5. Supremely Crunchy, Seedy, Savory Norwegian Crackers Made in Brooklyn
Getting ready for her wedding—and her two-piece, crop-top dress—Bon Appétit columnist Molly Baz sought out healthy foods. She found Norwegian Baked Knekkebrød, a nutritious mix of rye flour and seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, and flax) with no white flour, and lots of fiber and good fats. “Salty, earthy, nutty, and crisp as hell,” she wrote, “it’s not for nothin’ that the Norwegians call ‘em crisp breads. They were so good, they edged their way into my regular rotation of snicky-snacks, and have stayed there ever since.”
“Baked with love in Brooklyn” by a family-owned and -run company, Norwegian Baked Knekkebrød is delicious, healthy, and goes well with cheeses, hummus, labneh, soups, patés, basically everything. All crispbreads are nut-free without compromising their savory taste, says founder Hedvig Bourbon. Every order is accompanied with a short, clear ingredient list.
Baked by hand in a commercial kitchen with four ovens at Sunset Park’s Brooklyn Army Terminal, the crispbreads are based on a family recipe shared by her aunt in Norway, but modified by Hedvig. She decided to use extra virgin olive oil, hardly a traditional Norwegian oil, and add more seeds, a blend of pumpkin, flax, sesame, and sunflower. As she told Eleven Madison Home, she hit Park Slope’s 5th Avenue, traveling door-to-door to the neighborhood’s many specialty grocery stores. She received several calls back asking for cases of her crispbread, and from there, “it just snowballed.”
Now she sells in stores all over New York City, including Zabar’s and Eli’s, as well as at her Etsy store, which offers many options plus the ability to comment and communicate with Hedvig.
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