Unleavened Matzo Bread Recipe for Passover

Matzo, Matza, Matzah, Matzoh, or Matsah. Though it has many different spellings, most know it as the same thing. A traditional Jewish food which resembles a flatbread, usually made during Passover. During Passover, as most know, eating bread of leavened products is forbidden. Matzo is an unleavened substitute for bread, and can be made with various ingredients. When cooking or baking for Passover, it's highly recommended that you clean your oven thoroughly before using it, so that the food comes out just as good as did going in - without any traces of leavened products. Cleaning all of your measuring cups, counters, and utensils is also a good idea to make them completely kosher.

The five ingredients one should not use include: wheat, barley, spelt, rye, and oats. These are forbidden in the creation of Matzo, and during Passover. This means that the cracker-like bread will be made primarily with flour and water.

The easiest, plain way to make matzo is as follows:

2 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbs shortening or rendered chicken fat for more flavor

Add lukewarm water to the flour so that you can form a bread dough ball with it. Kneading it for 5-15 minutes is required so that the dough has a 'spring' in it when you squeeze it.

After the dough is kneaded, break the large ball apart with your hands, creating several smaller balls (about the size of a ping-pong ball). Set these aside for approximately 25-30 minutes.

Once the 30 minutes has elapsed, place each of the matzo balls on a floured cookie sheet. They should be far enough apart so that you can flatten them out, and they should not be touching. The degree in which you flatten each of the balls is up to you; the thinner the dough is, the crisper it will be. You can put little holes in each of the individually flattened dough balls so that it cooks more evenly if you desire.

Bake at 350 degrees until slightly browned - about 2-5 minutes.

Matzo tastes good with Tahini, or butter. In order for this recipe to be truly kosher, it should be prepared, and baked within an 18 minute time period. The 18 minutes represent the miniscule amount of time the Israelites had to make their own bread before they had to escape Egypt. If you have large amounts of bread to make, ask a friend or family member for help in order to have the bread kneaded and made in the 18 minute window.