I have not been doing so well with the Daring Bakers’ challenges lately. I started the June challenge on the morning of the day I was leaving for France. Everything went wrong, from the lemon curd having gone missing to the cake rising unevenly and sticking to the barrier. I left the curd, the cake, and the white “chocolate plastique” in the refrigerator and fled to Europe. I did write about the cake, hoping to post the blog from Paris, but that proved impossible and by the time I got back I didn’t feel like posting the sad story anymore: the upshot was that my Mom assembled the cake and it tasted fine, but it did not look much like a checkerboard because the cake batter was yellowish and my flavors were lemon and coconut. C’est la vie.
Today I am finishing the July challenge on August 1st. Mea culpa. It has been a busy month with new things to do. Our July 2012 Daring Bakers’ Host was Dana McFarland and she challenged us to make homemade crackers. Dana showed us some techniques for making crackers and encouraged us to use our creativity to make each cracker our own by using ingredients we love.
I have a house guest at present who cannot eat gluten or cow’s milk-based dairy projects. Because the July challenge required us to make two kinds of crackers using two different methods I decided I would try to make gluten and dairy-free crackers for Ann, using the Seedy Crackers as a basic recipe and substituting a garbanzo and fava bean flour from Bob’s Red Mill for the cited wheat flour.
Often when I have tried to make gluten-free baked goods it has been difficult to get them to stick together. Gluten-free cooks buy xanthan gum or gluten-free baking mix to get around this problem, but I use what I have, so I just measured the garbanzo flour cup for cup as I would wheat flour, measured in the poppy and sesame seeds, added the salt. For oil I used a French olive oil that has been infused with hot red pepper. So far so good.
When I added the water, a texture problem appeared: the dough was not crumbly as I had feared — it was wet and sticky. Oops. I covered it with a tea towel and let it sit for fifteen minutes as advised. When it did not firm up, I added another 1/3 cup of garbanzo flour and poured at least half a cup of garbanzo flour onto my cutting board.
I was able to roll and cut the first batch, barely. The dough stuck to the rolling pin. For batches two and three I ended up just patting the dough as thinly as I could before cutting it with a fluted cutter.
The crackers began to smell sweet and I opened the oven. I baked three batches and let them cool. Ann said they smelled really good. Then she tasted one. She really likes them and asked for the recipe (below). I was unhappy that the dough was so wet and that I couldn’t roll them thinly and get them super crisp, but the flavor is fine.
After dispensing with cracker trial number one I went to the all-dairy, all-gluten, all-butter recipe for cheese crackers made in a log and sliced. Because my iconic cracker of addiction is the commercial Cheez-It, I modified the recipe to eliminate walnuts and rosemary, flavoring the crackers with cheddar cheese, Pecorino Romano, paprika and a little nutmeg instead. I shaped them into logs and rolled them up in wax paper to chill for at least an hour.
We could just call these things “heart-attack-on-a-plate” with their stick of butter and ten ounces of cheese and salt. I did sub in some whole wheat pastry flour, although I used mostly white flour as called for. They are utterly delicious, thin, crispy, buttery and cheesy.
Without further ado, the recipes I used:
Gluten-Free Seed Crackers
Whisk together:
2 and 1/3 cups garbanzo and fava bean flour (gluten-free)
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup poppy seeds
1 scant tsp kosher salt
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder.
Stir in 3 Tbsp olive oil*
Add about 3/4 cup water, slowly.
You will want to add the water slowly — in my experience, the dough was too wet, making it hard to roll and cut.
Rest dough for fifteen minutes, covered with a towel. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425.
Flour a board with another half cup of garbanzo flour or more. Take 1/3 of the dough. Either use a rolling pin (it will stick) or flatten the dough with your hands. Cut out with a biscuit cutter. Place on baking sheets and into oven.
The recipe I started from recommends baking them for seven minutes, flipping them over, giving them seven minutes more and then an extra five minutes. I did not do that. I did turn them and checked occasionally to see if they were done, mostly by the smell.
* I used an olive oil from France that has been infused with red peppers, but you can use any you like.
Fully-Leaded Cheese Crackers (All the butter, cheese and salt)
Soften 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)
Grate 8 ounces of good quality Cheddar cheese, plus an ounce of Pecorino Romano
Combine butter and cheese in a bowl (I used my hands).
Add 1 cup unbleached flour, 3 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour, 1 scant tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp paprika and grated fresh nutmeg to taste.
Knead to combine and form into logs. Wrap logs in waxed paper and chill for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 325.
Slice logs thinly and place slices on baking sheets (there is so much fat in here that I did not bother to grease them). Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes.
Sometimes life does get in the way of cooking 😛
You seem to have managed just fine with these crackers! I love how you counter any problems you run into and produce such delicious recipes!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you, CCU.
I’ve never made crackers. These sound delicious and since my mom can’t eat gluten, I may try your recipe.
The garbanzo and fava flour tastes good, Maura, but it is finely milled. I think the problem could be solved by adding less water or adding it very slowly.
“Make each cracker our own by using ingredients we love…” – Isn’t that what a pure-bred cracker should be? It is the best qualities within that reveal the unique crust without. Am I making any sense? It does make perfect sense to me.
That’s good, Granny (that it makes sense to you)…
I just love crackers, especially homemade and cheesy ones, so the high test version is the one I’d most likely try. But I am really enjoying posts about gluten free ideas, mainly because of the genuine creativity it inspires! I love the chickpea flour idea, but would probably have to cheat and add wheat flour, too!
The cheese crackers are wonderful (and dangerous). The other ones are good — they just don’t meet my cracker specifications for thinness and crispness.
