Knekkebrød or crisp bread is a staple food in the average Norwegian household. It is a form of flat bread, but probably resembles more of a seeded cracker. It is simply made with various (i.e. whatever you have on hand) seeds and grains, water and salt for taste. That’s it. An entire recipe of knekkebrød can be made in 30 minutes or less, including 20-25 minutes of baking time.
Knekkebrød is very quintessentially Norwegian with its no muss, no fuss production method, but admittedly has a has a long history rooted in making the best of the basic ingredients one has on hand. Eaten for breakfast, lunch or a snack anytime of day, knekkebrød can replace normal bread as part of an open-faced sandwich. I enjoy homemade knekkebrød more than the store bought varieties and tend to put butter and Jarlsberg on mine. I also enjoy my knekkebrød topped with a soft goats cheese like Snøfrisk and raspberry jam.
Dress yours up however you like, but be sure to let us know in the comments your recipe turned out.
Knekkebrød
*As this recipe can be sized up or down depending upon how much knekkebrød you want to produce at once, I’ve made a basic recipe in “parts” that focuses on ratios rather than specified measurements. If you want to make a larger batch, use larger volume measures (ml. or oz.) for each part.
Ingredients
1 part wheat flour
2 parts seeds or whole grains of your choice (sunflower, pumpkin or flax seeds + whole wheat berry, steel cut oats, rye, or quinoa are all good choices)
salt to taste
1 part water
Directions
1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 Celsius/350 Fahrenheit. Add all ingredients except the water to a large mixing bowl. Stir until the mix is fully blended.
2. Once all of the ingredients are stirred together, add the water – but slowly. This part can be tricky so add half of the water, stir a bit, then add more little by little. You want to final mix to be moist, but not overly wet else you’ll have to increase the baking time. No biggie – but save yourself the hassle of having to wait and slowly mix in the water.
You want the final product to look something like this. It should clump easily and resemble wet gravel.
3. Place the contents of the bowl on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and spread out the mixture as flat as possible.
4. Use the back of a rubber spatula or metal spoon to help get the knekkebrød as flat as possible.
5. Score the unbaked knekkebrød with rubber spatula or knife to make breaking it up after baking easier. Next, place the baking tray in the pre-heated oven and allow to bake for an hour.
6. Take the baking tray out of the oven and allow it to cool until it is easy to handle. Break into pieces, top with your favorite spreads like jam, soft cheese or with ham, salami, peanut butter or just plain butter and enjoy.
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I made these glorious crackers today for the first time. Incredible! Not only are they ridiculously inexpensive to make, but versatile, healthy, and just plain good. I used whole sprouted spelt flour as my base, rolled spelt flakes, steel cut oats, pumpkin, sunflower, and golden flax seeds, and 2 tablespoons of Egyptian black seeds (an influence from my years in the Middle East), a little coconut sugar to balance the flavors, Braggs amino acid seasoning, and a little olive oil. I also baked them at 300F for 2 hours instead of 350 for 25 minutes. The slower heat gently toasts the seeds, making them more crisp yet tender, and gives the grains more time to expand and tenderize. I also turn the crackers over after the first hour to insure totl dehydration. It’s a great recipe, and will be a staple of mine for years to come. I enjoyed a sample with my homemade cheddar cheese spread. FABULOUS!! Thank you for sharing this great recipe.
My pleasure! Those add ins you mention sound tasty – I’ll have to try them the next time we whip up a batch!
Hi Whitney! I love crispy crackers so much more than bread. I found Norwegian crispbread at Trader Joe’s, but I want to make my own with ingredients that are just right me. This recipe is so incredibly straightforward and easy, so I have put them on my “to do” list as of now. Thanks for sharing your expertise. I’ll let you know how they turn out!
Got home from Norway yesterday, made these today! They turned out great, after cooking for 45 minutes until they were browning. I used rye flour, barley flour, and spelt flour, and sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, flax meal, and pumpkin seeds. I love that your recipe is so simple (versus others). I have not even written it down, it was so easy to remember (even with jet lag!). Thank you so much. I LOVED these crackers in Norway and was worried about not being able to get them in the U.S. Per instructions while guests at a Hadeland farm, I am eating them with European butter and “brown cheese, and sprinkling flaked sea salt on top!
