Rosemary Crackers for LindaMc

You are going to laugh at how absurdly easy this is (and then you'll wonder why you bother to BUY crackers at all). Here's the basic recipe.

2 Cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 Cup warm water
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat to 400. Lightly grease two large cookie sheets (I use spray). Combine flour, baking powder and salt (I use a little extra of kosher or sea salt). Stir in water, oil and mix until a smooth dough forms. Halve dough and flatten to edges on each cookie sheet (this is the only part that takes a little time - a small rolling pin would be great but I use my fingers and love the uneven texture of them). Cut them on the sheet before baking (I use a pizza cutter).

If you want you can do an egg wash of one egg white and 2T water brush the tops and sprinkle on sesame seeds.

I have used an unfiltered olive oil instead of vegetable oil. I typically throw in a bunch of chopped rosemary and occasionally a sprinkle of garlic powder or two. You could really do anything you wanted with these: onion powder, cayenne, other herbs and spices.

They are a simple cracker but seriously addictive and always a big hit. Once I topped with goat cheese and honey and served as an appetizer.

Good luck! LEt me know how it goes.

[Tartinet]

Thanks for this great recipe! I've been making these for a few months now, and wanted to share my tips and recipe tweaks.

Honey Wheat Crackers
1 cup white flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup olive oil
2 or 3 tablespoons honey

Mix flours, wheat germ, baking powder, and salt. Combine water, oil, and honey, and mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients until smooth. I occasionally have to add another small handful of flour to get it to not be too sticky.

To roll, I've settled on this method: Divide dough into thirds. On an 11.5 by 16.5" (half sheet) silpat mat placed on the counter, roll a third of the dough out as thin as possible-- until it covers nearly the whole mat. Poke it all over with a fork, then cut into squares with a plastic pizza cutter (it doesn't seem to harm the silpat if you use gentle presure). Then put the silpat on a baking sheet, and bake at 400 degrees-- the ones on the edge will brown first, so I just take them out as they brown, and put the rest back in. I start checking at 10 minutes, and bake time is very dependent on thickness.

My theory is that if you let the dough rest after rolling, but before cutting, they will stay thin and won't shrink up as much, but I will continue my investigations...

I'm also working on a cheese cracker variation, with powdered cheese. Yummy, but I haven't nailed it yet. I'll report back when I do.

Thanks again for this easy recipe! I love not buying crackers!

[karykat]

Let us know how your dough resting experiments turn out.

I think getting the dough thin is really key.

I also like the idea of being able to take the ones that brown first off the pan before the others. That was my experience when I've made the crackers - the outer ones did seem to brown first.

[Tartinet]

My dough resting experiments have come to a clear conclusion: A busy household at dinner- and bedtime is no place for the scientific process. I'm lucky if they get cooked and not burned. Science can wait, I'm just going to focus on making some crackers. :-)

[karykat]

Indeed! Getting them made is a good accomplishment.

[Tartinet]

Using caloriecount.about.com, I analyzed the recipe, so I could see how it compares to commercial crackers. Here are the stats:

serving size: 28g
calories: 140
fat: 5g
sodium: 78g
fiber: 0.8g
sugars: 3.1g
protein: 2.5

[karykat]

Thanks for all the good advice on the rosemary.

Now I have another question. If I'm making these for Christmas presents, do I need to bake them right before Christmas? Would it be ok to make them tonight or tomorrow and store in tins?

How well do they keep?

[ursy_ten]

I don't know, but I wonder if that would bring us back to the fresh vs dried rosemary?

I would imagine that using dried rosemary would make them last longer, because of the extra water content of the fresh rosemary and the short cooking time, you wouldn't get rid of all of the moisture from the fresh.

Lots of other variables too, like how finely you chop the fresh rosemary, and whether you sprinkle it on top or mix it into the dough... so I would say it depends a lot on how you do these things as they all would affect longevity.

[LulusMom]

I'm so happy this got bumped up. Somehow I'd never seen it before and this sounds like a fun thing to do with my daughter, who is on Christmas break. We have a lot of time to fill.

Quick question: do you salt them along with the rosemary? Or is there enough salt in them already?

[THewat]

I stir the water, oil & (fresh) rosemary into the dry ingredients (which include a teaspoon of kosher salt), and mix until a smooth dough forms. I flatten it very thinly onto cookie sheets, sprinkle with some coarse sea salt, and pat the salt down so it sticks.

[LulusMom]

Thanks - just wondered if I was supposed to add the extra touch of salt.

[learningslo]

I sometimes put the dough through my pasta maker if I want them to be extra thin. It actually works really well, and doesn't add too much time to the process.

[karykat]

Great idea.

I think making them thin makes them crispy. This looks like a fantastic way to do it.

[learningslo]

Dust a little flour on the piece of dough each time you feed it through the machine. The third thinnest setting is best for me.