I can’t keep Cheez-Its in the house because I have absolutely no self-control! Maybe if I went to the trouble of making the “full leaded” recipe I would exercise a little restraint to make them last a bit! I’d say that making two batches of crackers must redeem the losses of the previous cake! 🙂 They do sound really good, Sharyn! Debra
I know — I have no discipline with Cheez-Its. I try though. My latest strategy is that I get a small rice bowl, put a handful in it, close the box and go to another floor of the house away from the kitchen. This means that to get more I have to walk downstairs and be conscious of the fact that I am eating more of them than I should. We only get them when we find them at deep discounts and it is just as well — they might as well be crack. Making my own cheese crackers and seeing all of the fat that goes into them does cause me to use some restraint: they are also less salty than Cheez-Its, which helps.
How nice that you baked crackers for your GF house guest. I saw this challenge on a number of blogs but I hadn’t seen a GF version, I have GF friends, so I appreciate it. You might like this recipe I made for a friend, it’s always successful: http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/gluten-free-almond-sesame-crackers/
And then there is the home made version of your fav Cheez-itz: http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/more-cheez-itz/
Although it has 8oz (227g) cheese, it only has 2 tbsp (30g) butter and 1 tbsp (15g) shortening.
Thanks, Eva. Since I needed to make two different kinds of crackers, it was a no-brainer. The garbanzo and fava bean flour was left from the time I made battered stuffed chiles and caught the stove on fire (the why-I-don’t-deep-fry story). I also made zucchini-feta pancakes with it as a binder instead of regular flour. I’ve long saved your homemade Cheez-It recipe, but I actually try not to make things like this much — too calorie-rich and too good. I’ll look at the almond-sesame crackers again though.
I know what you mean about not making things we like too much! I usually make them as hostess gifts particularly if where we are going have kids. I made them the last time my brother and his family came over and the kids spotted the cheez-itz in the living room as they came into the house and didn’t even bother to say hello, they bee-lined for the cheez-itz. They polished off the batch in about 30 minutes. Needless to say, they didn’t eat much brunch at all. So much for paying $80 for the spiral cut ham!
The almond sesame crackers will soon become a GF favourite. They hold up amazingly well with dips too. But, like anything, moderation is key.
I have had a few cracker recipes bookmarked for a while now but haven’t got around to making them. These sound great! 🙂
I don’t make crackers much, Christina — I made some back in December, I think, called Mad Scientist’s Crackers.
I made crackers for the first time a few months ago and was surprised how easy they were to make. More importantly, they tasted far superior to anything I’ve ever bought. Since then, I’ve collected some recipes and will certainly add your GF – DF recipe to the list. They sound great and today you must have a few GF recipes on hand. Thanks, Sharyn.
I have not yet created crackers at home that I thought were better than store-bought, but I haven’t been working too hard at it either, John. The GF crackers still need a texture adjustment to roll them thinner (or a person with higher dexterity than I have).
I’ve never tried making crackers Sharyn, I can see I’m going to have to amend that and soon. I have a liking for Rillettes and crackers – outrageoulsy naughty! One question, when you say slice thinly, how thin is thinly?
I don’t know, Claire — a quarter inch or less if you can do it, I guess.
Thanks Sharyn, I’ll see what I can do!
Kudos to you for making such a complicated snack for your houseguest. I’m glad the crackers turned out well for you. Homemade crackers are on my to-do list for this fall when the kids are back in school and I have some time to experiment in the kitchen.
Thanks, Jackie. The crackers were fairly straightforward. It was just that the gluten-free dough was too wet. I could have used less water, or added it more slowly.
You are so a talented baker! This is so amazing! =)
Thank you, my dear. Anyone can do this, I think.
Was wondering if allowing the dough to sit for a longer period, say 30 minutes instead of 15, would make any difference.
I don’t know, Norma — I suspect if I had added the water gradually I might have used less.
I’ve yet to make crackers, guess it would be a challenge to myself to try! I’ve baked for a gluten free client for many years. The amount of various ingredients necessary to pull together the dough always overwhelmed me, but it would work in the end, just not ever having the right feel and texture as full gluten flour. So when you described how difficult it was to roll out the crackers, I so understand 🙂 I’m glad your friend liked them and you’re so thoughtful to have made those for her!
Thanks, Linda, since I had to make two kinds of crackers to fulfill the challenge and I had the garbanzo/fava flour it just didn’t make sense to me to make two kinds she couldn’t eat.
I love chickpea (garbanzo) flour! Do you ever make socca? Mmmm…. must be take to make a batch! 🙂
No, I ‘ll have to look it up. Thanks, Rachel.
Hi Sharyn – those cheese crackers sound absolutely lovely… albeit dangerous, as you say, haha 😀 The seed crackers sound awesome too – they remind me a little of some ones I made at the beginning of the year using a recipe from my mother-in-law. They don’t use any flour at all – you soak oats and seeds in water overnight, it absorbs all the water up and then you spread it out on parchment paper in the morning and bake. Cut into squares and then bake a bit longer still.
I’ll have to look up your oat crackers, Charles — if I bought gluten-free oats for them I could feed them to gluten-free friends.
I choose the cheesy crackers with everything! i really should try to make them.. i love crackers and have not had them in years really, as i cannot find the water wafers i used to eat in NZ.. but these sound like something i should try.. i love crunchy food! c
They are not hard, Celi. And they’ll be heavenly with all of that homemade butter and cheese.
Lovely that you made the gf cracker for your houseguest. I’m sure she appreciated your efforts and thoughtfulness.
Thank you, Karen. As I keep saying, the challenge was to make two crackers by two different methods and it would have been rude to make two kinds she couldn’t eat.