Saturday, May 29, 2010

10 Minute Crackers - Simple Saturday

Sometimes I can't keep my opinion to myself. The other day, in the middle of the grocery aisle, I blurted out, "You have GOT to be kidding me" upon viewing a box of "gourmet" crackers for 8 bucks. It rattled a few of the cart pushers around me, but come on. You can easily make crackers that do NOT cost that much, and take less time than finding your car keys to drive to the store.
10 Minute Crackers
I will be the first one to gladly pay for top ingredients, divine technique, local farm produced pesticide free vegetables, and talented chef's creations. But sometimes, folks, it's just the packaging they're selling. There are wonderful recipes for Lavash, and Yeast crackers that are well worth the time and effort, but for just a quick basic cracker that you can turn into "Your Made Gourmet", this quick recipe rules.


I've added a few ideas to jazz it up, but just open your pantry and try stuff; it's the best way!

***Warning*** You may get hooked on experimenting with seasonings and toppings on these very easy and addictive crackers.
RECIPE: 10 Minute Crackers

1 cup AP Flour (but experiment with other flours, too)
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/4 cup Butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. Salt
water (or milk, or experiment with other liquids)

1- In a Food Processor - Pulse the flour, salt, cheese and butter for about 15-20 hits until it's crumbly. (You can also do this by hand and work the butter in until the dry ingredients are crumbly.)

2- Add the water a little at a time, pulsing between additions, til a soft dough gathers up in the bowl. You may not need all of the water.

3- Place the dough on a floured surface and do either of these:

LOG, CHILL and SLICE:

1) Roll into a log the diameter you want your crackers to be.
2) Roll the log in seasonings of choice (ie, mushroom powder [recipe below], fleur de sel, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dry herbs, etc.)
3) Cover in plastic and chill the log for at least 1 hour
4) Slice into thin rounds
5) Place on a parchment covered baking pan and bake at 400F for 5-10 minutes depending how thin the crackers.
6) Cool and keep in an airtight container.

OR...

ROLL OUT and BAKE:

1) Roll dough out thin onto a parchment paper that you then place on a baking sheet.
2) Sprinkle onto the sheet of dough: seasonings (as mentioned above, or nuts, or seeds)
3) Score the dough with a sharp knife or pizza cutter into squares or shapes as desired.
4) Bake in a 400F oven for 5-10 minutes depending on how thin the dough has been rolled.
5) Cool and keep in an airtight container.

RECIPE: Dried Mushroom Powder
Using Dried Wild Mushrooms - place in a coffee grinder or spice grinder and pulse for 30 seconds at a time until you reach a nice powder form. Use for rolling the cracker dough log in or for sprinkling on the rolled out cracker dough before baking.


You could easily design your own gourmet crackers and can you imagine what your friends will say when you tell them you MADE the crackers you're serving with cheese tonight. Probably something like, "You have GOT to be kidding me!"

8 comments:

Khali//Bandit and the Scene Stealers said...

HA! I love your writing and the way you bring it back around. haha. "You've GOT to be kidding me!"
Great recipe. I can't wait to play with this one!

JJ at the Beach said...

OK, I think even I could do this.
Thanks!

JJ at the Beach said...

OK, I think even I could do this.

Gail said...

I had the exact same experience yesterday altho I exclaimed "what the F**K"! Thankfully no one was in the aisle! I was thinking about making my own, and voila! the perfect recipe appears! Thanks Cathy....I am headed to the kitchen to experiment!

Lynne @ CookandBeMerry said...

Cathy, this is a great post and I can hardly wait to try these crackers! The recipe is so easy, I may have to run into my kitchen and make them right now!

Anonymous said...

Ha, then wow them with homemade cheese to go with! yummm.. thanks for the inspiration!

Lisa@Pickles and Cheese said...

Just found this post today. I can't wait to try these. I have made a scratch slice and bake cracker before with Parmesan Reggiano that were wonderful. These sound fantastic too and I am going to try to roll them out an make flat crackers. Thanks for this!

Unknown said...

How well do these store? i need crackers to go with homemade jam as presents can i jar them or wax paper wrap them for two weeks?