Homemade Passover Matzo
When you think about Passover matzo, what do you think? If you grew up eating store-bought matzo like Leah did, then you have an image of what matzo should look and taste like.
And you may be wondering: why would I want to make my own dry, tasteless, flatbread with a homemade recipe? Because when you try our simple, homemade Passover matzo recipe, you’ll discover that this Passover staple does not have to be dry or even tasteless. Truly.
The history of the Passover matzo
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Every year at the family Passover seder, we would retell the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. This was not exclusive to Leah’s family — this is an integral part of every Passover seder.
Anyway, as the story goes, the escaping Jews had to move quickly and did not have time to let their bread rise. So they baked it unleavened. From this, we have the Jewish tradition of eating unleavened bread, or matzo (alternatively spelled matzah or matzoh) during Passover.
When is Passover? The dates change every year.
A Simple Homemade Matzo Recipe
We started making homemade matzo in 2020. Because in 2020 we were not getting together in person with our family for a Passover Seder. In fact, we celebrated with a Zoom seder with our family in New York.
While we were able to get some Passover staples by using Instacart, matzo was not one of them. So, Bill created a recipe for homemade matzo. He’s made it ever since.
Matzo ingredients
Basic matzo is simply two parts flour to one part water. Mix quickly, but thoroughly, shape and bake. The reason I added “quickly” in there is that, by tradition, dough is considered to begin to rise 18 minutes after the water touches the flour. So, if you are trying to mimic the kosher process, the dough needs to be in and out of the oven before the 18 minutes has elapsed.
Many bakers add a touch of salt for flavor and oil to make the dough a little more workable. I’ve included this variant in this recipe.
I also encourage you to experiment. Often, I’ll add a half teaspoon of onion or garlic powder, for example, to give our matzo a pop of flavor. Of course, if you’re trying to stick with the simple unleavened bread eaten by those fleeing Egypt, then skip the additional fancy flavorings.
Turn matzo into matza meal
If you have a recipe calling for matzo meal, such as Leah’s grandma Yetta’s Passover honey cake, bake some plain matzo and let it cool. Then toss it in a blender or food processor to grind it up so you can use it in place of regular flour, which is forbidden during Passover.
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Homemade Matzo
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour.
- 2 cup water.
- 1 tsp kosher salt.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 475℉
- Mix the ingredients, reserving ½ cup of water. Add this water, one tablespoon at a time until dough is moist enough to work. You may not use all of the water. If you add too much water, add flour, one table spoon at a time, if the dough is too sticky to work with.
- Create 10 roughly equal balls of dough. Place each on a clean surface and smash it flat.
- Transfer to non stick, or parchment lined, baking sheets. Or, alternatively, cook on Pizza stone.
- Bake until crisp, about 5 minutes.
Disclaimer
Please note that nutrient values, if included with the recipe, are estimates only. Variations can occur due to product availability/substitution and manner of food preparation. Nutrition may vary based on methods of origin, preparation, freshness of ingredients, and other factors.
