Wild Yeast

Notes from my kitchen, in which I bake bread and raise a few other matters

Tortas de Aceite (Olive Oil Wafers)

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Tortas de Aceite (Olive Oil Wafers)

Oh my goodness. When my daughter went to Sevilla, Spain two summers ago, she brought back some tortas de aceite, the crisp, lightly sweet olive oil wafers traditionally made there, and I was in love.

Imagine my delight when, paging through Penelope Casas’ excellent La Cocina de Mama: The Great Home Cooking of Spain, I found a recipe for tortas de aceite that calls for leftover bread or pizza dough. I had that leftover dough! And in short order, I had those tortas. I was in love all over again.

I made these a few times and discovered that either pizza dough (made with a bit of olive oil; my dough was left over from making grissini), or a basic French bread dough (no oil), can be used. I refrigerated the dough after the first fermentation and kept it a day or two before making the tortas.

I also found that incorporating the generous amount of olive oil into already-developed dough was neat and quick with a food processor, whereas by hand it was a bit messy, though certainly doable. Take your pick.

Tortas de Aceite (Olive Oil Wafers)
(adapted from La Cocina de Mama: The Great Home Cooking of Spain by Penelope Casas)

Ingredients:

  • 125 g bread or pizza dough
  • 1 T. sesame seeds
  • 2 t. anise seeds
  • 1/4 c. olive oil
  • zest of 1/4 lemon, in wide strips
  • 1.5 t. anise liqueur
  • 70 g flour
  • sugar for sprinkling

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
  2. If the dough has been refrigerated, remove it from the refrigerator.
  3. In a small skillet over medium-high heat, toast the sesame and anise seeds until they are fragrant and the sesame seeds start to pop.
  4. Optional step: Transfer the seeds to a mini-processor or mortar and pestle and grind them a bit (they should not be be completely ground up).
  5. In a small skillet, heat the olive oil and lemon zest over high heat until the peel is black. Remove the zest and cool the oil.
  6. Place the dough, seeds, olive oil, and anise liqueur in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the oil is evenly distributed through the dough (but it will not really be incorporated into the dough).
  7. Add the flour and pulse until a homogeneous ball of dough forms. It will feel very soft and oily.
  8. Turn the dough onto an unfloured counter and divide it into 8 balls (about 30 g each). Roll each ball into a 4-inch round (initially roll them a little larger to allow for some spring-back).
  9. Place the rounds onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle them lightly with sugar.

    10. Rolled out tortas

  10. Bake for 15 – 17 minutes until the wafers are lightly brown.
  11. Remove the wafers from the oven and turn on the broiler. When the broiler is hot, broil the wafers about 5 inches from the heat, until they appear toasted and some of the sugar has melted, about 40 seconds. (Watch them to make sure that they do not broil too long!)
  12. Cool on a wire rack.

Tortas de Aceite (Olive Oil Wafers)

Enjoy these with morning coffee, or any time. If by some miracle they’re not all gone within a few hours, you can wrap the wafers individually in waxed paper. But I’ve not been able to keep them around long enough to tell you how long they will last that way.

CommentsLeave a comment

  2. This looks great! (The only thing that confuses me is that you could have any left-over dough. ;-))

    -Elizabeth

    P.S. Now I’m torn. Which to make first, grissini or Tortas de Aceite?!

  3. Thanks, Zainab!

    Elizabeth, why not make both? One batch of the grissini dough will be more than enough for 30 grissini plus a bunch of these and a pizza too.

  4. You Rock! These things sell for about $1 a piece at Whole Foods. I love you! I never thought I would find a recipe for this. Wow.

  6. Michelle, I hope you like the recipe. These are a little thinner than the ones at Whole Foods, but just as good, I think.

    Tanna, I do think they’re killer good, and you’re right, not too sweet. The sugar could be left off the top for even less sweetness, but I like it because the broiled melted sugar adds a nice bit of caramel shine, which did not show too well in my photos.

  10. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

    I first had these in France and I adore them but have been unable to find anywhere local that sells them. I am making them tomorrow…. 🙂

  14. Found these at Trader Joes last summer and have been searching for them ever since. Didn’t know the
    name. Finally tonight I sat down and searched until
    I struck gold. Thank you, thank you, thankyou.
    I will visit again.

    • I found them, ourely by accident, at Hyvee in Nebraska. Addictive, for sure!

