideally, should never be heated. It has a low smoke point, which means heating the oil can damage it and in turn cause free radicals in the body.
So when I saw that the original flatbread recipe called for frying in olive oil, red flags went off.
Seeing these written in the original recipe was a big turn-off, and I almost wrote the idea of making flatbread for dinner off entirely, but I’m so glad I didn’t!
After a few substitutions – using homemade pizza dough instead of refrigerated pizza dough and coconut oil instead of olive oil – this rosemary sea salt flatbread will literally be the best thing you’ve ever eaten.
I’m SO not kidding either! Fresh off the cast iron skillet, you’re going to want to sneak away to a closet and eat every piece. My father-in-law calls these holy moments – when you simply cannot imagine eating anything else because it cannot ever possibly be as good as what you’re eating right now.
Have you ever tried a bite of something, closed your eyes and just SAVORED the mere fact that you’re eating it? Maybe chewed a little slower? Maybe ignored the kids calling your name? Or maybe snuck another piece to another room so you could re-live that moment again?
Yeah, that’s what this rosemary sea salt flatbread recipe will do you to.
Consider yourself warned.
Rosemary Sea Salt Flatbread Recipe
If you’re new to working with dough, have no fear. This is one of THE EASIEST dough recipes you’ll ever work with. (But if the idea of yeast freaks you out a bit, check out my beginner tips on this post.)
The only “downside” to this dough, is that it takes about an hour to rise. Now, I use the term “downside” loosely, because when you take a bite out of this flatbread, your patience is immediately rewarded. Honestly, I’d wait an hour to eat this dough any day of the week.
When the flatbread is brown on one side, you flip them over and THEN THEY PUFF UP!
That means your flatbread is now fluffy and chewy and soft on the inside.
But wait… it gets better.
Because when you remove the flatbread from the cast iron skillet, YOU TOP IT WITH KOSHER SEA SALT.
You got that right – big chunks of kosher salt just STICK to the remnants of coconut oil on the flatbread and when you take a bit the whole thing LITERALLY MELTS in your mouth.
It’s a holy moment, people.
A quick note on the salt… you know how sea salt caramels have big pieces of salt on top? That’s kosher salt, and that’s what we’re using in this recipe.
I’ve never tried this recipe with table salt and honestly wouldn’t recommend it. It’s too fine, and even a smidgen amount will probably be too much.
Stick to the kosher salt, all the way, and I promise your husband will declare it’s the best thing you’ve ever made too.
Don’t skimp on the fresh rosemary either. The flavor just POPS out and makes this flatbread even better. Since you don’t need the whole bunch of rosemary, either plan to make lemon herb spatchcock chicken the same week or freeze the extra.
PS – If your family says this reminds them of a soft pretzel, you’re on the right track.
Rosemary Sea Salt Flatbread
- Prep Time: 65 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Yield: 16 pieces 1x
- Category: Breads
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 tsp yeast
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (105 – 110F)
- 1 tsp table salt
- 3 springs fresh rosemary, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 Tbsp worth)
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 3 1/2 – 4 cups flour (I used all-purpose)
- 2–6 Tbsp coconut oil for frying
- 1 – 1 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt, for topping
Instructions
- In a stand mixer or large bowl, combine yeast, honey and water and allow the yeast to bloom. When you have bubbles that resemble beer foam, you’re ready.
- Add table salt and 3 1/2 cups flour. Mix by hand or on medium-low speed for about 3 minutes, or until the ingredients start to come together. Increase the speed to medium and knead for a full 10 minutes. The dough is ready when it feels smooth and tacky, not sticky. The bowl will likely be clean too, but it’s not necessary. Add additional flour 1 Tbsp at a time until you reach the right consistency.
- Add the fresh rosemary and knead for one more minute.
- Drizzle the olive oil around the outer edge of the dough and using a spatula, turn the dough over in the oil to coat.
- Cover with a towel and place the dough in a warm spot to rise until it is doubled in size, about one hour.
- When the dough is ready, lightly flour your working surface and turn out the dough. Punch down the dough and divide it into two pieces. Set aside one piece so you’re working with one at a time.
- Roughly push out the dough into a large circle. Visually divide the dough into thirds and then fold the outer thirds into the middle (as if you’re folding a towel). Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat the folding of the thirds. At this point your dough should be shaped like a square. Turn the dough over so the folds are on the bottom.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into one long strip by rolling in just one direction. You can roll up and down, OR side to side, but do not do both.
- Once you have a long strip, cut the dough in half. Cut each half in half. Then, cut each half in half again. You should now have 8 pieces of dough.
- Melt 2 Tbsp coconut oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. The skillet is ready when you hover your hand about one inch from the oil and you feel the heat coming off the pan.
- Add 3-4 pieces of dough to the skillet. Cook the dough for about 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip over and cook on the second side.