Sounds AMAZING Susan! So glad I could help and that you enjoyed the recipe. We make these every week still. And gobble them up!
I bought norwegian crispbread at Trader joes in the states last month and it was really good, so I was very happy to find this recipe. I made it yesterday and it’s fantastic. I had to give half of it away as I knew I’d just eat it all before the day was out. Thanks!
Miss the knekkebrod ….can’t get good knekkebrod here in the US. Thanks for this! Looks easy…
How did you enjoy the recipe?
Hi Whitney,
I went to Iceland recently and came across knekkebrod and loved it. I couldn’t find anything close in the shops when I got home. So I greatly appreciated finding your recipe online. Thank you so much for sharing it!
You might want to change the recipe directions for No. 5 since “bake for an hour” is way too long. My first batch burnt after 30 mins – though they still tasted really good charred. 🙂
I use a pre-mixed multi-grain bread flour (wheat, malt, rye, oat and some seeds) for the flour part; and equal parts of sunflower, flax, pumpkin and sesame for the seeds part.
It is so much nicer than bread.
I kept the Helsprott Knekkebrod package from Iceland to translate the ingredients, and it uses 23% spelt flakes, 15% oat bran, 11% pumpkin seeds, 7% “kruska” bran (not sure what it is), 7% spelt bran, 2% wholemeal spelt, and salt. And I can see sunflower and flax seeds in it as well. I also liked this version, so I will probably try getting some spelt to see how the flavor changes.
Thanks again for putting this online, it’s a great recipe!
Hi Whitney, I was wondering if you had another recipe for the knekkebord with a suitable substitute for the wheat flour. I’m very anxious to try it. P.S. love you and your site.
I’ll add it to my to-do list for recipes! I guess you’re looking for a gluten free knekkebrod?
“add it to to-do list”..hahaha, sorry for the increase in workload. My husband and I are reducing the carbs in our diet (getting them just from veg), but I do miss the crunch and crack of a cracker. Thank you!!!!
Sounds like a fun idea – and we could all do with a little bit lighter fare these days, right?
Thanks for reading!
My sister in law from Sweden makes a tasty version with maize flour.
Sounds interesting – what is the recipe like?
Hi Whitney,
Thanks for your replies. I have now made this recipe two more times, with great success! I took your advice and eliminated the wheat berries (good idea), and I took care to roll the dough as thin as possible. Also got a good glass container for the crackers. So now they are quite chewable. They are incredibly delicious! And so healthy–I know there’s no “junk” in these crackers, just healthy grains and seeds. Amazing with a good butter. I don’t even miss my Kavli crackers now. Thanks so much for posting this recipe.
Great news! So glad they worked out for you! Enjoy!
So I just made the cracker recipe today, and I need some advice: I followed your recipe pretty closely. For the flour part I used had-and-half wheat and rye flour, and for the “other stuff” I used a combination of oat bran, wheat bran (tiny amount), oat and barley flakes, a few pumpkin seeds, and soft wheat berries (I don’t think I’d use those again as they were so hard. Anyway, when done, the crackers were delicious! However, once they’d cooled and dried, most were so hard I could barely bite into them and was afraid of breaking a tooth! The ones that came out the thinest were more edible, but I wonder if there’s anything I can do to keep them from being so very hard? I love the taste, though; it’s even better than the Kavli crackers I used to get. Thanks for any advice you can give me…..
You should store them in an air-tight container to keep them from getting too hard. Wheat berries are pretty tough, so try to recipe without them and let me know what you think 🙂
Thank you, than you, thank you!!! I have loved eating Kavli crackers, but since they started making them in Germany instead of Norway, they’re not nearly as good. I really miss them! My husband suggested googling for a Norweigian cracker recipe, and this was top of the list. It looks just like the Kavli crackers (but even better), and the ingredients are the same. Can’t wait to try these…..thanks so much.
Awesome! Let me know how you like the recipe 🙂
Thank you! Looks like the one my host mom made when I was living in Norway! delicious with smoked salmon or ham and peppers on top!