Budget Friendly, Plant Powered Protein Flatbread (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut free)

[brackets break down the cost of each ingredient from Walmart, generally using the "Great Value Organic" brand as reference, on 4/30/26, as well as per amount used in the recipe]

• 1 cup "tap hot" water (around 110-115°F)

• 1 tablespoon instant yeast [$5.48/4oz, $.69 total]

• 2 tablespoons honey [$5.28/12oz, $.44 total]

• 3 tablespoons olive oil [$7.36/17oz, $.67 total]

• 1 heaping tablespoon sea salt [$8.57/16oz, $.27 total]

• 1 15oz can cannellini beans, with the bean water [$.86 total]

• 3 cups bread flour [$4.44/5lbs as of 4/30, but it's been as high as $15, $.74-$2.50 total]

• 2 cups superfine gram flour or besan (chickpea flour, typically found in African, Indian, or Middle Eastern grocery stores) [$4.99/4lbs, $.72 total]

[$36.98 total to make a minimum eight batches of this recipe at 4/30 flour prices. That's $4.39 for 16 10" flatbreads, or 2 sandwich loaves. So, $0.28 per flatbread, or $2.20 per sandwich loaf.]

In a liquid measuring cup, whisk the hot water, instant yeast, and honey together until the honey and yeast dissolve and the mixture starts to bubble at the top, set aside. The mixture will continue to foam and build a "head," a lot like a beer.

In a blender or food processor, or with a ricer or potato masher, purée the cannellini beans with their water together with the sea salt and olive oil until smooth.

In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, measure out the bread flour and gram flour and whisk to combine, before adding the puréed bean mixture and the activated yeast mixture to the mixing bowl with the flours. With a dough hook, or hands gloved in food-safe disposable gloves (optional, but makes clean-up much easier), combine the ingredients into a dough, and knead until the ingredients come together and hold a ball nicely. Cover the bowl, and place in a warm place until the dough ball has doubled (I place my bowl on a heating pad set to its lowest setting).

Once the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a floured surface, and separate it into 16 small dough balls. Cover the dough balls, and let them rise again for 20-30 minutes.

Using a rolling pin (the "pastry style" with the tapered handles are the easiest to use for this task), roll your dough balls out to about a 9-10" round, roughly 1/4 to 1/8 of an inch thick, and use a spatula if needed to place the individual flatbread on a 10" skillet or 2 burner griddle, preferably seasoned cast iron. Let the bread bake for 3 minutes, until the scorch marks where the dough touches the hot surface are dark brown. Carefully flip the flatbread to let the other side bake for another 3 minutes, until both sides have dark brown scorch marks. Remove from the pan, and wrap in a bread towel while cooling.

This recipe can make 2 standard sandwich bread loaves when baked at 450°F for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops of the loaves are golden brown and the loaves sound hollow when you thump them. But you need to use 2lb loaf pans to bake them in, the dough doesn't hold in more "freeform" or "artisan" loaf styles.

Nutritionally, each 10" flatbread contains 420 calories, 6.77 grams of protein, 3.98 grams of fat, 40.7 grams of carbs, 2.61 grams of dietary fiber, 3.93 grams of total sugars, 49mg of sodium, and a fair amount of various B Vitamins, especially folate. So, who are these flatbreads for? Blue collar workers with physical jobs, folks who need a calorie and protein boost pre-or-post workout, growing children, and folks eating a generally low-calorie diet who need a caloric boost in their meals without relying on ultra-processed ingredients or heavy animal products.

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