Homemade Crackers

Making your own crackers is so fun and easy. Literally, you can make crackers with flour, water, salt, and butter. Think about what you want to serve your crackers with, though, to make the perfect accompaniment. Change up the seeds, add cheese, dried fruit, herbs, or spices to make your own delicious cracker. This recipe is very forgiving, easily adaptable, and impossible to mess up. I find it easiest to work with smaller amounts of dough at a time when rolling to ensure the center is as thin as the outsides. If you find when baking that the center crackers are thicker, just remove the thinner pieces when they are done and bake the rest for a bit longer. I think it goes without saying how much better these are for you than store bought crackers. If you need convincing, though, check out the label on your favorite crackers and see how the ingredients compare to the list below.


Whole Wheat Seeded Crackers
If you cannot find whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour (most likely in the health food section), use regular whole wheat.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
¼ cup milk (plus more, as needed)
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
¼ cup ground flax
2 tbsp poppy seed
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp brown sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processer add the flour, salt, and grapseed oil. Pulse until mixed together. Next add the remaining ingredients and process until a ball of dough is formed. Add 1 teaspoon at a time of milk if dough is too dry. Dump dough onto a lightly floured surface and kneed just a few times to bring the dough together. Form a disk and allow the dough to rest 10 minutes.

Cut the dough in half (It is easier to roll the dough out more evenly if you are working with smaller pieces at a time). Place one half in the center of a large piece of parchment paper. Roll the dough out as thin as possible, ensuring the center is not too thick. With a pizza cutter or knife, score the dough into 1 inch squares in the shape of the crackers. Transfer the entire piece of parchment paper with dough onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until the crackers are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool. Store in a tin for several days.

Whole Wheat Fig and Rosemary Crackers

The basic recipe is the flour, salt, liquid (milk in this case, but you could use water), and oil (any type of oil can be used or butter). This would make a basic cracker. You can add or change the remaining ingredients, as desired. You could use cheddar cheese, a different herb, top with any number of seeds, garlic, etc. Use the quantities above as a guide for other variations you may come up with.1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, more as needed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup milk
4 dried figs diced small
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly dust with flour. Put flour, salt, cheese and oil in bowl of a food processor. Pulse until flour and butter are combined. Add about 1/4 cup milk and let machine run for a bit; continue to add liquid a teaspoon at a time, until mixture holds together but is not sticky. Form dough into a disk and allow it to rest 10 minutes.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until 1/2-inch thick or even thinner, adding flour as needed. Make it as thin as you can make it. If you are doubling the recipe at all, divide the dough into smaller pieces to roll it out to ensure the center is thin. Transfer sheet of dough to prepared baking sheet (drape it over rolling pin to make it easier). Score lightly with a sharp knife, pizza cutter or a pastry wheel if you want to break crackers into squares or rectangles later on. Sprinkle with salt or other topping if you like.

Bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. You don’t want to under bake these, as that will result in a softer cracker. Cool on a rack; serve warm or at room temperature or store in a tin for a few days.