Monday, April 28, 2008

Wheat Crackers


I had a small bit of the dough left from the Tuna Dinner Pastries recipe, so I decided to make crackers with it. I think I've only tried making crackers once or twice before, but didn't care for the recipes. They usually ended up hard, dry and without much flavor.

These turned out much better. They were light, crispy and flaky. Shane tried two or three and said he liked them; Kat asked if she could have the rest of them. So, I guess they're a hit. I plan to make batch of dough just for crackers in a few days.

If you aren't familiar with the nutritional yeast I sprinkled on the top, you should give it a try. I bought some on a whim at the health food store about a year ago because I'd read that in addition to being healthy for you, it tasted good sprinkled on popcorn. I don't think we've eaten popcorn without it since! By itself it has a flavor all its own (that you may or may not like), but when sprinkled on popcorn, it tastes a lot like the snack Bugles.

Our cats love nutritional yeast, too, sprinkled lightly on the wet food they get as a treat once a week. It's perfectly healthy for pets and may even help control fleas.

Anyway, back to the recipe. Here's how to make the crackers, but since I haven't made a full batch, I'm not sure how many crackers it will make.


Wheat Crackers

2 cups flour (I used 1 cup white, 1 cup whole wheat)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
3/4 cup milk
Salt
Nutritional yeast powder (optional)

In bowl of food processor*, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. With processor running, drop butter cubes in one at a time until well incorporated. With processor continuing to run, gradually pour in milk. Continue to process until dough forms a ball that cleans the sides of the bowl.

Divide dough into 3 or 4 pieces. Working with one piece at a time on a lightly floured surface, roll dough to about 1/16-inch thick or as thin as you are able. Carefully lift dough onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Using a sharp knife, score dough into 1-inch squares (do not cut dough all the way through). Using a wooden skewer, a toothpick or the tip of a knife, poke a single hole in the middle of each square.

Spray dough very lightly with water, then sprinkle lightly with salt and/or nutritional yeast powder.

Bake at 375°F for 10-15 minutes, or until just barely brown. Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before using a spatula to break into crackers at scored lines.

1 comment:

Lisa B. said...

These sound yummy and fun to make.