Crunchy Maltese Mustard Galletti. Thin water crackers flavoured with mustard, ready to be the perfect vessel for your favourite dips and cheeses.

What are Galletti?

Galletti are typical Maltese water crackers. They are a thin crunchy crackers that are the perfect vessel for dips, spreads and even cheese. The traditional galletti are plain ones as they are a good neutral vessel. However, you can also find galletti in different flavours. You can find galletti covered in various seasonings such as sun-dried tomatoes, salt and pepper, rosemary and even ones flavoured with the traditional Maltese cheese, ġbenjiet tal-bżar (peppered cheeslets). They’re all really good. For these ones here instead of adding an exterior seasoning to the galletti as commonly found on the market, I choose to add mustard in the dough itself! Adding the mustard directly doesn’t alter the texture and provides a strong flavour throughout the cracker without leaving any seasoning behind on your fingers. For this recipe I use the popular original Luxembourgish mustard.

Ingredients for the Mustard Galletti

Plain flour – use good plain flour as you need to control how much they grow and we want them to stay crunchy. Do not swap for self-raising or cake flour as these won’t give the same desired result. The crackers might end up puffy, soft and not crunchy. However, any plain flour will work.
Semolina – this will give more texture to the crackers.
Water – one of the binders for this dough, and it’s used to activate the yeast. Therefore, it needs to be lukewarm.
Butter – will give the signature richness the crackers have, and will add a deeper flavour which makes them delicious even on their own.
Mustard – a little goes a long way, I recommend to start slowly. This recipe has the minimum amount of mustard you need to add for them to have a good flavour profile. However, you can add more mustard if you want a deeper flavour. You can use either plain smooth mustard or else even whole grain which will give an added texture to the galletti.
Salt – an essential ingredient that will amplify the flavour of these crackers.
Sugar – a small amount is needed to activate the yeast.
Yeast – only few grams are needed as the yeast is there to give a slight rise of the galletti while baking which will give the signature pockets and bubbles in the crackers.

How to make these Mustard Galletti

The galletti can be done by hand or in a mixer. Start by activating the yeast in lukewarm water with sugar. Once it’s foamy, add all the other ingredients and knead until you get a smooth dough. Let it rest for an hour. In the meantime start pre-heating the oven at 180°C/350°F. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper. For this next step I like to use my pasta machine as it quickly gives me an evenly smooth rolled dough. However, you can also do it with a normal rolling pin.

Open the dough in batches to 2mm thickness. With a narrow glass or a small cookie cutter cut the galletti and place them on the baking tray. With a toothpick or fork, make five holes in the middle of each galletta. This will help the dough not to fill with air and puff up while cooking. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until they get a light golden colour. Repeat untill all the dough is used. Let them cool completely before storing them away.

FAQs

How to store the Galletti?

Keep the galletti in an airtight container at room temperature in a cool dry place. They can last all nice and crunchy for up to a week if stored properly.

How to serve these mustard galletti?

In Malta we serve plain or flavoured galletti next to dips, or a platter. Alternatively, as these are flavoured already you can simply nibble on them just like that! One of my favourite ways of eating them is just smothering some butter on them. Optionally, I used to add some Maltese ġbejniet cheese on the side.

Ingredients

200 g plain flour
50 g semolina
100 ml water lukewarm
15 g butter melted
50 g mustard « original »
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
5 g dry active yeast

Instructions

In a small bowl mix the lukewarm water, yeast and sugar. Let the mixture foam for about 15 minutes.
Combine all the dry ingredients together; flour, semolina, and salt. To the dry mixture, add the melted butter, mustard and the activated yeast.
Knead the dough for a couple of minutes, until you get a smooth soft dough.
Place the dough in a bowl, cover and let it rest for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
If you have a pasta machine you can use it, or else a normal rolling pin can do the job. Divide the dough into about 6 pieces as it’s best to work is small batches. Roll the dough to about 2mm thick.
With a narrow glass or a small cookie cutter cut the galletti and place them on the baking tray. With a toothpick or fork, make five holes in the middle of each galletta. This will help the dough not to fill with air and puff up while cooking.
Cook for about 15 minutes, until they get a golden colour. Let them cool. You might need to cook all the dough in several batches as this will depend on your oven and baking trays.
They can be enjoyed immediately or later. If stored in an air tight container these galletti can last for about a week as they’ll keep their crunchiness.

If you have any questions, feedback or comments on this recipe, please leave a comment below. Please also rate this recipe by double clicking on the stars below. If you did make this recipe, tag @apronandwhisk and hashtag #apronandwhisk, as I’m curious to see what you create!

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