      I am a culinary student, and I have to put on a banquet, which I have decided on the Italian marketplace theme. After I tasted these, I knew I wanted to try them for the banquet!

      Thanks!

  16. I wanted to chime in that I was so glad to find this recipe, I love these. I made them for the first time tonight, and while they didn’t turn out as thin as they should, not a bad turn out for the first time, and they were easier to make than I thought. Taste wise, they’re just as good as the ones made by Ines Rosales and that just bowled me over.

  17. Chelle, glad you liked them. Interesting that yours weren’t as thin as you’d like them. I struggle with not having them come out too thin!

  18. I discovered these just recently, after finding them at an upscale grocery store in Northern California (Nugget Markets). I *thought* they were salty crackers. What a delightful surprise. Excellent treat. Thanks for a recipe!

  19. Susan,

    I’m thinking it had to do with the fact that I didn’t make my own dough; I had picked up a plain pizza dough already made at the grocer’s here, needed to use it. Perhaps it was a lil overworked by the time it made it to rolling it out; it sprung back a bit when I was making the rounds. They were tasty just the same though.

  20. First of all, thank you for stopping by my blog and taking the time to comment. And I’m so glad because I discovered yours and I found you made tortas de aceite! I am originally from spain so to see these makes my mouth water. Gorgeous!

  21. Many thanks for the inspiration for these. I was given the Penelope Casas recipe by a friend, but your adjustments to it made the whole thing easy. Now I just have to try not to burn them next time I make them!!!

  22. HI,

    I’ve just been gathering up the ingredients to make these and I am a bit baffled by the amount of dough you note in the recipe . . .125 g? I measured it out and weighed it and it seems to only be enough for one wafer. I bought the dough from Trader Joes’s and a 1 lb package is equal to 454 g.

    Am I missing something and being totally dense? 😛 Hope to hear from you. I’m enjoying your blog.

    Elizabeth

  23. Elizabeth, the recipe calls for 125g pizza dough + 70 g flour + 1/4 c olive oil (55 g) = 250 g. This is enough for 8 wafers @ 30 g.

  24. Looks great!

    But because I’m from Sweden I’m not to familiar with the abbreviations of measures. Please help me by writing out the amount of sesame seeds, anise seeds and anise liquer!

    Thanks!

  25. Jonas, in the US, “t.” is the abbreviation for teaspoon, which is about 5cc (mL). “T.” stands for tablespoon, which is 3 teaspoons.

  26. Thanks!

    “Tortas de aceite” are now my wife’s new favorite (at least among wafers…). I’ve made them twice and 8 is quite enough after pizza. Really great mix with anise, sesame, sugar and the crispy structure of the wafer.

    I forgot to taste the lemon zest olive oil before mixing it, so I have not figured out what the lemon zest brings to the wafer. But I’ll check next time!

  27. i’m crazy about HNOS. PRIETO GORDILLO (Sevilla)’s Olive Oil Crisp Breads [matiz anadaluz Torta de Aceite] made with Wheat Flour, VOO (24%), Almonds, Sugar, Sesame Seeds, Aniseed, Essence of Anise, Salt, Yeast. I never liked anise, but love it in this product-mild aftertaste& fragrance that is delightful! They are very expensive and I buy them as a treat-one a day. Wanted to buy enough to take to a friend’s dinner party but it would cost about $100 to bring enough for everyone. I can’t afford that and wanted desperately to find a recipe to make for large parties (i’ll continue to support the Seville co. for myself, but look forward to trying your recipe for the party) much thanks!

  28. What a small world. I just visited your website for the first time linking from Zorra’s World Bread Day Roundup over the weekend. Then today I was following links from someone who clicked on a link to a post I wrote about the tortas when I found them at a local grocery store here in Chicago. I clicked on your link and found myself back at your beautiful site.

    I’m also excited to see this recipe. I can’t wait to make them!

    • Several people have asked for the conversion of grams to ounces. I have not see a reply.
      Thank you for the receipe

  30. finally, i found a recipe for tortas de aceite. thank you! i am tired of paying a ridiculous price for them at the grocer. i adore these treats from spain. it is also a wonderful snack with goat cheese spread on the tortas.