[karykat]

Good to know! Thanks.

[karykat]

Ok. I need some advice about these because my significant other and I are disagreeing on one issue.

One of us thinks you should use fresh rosemary and the other thinks you should use dried. (I won't say who is who so you can be unbiased!)

What would you use?

[messy_chef]

I've done both. The dried sticks better for me if I'm sprinkling it on top, but I like the taste of the fresh in the dough.

[herby]

Definitely fresh in the dough! Dry will be fine on top and fresh will dry out anyway, so, why waste it.

Thank you people to bumping this thread. I am putting this recipe into my pepperplate along with suggestions on variations.

[THewat]

Fresh.

[ursy_ten]

I think both good, just different. I would do both - one batch, half using fresh rosemary, half using dried - then have a blind tasting, just for fun!

[messy_chef]

These are my go-to easy-peasy crackers. I love them with the rosemary and sometimes I do half whole wheat for something heartier. BUT I logged on to let those of you who shop at Penzey's to try out the Rocky Mountain Seasoning in these crackers- it's got parmesan and peppers. I used 2 Tbsp. per batch and they are fantastic!

[blizzardgirl33]

Fantastic! I'm so happy to be able to make crackers cheaply, easily and without additives.

I have found that these crackers work well with many different flours. A mix of 1 cup white flour and 1 cup "interesting" flour is a good way to start. I like a little extra coarse salt in there too.
All buckwheat flour makes a tasty gluten-free option (good with onion powder and crushed rosemary). All spelt flour makes a tasty but very crumbly cracker (good with sesame seeds and poppy seeds). 1 1/2 cups white flour and 1/2 cup Red River cereal gives a nice multigrain effect.

[UTgal]

These are absolutely delicious. I added in 1 full teaspoon of garlic powder and I like the strong flavor. I baked mine for about 20 minutes though to achieve the crispy brown taste/texture I like. Maybe I didn't roll mine thin enough...also could be an altitude issue (I'm around 5500 ft), or personal taste. Anyway, thank you! I too am annoyed by how expensive simple crackers can be. This is a great recipe.

Idea flash: use as crust for flat bread pizza!

[alkapal]

or scooping up hot "pizza dip"!

[messy_chef]

Thanks so much for this recipe, krissywats! My 5-year-old cracker snob FINALLY gave his stamp of approval after many different testings of homemade crackers.

[THewat]

I'm completely crazy about these - super easy, delicious, inexpensive, beautiful. One of my favorite hostess gifts ever.

[ursy_ten]

I'm not sure how I stumbled on this topic since it's from 2005, but awhile ago, I did - and kept the recipe.

I finally tried it tonight, and I have to say that they're really, really good, and really, really easy.
So I thought I'd post this feedback, since there is a cracker thread currently going around - albeit for bought crackers, but I agree with Krissywats - right now I'm wondering why I bother to buy crackers when I can make these from scratch in no time at all.

Going to try them with whole wheat flour next time. They could even be a healthy alternative for potato chips, since they have a great crunch factor.

P.S. I didn't bother to grease the biscuit trays, I lined them with baking paper. The oil in the recipe was enough. I also didn't worry about an egg wash.

[Cynsa]

krissywats' Rosemary Crackers are TDF; I ♥ this recipe and it's now a standard.
Another easy way to go: buy the Trader Joe's lavash that comes in rectangle sheets -brush with olive oil, sprinkle with chopped rosemary and Maldon sea salt - bake at 350°F just to crisp, lightly toasted.

[alkapal]

that is a good idea! thanks.

Have you tried using whole wheat flour or 1/2 and 1/2 whole wheat and white?

When my kids were little, we tried making home-made graham crackers once, using a recipe from the newspaper. We had a lot of fun, but I was the only one willing to eat them! They were pretty good.

I have used white whole wheat but i've never tried it with regular whole wheat (or in this case, whole wheat pastry flour would probably work well, too!)

I forgot to add - 10-12 minutes - you're looking for dry and golden.

Potentially dumb question:

Do these rise in the oven, or should I roll them out only as thin as I want them to be in the end (I'm thinking like saltine crackers)?

no, they don't really rise - not dumb at all considering their is baking powder in them. They don't rise - there might be a slight puffing, but if so, it's very slight. They are very crisp and I personally like to get them as thin as possible. Occasionally there are little holes in the dough when I'm spreadig it that come together in the oven.

I can't wait to hear what everyone does with them!

Krissy, thanks so much for posting! Not only does it sound very good, it kind of appeals to me in that previous dumb-epiphany way. Like, "oh, people MAKE crackers. Wow." LOL

Yes - thank you - it frankly had also never occurred to me to make crackers, other than those ones where you just use grated parmesan and crisp it in the oven. Will make for a dinner party Saturday!

Thanks so much! I look forward to giving these a go.