Ancient Wheat Honey Wine Passover Matzah

The Talmud Yerushalmi in Pesachim Chapter 2, Halacha 4, Daf 17b states:

We see from this discussion that Jews in Talmudic times (3rd-5th centuries CE) in the Land of Israel ate Matzah made with other liquids besides water, and the only time they had to eat Matzah made with water only was to fulfill the commandment of eating Matzah during the Passover Seder.

In order to figure out which liquids were used in making Matzah we have to turn to a recipe made by the Kohanim (priests) in the Second Temple.

Tosefta Menachot 1:10 says,

So we see that flour that was offered in the Second Temple, was actually mixed with wine, honey and oil by the priests after it was already sacrificed. Since it was not allowed to become leavened this was essentially Matzah made with honey, wine and oil.

This recipe was inspired by the original Exodus Biblical Matzah recipe, the Land of Israel Biblical Matzah Recipe, and the Matzah of the Priests in the Second Temple.  It is a mix of ancient Emmer and Einkorn wheats and uses wine and honey instead of water.

Ancient Wheat Honey Wine Passover Matzah Recipe

Ancient Wheat Honey Wine Passover Matzah is made with ancient Einkorn and Emmer Wheat flours, wine and honey. It is Kosher for Passover according to strict rules of Kashrut, but cannot be used to fulfill the commandment to eat Matzah during the Passover Seder. Einkorn wheat was more prevalent in the Land of Israel than in Egypt, where the Emmer wheat was mostly used. This matzah recipe is more authentic to what the rich Israelites could have eaten once they have reached the Promised Land and had wine and honey at their disposal.

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1 from 1 vote

Course Bread

Prep Time 8 minutes

Cook Time 3 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 11 minutes

Servings 3 Matzot

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Einkorn Wheat Flour Stone Ground
• 1 1/3 cups Emmer Wheat Flour Stone Ground
• 6 tablespoons Wine Red or White
• 4 1/2 teaspoons Honey

Instructions

• Place a ceramic pizza stone on the top shelf of the oven, which is right below the top heating element. Turn the oven to broil so that the upper heating element is on. If your oven does not have an upper heating element use the broiler. The Matzah must bake right next to the heating element or it will not fully bake quickly. Do not use the oven fans.
• Preheat a ceramic pizza stone in the oven for at least 1 hour at 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Do not start mixing the ingredients until the pizza stone is complete heated through. Keep the oven on at 500 degrees F (260 degrees C), before mixing the ingredients with the hot pizza stone inside the oven.
• Place 3/4 cup of Einkorn Wheat flour and 1 1/3 cups of Emmer Wheat flour into a large stainless steel bowl in which the dough will be kneaded.
• Set the timer for 18 minutes. This is the maximum allowable time that can pass between the mixing of the flour and water and all of the dough being fully baked, in order for the Matzah to be Kosher for Passover according to strict rules of Kashrut.
• Slowly add 6 tablespoons of wine and 4 1/2 teaspoons of honey to the flour in the bowl.
• Quickly knead the dough with your hands by folding it over and over. The dough will form into a nice firm ball after 4-5 minutes of kneading. Note that the Einkorn flour is very hard to work with. It creates a very sticky dough that takes longer to form in the right consistency than other flours. This may require extra time to knead it and adding extra flour on to the kneading and rolling surfaces to prevent sticking.
• Sprinkle a large wooden cutting board, which will be your rolling surface, with some Emmer (not Einkorn) flour to prevent sticking. Take the ball of dough from the bowl, place it onto the rolling surface and roll it with your hands into an even cylinder slightly shorter than the width of the cutting board.
• Cut the dough cylinder into 3 even pieces. Set 2 of the pieces aside on the cutting board and with your hands roll the remaining piece into a small ball.
• Take a wooden French rolling pin, rub some Emmer (not Einkorn) flour onto it with your hand, and begin rolling out the dough ball into a flat pancake. Keep rolling the dough into different directions so that the pancake comes out to be round. The final thickness of the pancake should be about 2-3 mm (0.08 - 0.12 in). This step should take no longer than 1 minute.
• If you would like a perfectly round shaped Matzah, after it has been fully rolled out, you may want to press a round 6 in (15 cm) or 8 in (20 cm) cookie cutter into the dough and remove the remainder of the dough around the cutter.
• Place the rolled out pancake onto a wooden pizza peel.
• Repeat steps 9-11 with 2 more pieces of dough that you set aside, until you have 3 dough pancakes placed on to the pizza peel, which should make it full.
• Insert the pizza peel into the oven and carefully shake off the 3 pancakes onto the pizza stone. You might want to slide out the shelf with the pizza stone from the oven so it is easier to place the pancakes on it without getting burnt. Close the oven door and stay next to the oven. Do not walk away.
• After 1 minute open the oven door and check if the Matzah started to become slightly brown and bubbles started forming on top of the dough. Once that happens flip all 3 Matzot onto the other side. Check the Matzah again after no more than 1 minute. The total baking process should take no longer than 2-3 minutes.
• Take out the Matzot from the oven using the wooden pizza peel and place them on a plate or a wooden board to rest.
• The whole process must be competed in under 18 minutes in order to be compliant with strict laws of Kashrut. This is easily achievable if all steps are done efficiently. Enjoy.

Notes

The Matzah should be soft and fluffy, but have some crunch to it. It should taste sweet and very flavorful.