- When the dough is cooked, remove to a plate and immediately sprinkle with kosher salt. Do your best not to eat the entire pan.
- When you’ve put the last portion of dough in the skillet, repeat the folding and rolling method for the second half of dough. Fry as directed above.
- Rosemary sea salt flatbreads are best the day of, but they’re not too bad the next day. I recommend reheating in the oven to crisp them up.
Keywords: flatbread recipe
Hi!
Can you tell me how to make this as a grain free bread?
Thanks
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
I’m sorry, we haven’t made this recipe without grains. You might try almond flour, but we haven’t tested almond flour in bread ourselves. We have the almond flour tortilla recipe here, however. https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/almond-flour-tortillas/
Hope this helps!
Really delicious! This was my first attempt at non-bread machine bread. My bread was so ugly, but still tasted good. And, the second half of the dough went much better. There are a bunch of things I learned along the way and I’m sure next time will be a bit smoother! Thanks for the recipe, and I’m glad that I’ve stumbled on your blog. It was that coconut blueberry pie that brought me here 😊
Hi L! I’m so glad you liked this recipe! It’s definitely one of our favorites. 🙂 And that coconut blueberry pie is SO GOOD!!! I’m glad you found me!
Made this with white einkorn flour, adjusting liquid slightly to accommodate. I did not rise dough as I was in a hurry. It was delicious, soft, and perfect! Next I will try without rosemary and roll in cinnamon sugar for a sweet treat.
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The cinnamon sugar would be really good!!
I would have loved to have tried this recipe, but literally couldn’t read it for all the ads covering the content. Bummer.
I’m sorry about that Allison! I’ll have a chat with my ad company.
You could have chosen to just hit the button at the very top that says “jump to recipe.” Done.
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By 2 tsp yeast do you mean approximately 1 packet of “active dry yeast”? Or if not, do you think that can that work?
One packet is technically 2 1/4 tsp, but I’d use it anyway. 🙂
I have only dried rosemary. What can I do to make it work?
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You can use dried rosemary! You’re adding it early enough that it will hydrate a little bit. I’d use 1.5 – 2 x the amount called for in the recipe and proceed as written!
Your Rosemary Sea Salt Flatbread sounds almost exactly like a Focaccia bread that I have made.
This was so delicious! My husband, our 7 children & I enjoyed every bite. Everyone wanted to declare that this bread was THE ONLY one to have with soups or stews. I make 2 loaves of challah bread every week, so this was a fun change for our soup nights. Thanks for another yummy, yummy, yummy recipe!
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You’re so welcome Jennifer!! ♥
Tiffany, I made is for a crowd, and everyone asked for the recipe! Loved it! Miss you guys! Love following your blog!
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AnnaMarie!! Oh my goodness, it’s so good to hear from you! I’m glad your company enjoyed the recipe. 🙂 I hope you all are doing well!!
This bread is so good! Best tasting bread ever! Freezes well. Thanks for the recipe! We will definitely be making it again!
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Oh wonderful – I’m glad it freezes well Beth!
I wonder if you or any of your readers could advise on how to adapt this recipe to use sourdough starter (um, actually GF sourdough starter!). I’m so new to it—i haven’t a clue. It sounds divine, I’m so intrigued! Thanks!
Sorry, i posted this in an odd place…
We made this yesterday and it was absolutely DILICIOUS! The dough was so easy to work with and though it took quite a while to make (the climate here is very different from the US so most American recipes have to be re-written some or takes either no time (even if it should take a while) or a very long time when tried as is). Was definitely worth the wait (especially since it was the mixer doing the job and not me) and we both ate like 6 in one sitting oops. We dipped some of them in a dip (sour cream, fresh garlic, fresh rosemary and some salt) and it was lovely.
I’m going to try to make these again for Shabbat as challahs (I can’t have eggs so regular challah is out) which will be interesting!
Thanks again!
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I’m so glad you liked this recipe E! I agree that it’s hard to not devour all the flatbread in one sitting! 😉
I haven’t Dida, but if you have a good GF all-purpose flour blend, you should be able to substitute in this recipe. Don’t try subbing coconut flour alone!
I made this Friday, saved half the dough in the fridge, and made the remainder yesterday. Both times it was gone in about an hour. My husband declared the following: “I’m basically a bread connoisseur and this is THE BEST BREAD I’VE EVER EATEN!! I would pay good money to buy bread like this regularly” at which point I held out my hand. 🙂 Thanks for another great recipe that I’ll be making time after time I’m sure.
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WOW! What an amazing compliment Ashley! I’m SO GLAD you and your husband enjoyed this recipe!! ♥
I made this with wholemeal spelt and it was delicious
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So glad you like the recipe Robyn!
Anyway I can use whole grains instead of all purpose flour?
You definitely can Rebecca!
THIS LOOKS DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Tiffany!
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