Mad About Matzah

It’s oh so easy to get bored of matzah during Passover, but the wonderful thing about matzah is you can do anything you want with it. You just need to be creative and open to the possibilities.

“It can be really hard to change eating habits, especially for kids,” Marti Kerner, who runs the Everyday Jewish Mom blog and YouTube channel, told the Journal. “Having special foods that we only eat during Passover gives us all something to look forward to.”

Kerner has always loved Passover: the preparation, the songs and all of the symbolism of the seder. To keep matzah fun and interesting throughout Passover, Kerner’s family mixes up the classics, like matzah pizza and matzah brei, with more unique fare.

“We make matzah nachos, Kerner said. “We even break up matzah and eat it in a bowl with milk, like cereal.”

Since her mother-in-law is famous for her Chex Mix, Kerner created a matzah version for Passover. 

“It’s important to have good snacks,” Kerner said. “And this one works as a good substitute for popcorn on a movie night.” 

Passover Parmesan Snack Mix by Everyday Jewish Mom

5 cups broken matzah (any matzah
or matzah crackers work, use one
kind or a variety)
1 cup nuts (any kind of nuts or just
another cup of matzah)
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
A bit of paprika (mostly for color)
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. In a large bowl, mix together your matzah chunks and nuts. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the melted butter, garlic powder, salt and paprika.
4. Fully coat the matzah with the butter mixture. Then stir in the Parmesan cheese.
5. Spread evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 mins or until brown and crispy. Stir several times during baking.
6. Store in an airtight container on the counter.

Nina Safar, a kosher chef who runs the Kosher in the Kitch website, Instagram and YouTube channel, is also a fan of the holiday. 

“I’m a Pesach baby,” Safar said. “My mom went into labor right after taking a bite of maror, and ever since, mid-seder, my family stops and sings ‘Happy birthday’ to me when eating maror.”

“Think of your favorite sandwich fillings or even taco toppings and then just use matzah as your base instead.” – Nina Safar

To keep matzah fun and interesting throughout Passover, Safar said, “Think of your favorite sandwich fillings or even taco toppings and then just use matzah as your base instead. It almost always works and tastes just as tasty.” 

While Safar keeps the traditions she had growing up alive with her mother’s recipes, like sweet cheese blintzes and chocolate fudge brownies (both kosher for Passover and delicious), her favorite matzah dish is matzah brei.

“My mother would make it each holiday and we would eat it hot from the pan, with lots of sugar sprinkled on top,” she said. “It always amazed me how dry crispy matzah could be turned into something so delicious.”

Safar’s Bananas Foster matzah Brei has thick stacks of matzah brei layered under caramelized bananas and smooth chocolate sauce. Super yum! 

Bananas Foster Matzah Brei by Kosher in the Kitch

Matzah Brei
4 matzah
3 eggs
Salt
Black pepper

Caramelized Bananas
2 bananas, peeled and sliced into
thin rounds
1/2 cup of sugar

Chocolate Sauce
1 cup chocolate chips combined
with 1 teaspoon oil
Ice cream for serving

1. Break matzah into pieces and soak in a bowl with water until softened.
2. Whisk eggs together and season with salt and pepper.
3. Drain water from matzah bowl and combine matzah pieces with eggs.
4. Heat two tablespoons oil in a large frying pan and fry matzah batter in batches until golden brown on both sides.
5. In the meantime, heat two tablespoons oil in a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat.
6. Combine sliced banana rounds with sugar, then cook in the heated pan until bananas caramelize.
7. Place chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon oil in a microwave-safe dish and heat in 30 second increments until chocolate has melted and is smooth.
8. Serve cooked matzah brei with caramelized bananas, chocolate sauce and ice cream.

For Rin Russ, the creative entrepreneur behind Rin Out Loud, the Jewish lifestyle blog and Judaica shop, matzah didn’t become fun in her house until 2020. 

“When the pandemic hit, we were having a hard time finding matzah, so we decided to make our own,” Russ told the Journal. “Ever since then, we’ve discovered a new tradition of making matzah together as a family. Not only can we add silly colors, but it tastes so much better.”

Russ, who converted to Judaism in 2015, celebrated her first Passover the year before. 

“It was not my favorite holiday at all,” she said. “It was long and confusing and felt like a chore.”

A few years later, a conversation she had with a coworker changed Russ’ perspective. 

“She told me how her mother-in-law had recently hosted a taco-themed Passover seder,” Russ said. “Every year since then, we have hosted different themed Seders. It’s really allowed my family and [I] to sit down and think through the symbolic foods in a new way.”

Russ said if she had to pick a matzah favorite, it would be matzah lasagna. She just layers a bunch of cheese and sauce with the matzah and bakes it. 

“People think matzah is brittle and hard to manipulate, but with practice and technique, everything is on the table, from lasagna to cereal to cake,” she said.

Through some very delicious trial and error, Russ created a matzah bark recipe that her husband loved so much, she named it after him: Ruckus’s Matzah Bark. This salty-sweet treat features dark chocolate, butterscotch chips and toasted pecans. 

Ruckus’s Matzah Bark – Rin Out Loud

4 matzah
1 12-ounce Bag Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1/4 Cup Butterscotch Chips
1/4 Cup Pecans Toasted and Chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Coconut Oil
4 Pinches Course Salt

1. Lay your matzah flat on two cookie sheets.
2. Melt the bittersweet chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals, stirring in between after each interval. Add coconut oil to the chocolate once it’s smooth.
3. Spread the melted chocolate onto all four matzah.
4. While the chocolate is wet, add the pecans. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over each piece of matzah.
5. Melt the butterscotch chips in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals, stirring in between.
6. Use a spoon to drizzle the melted butterscotch over your matzah bark.
7. Place the cookie sheets in the refrigerator for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate and butterscotch to set.
8. Break your bark into pieces.

For more Passover recipes, check out EverydayJewishMom.com, KosherintheKitch.com and RinOutLoud.com.