Tonight I got the itch to bake something. Knowing I have to bake a tester-cake this weekend I decided I didn't need the extra sugar tonight! Besides, I'm still recovering from Easter weekend. What I decided to do instead was make crackers. A lot of bloggers have given them attention (see Joy the Baker, Joe Pastry and Mark Bittman at the Minimalist) and it looked like a fun, easy recipe to try on a Friday evening. Plus I have enough cheese to feed an army in my fridge, and nothing to eat it on.
I eye-balled this recipe simply because the principle of the cracker is so very simple. All you need is to mix flour with some liquid, then dry the liquid out at a hot temperature. Some recipes call for olive oil, some milk and butter...it's really up to you what you put in it. Poppy seeds are popular, as are sesame seeds, but you could also add herbs or spices as you like. Next time I'll probably add cheese!
Here's what I did (and what you could do as well!): pour some flour (white, whole wheat, bread or corn as you like) and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Add some butter (cold is probably a good idea but don't worry too much about it). At this point you should reach into the bowl with clean, bare hands and pinch the butter into the flour until it looks sandy.
Now you're going to add your liquids. This could be olive oil, or milk, or, as I did, both. I poured a small amount of each in the bowl and began mixing with a fork.
This is a lot like pastry dough, however where pastry dough should be light and delicate, a cracker can be a little sturdier. That means you don't have to pussyfoot around the dough! I kneaded my dough a bit with the fork after all the ingredients were stirred in. It formed a ball that was a little sticky but didn't stick to the sides.
Now you should press the dough out flat and thin on a lightly floured surface. It's a little sticky, but it shouldn't stick to you or the board. When you've got them as thin as you want them and they're relatively even, you can slice them into individual crackers. If this doesn't appeal, feel free to bake them in one big sheet, or find a cookie cutter. Up to you! This is also the part where you can press sea salt, sesame seeds or herbs into the tops of the crackers. Fresh ground black pepper would probably be good as well.
I baked my crackers in a fan-assist oven at 200 degrees Celcius (390 F) for 20 minutes. It was too hot, and the crackers got a little too brown. My suggestion would be to follow the common recipes and cook them at 175 C (350 F) four around 30 min. You might need to turn the sheet around halfway through so they cook evenly. Feel the recipe out and see what works best for you. You can add and subtract ingredients as you like as long as you don't add leavening or too much liquid.
I have a ton of photos from France that I haven't posted yet, but I'll try to get to it this weekend! I have to hop into bed now, I've got a busy day tomorrow.