  31. Just came home from a store with these delicious tortas already prepared. I purchased them thinking they would be a good accompaniment to my fish dinner tonight but lo and surprised am I! These are so delicious (and so expensive to buy in a store already made) that I just had to log on to see if anyone had a recipe. Muchos Gracias! You have saved me muchos dinero! I can’t wait to try your recipe!!!!!

  32. I have been looking for a recipe for these for years. Thank you so much, I can’t wait to try it. And, coincidentally, I have a huge batch of pizza dough aging in the fridge right now…

  33. I can’t wait to try this recipe! I have bought these often but they are very expensive, maybe $4 or $5 for a little packet of 5 of them. They’re so ridiculously delicious that I keep buying them anyhow, and somehow I never thought to look for a recipe for them.

  34. Thanks for this sharing. I bought today a pack of these tortas as it is Spanish week in this chain of department store in Germany to see if they taste good. I love these tortas, brought home 10 packs when I visited Barcelona in 2005 and since then been looking around for them. Well, looking at the recipe, I think I will go back to this department store and get myself another 10 packs.
    All the best…more baking power to you!

    mar lou

  35. Could you please convert the grams for those of us not use to using the metric measurements.Thank you.I plan to maake these for my Daughter on my next visit to see her.She sent me this recipe as well as the ” YUMM” word, which usually means she would love to have me make them for her.Thank You

  37. Wendy, anise seed should be available in any well-stocked grocery spice section, and you should be able to find anise liqueur where other spirits are sold.

  38. Wow! I just made these tonight and they are fantastic. I used rosemary and no sugar or anise and they were very close to the torta I bought earlier today. Thanks for the great recipe. It’s destined to be a staple in our house.

  39. Hi Susan! I need to make these at the new restaurant where I work so I did a internet search and I started laughing, with pleasure, when I saw your site coming up. Off all places…

    I have a question, obviously the dough is not let to leaven, right? Why use the left over pizza dough then, for flavor?

    Thanks!

  40. Hi Laura,

    The wafers are not proofed after shaping and before baking, but the yeast in the piza dough causes them to rise a bit in the oven. Also, yes, you get flavor from the initial fermentation the dough has undergone.

  45. This recipe is very usual in the south of Spain but the most delicattessen are in Seville and specialy in little town near Seville (Aljarafe) named “Castilleja de la Cuesta” (llitle castle of uphill). Here it’s very famous the tortas of INES ROSALES or CANSINO (The relative family of Rita Hayworth) The street of this town smeell to anissed (matalauva – “killthegrape” ha, ha), olive oil an bread very well.

  47. Mari (if you read this message): Can you specify how much Costco sells them for in your area? Our military commissary here in Florida sells them for $5.29/pkg. I’m excited to have found a recipe, but there are times when I will want a treat but will not have the time/inclination to bake.
    Thanks, Julie

  48. Devouring a packet of AUD$14 Ines Rosales with much guilt. I’ve only seen and sampled plain olive oil and saville orange in Australia. I feel like I need to re-mortgage each time I walk past them. This recipe is awesome!

  49. Thank you for this receta, i was looking to make these tortas de aceite, I found them in East Aurora, NY at Tops, I bought all the cinnamon from the shelves, but I will make them now. Gracias.

  51. is the anise liqueur absolutely necessary? can i skip it? or are there any alternatives?

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  55. Could you use wholewheat or spelt flour as opposed to white? Would like to make a healthier version – what do you think?

    Thanks

    Lee

  56. I do agree with all the ideas you have presented in your
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    Still, the posts are too short for beginners. Could you please extend them a bit from next time?
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  59. My cousin from Castilleja ( sevilla) just brought me tortas from the ” hermanos prieto Gordillo” …already had tried Inés Rosales ones but this ones are TOP. Can anyone tell me where I can buy this in NY or London? Xx

  60. Please help…I bought 1 pound of pizza dough to make these – (it’s 450 grams) …if I make the entire dough I will have to multiply the other ingredients by 4 correct?

  61. Linda, if you want to use 450 grams of dough (which is 3.6 x 125 grams), you will have to multiply all other ingredients by 3.6.

  62. I was wondering if there was a ‘from scratch’ recipe… or if anyone has tried making the Sweet Orange oil cakes using this recipe as a guide. (I’m addicted & need fix, stat)…lol

    Thanks

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  81. Olive Oil is the most healthy oil. It gives a great flavor when used in meals.
    It is widely used in the Mediterranean. I like this Spanish recipe very much.
    I will absolutely try.

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