Making your own food from scratch is a great way to ensure that it’s filled with the best ingredients—there’s a reason so many people love baking their own breads, muffins, and cookies. Plus, it’s fun to play around with different recipes and tweak your favorite foods to better fit your palate, as well as your dietary needs. While some foods seem easy to make, others may appear trickier at first glance. For example, baking a loaf or cake is pretty common, but you don’t find many people coming up with their own crackers!
Making crackers from scratch sounds like a great idea, but many people are afraid to try it on their own. There seems to be a misconception that making homemade crackers isn’t easy, since it’s not as obvious how to make them compared to baking something like bread. However, making your own crackers isn’t complicated at all, and if you’re committed to the idea of making your own food or experimenting with different baking projects, there’s no reason you shouldn’t attempt to make some homemade crackers in your own kitchen.
Just as you can make all sorts of bread using different grains and flavor pairings, you can do the same with crackers. Whether you’re looking to make some snacks for your kids, some fancy appetizers to pair with a cheese plate, or just some everyday staples, you can do it all by making your own crackers at home. They’re easy to make, require minimal tools and ingredients, and can be a healthy part of your diet. Plus, here at Bob’s Red Mill, we have plenty of recipes to choose from to fit all your needs. Here’s everything you need to know about how to make crackers at home!
Why You Should Make Your Own Crackers
It might be hard to imagine why you should make your own crackers when you can just pop in to the local supermarket and get your hands on a box. But you can’t discount the amazing flavor of fresh-baked crackers, plus you get creativity points for coming up with your own combinations!
Thankfully, making crackers doesn’t require much effort. In fact, it might be one of the simpler baking projects you take on. Unlike bread, pie, or other baked goods, making the dough for crackers is quick the entire process generally takes less than an hour, which means you can make these snacks anytime a craving hits. Plus, making your own crackers at home can be much healthier, as you can avoid unwanted additives, chemicals, allergens, or other ingredients that don’t suit your liking.
What You Need
When it comes to making crackers that really shine, you need to start with the right ingredients. Generally, this involves a mix of flour, salt, olive oil, and water. Some recipes will include sugar, and many include different nuts and seeds. They can also include different herbs, spices, or even cheeses. Finally, you can experiment with flour types, including white, whole wheat, gluten free oat flour, or a mix. There are plenty of combinations when it comes to making homemade crackers, but your base will always be flour, salt, oil, and water.
How to Do It
Begin making crackers by preheating the oven. The temperature will depend on the recipe you’re using, but it’s typically between 250 and 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Then you’ll combine your dry ingredients. This can be done in a bowl by hand, or you can add the ingredients to a food processor and pulse. If you’re adding cheese, mix it with the flour mixture. Then add in the water and olive oil, and mix or pulse again. If the ingredients feel too dry, you can add more water to attain a stickier dough. Once it forms a ball, you’ve got your dough. No kneading, chilling, or rising needed!
Once your dough has formed, you’ll want to roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough to your desired thickness, depending on the cracker you are making. Generally, you’ll want it to be ¼-inch thick or less, sometimes as thin as ⅛-inch or 1/16-inch.. For many crackers, the thinner the cracker, the better. Cut the dough into your desired shapes using a cookie cutter, pizza cutter, or a knife.
Cover a baking sheet with some parchment paper and arrange the crackers on the sheet. It’s okay if they are crowded and close together. If you decide to add seeds or toppings, lightly spray your crackers with a water-filled spray bottle to moisten the dough so the seeds will stick. To prevent the crackers from puffing up in the oven, poke them with the tines of a fork or a toothpick. Bake 10-20 minutes, depending on your oven temperature. Thinner crackers will need less time than thicker ones. To see if your cracker is ready, check to see if it has browned. You can also remove the crackers as they brown to your liking and continue to bake the rest.
Transfer to a wire rack to allow to cool. Most crackers tend to crisp further as they cool, so keep this in mind when monitoring back time. To keep your crackers fresh, store them in an airtight container. They will typically last three to five days. Older crackers that are feeling a little soft can be rejuvenated by returning them to baking sheet and baking them in a 350°F oven for a few minutes. This will help crisp them up.
Tips
Basic crackers can be created using just four ingredients, and there are plenty of different recipes to explore, depending on what you have on hand or your dietary restrictions. However, if you want to perfect your cracker, you’ll want to pay attention to these important tips, which can help make the process easier and your food taste better.
Find the Right Combination of Flour
Using white flour alone might be the simplest, but you can experiment with different flours to alter your crackers’ taste and texture. In addition to whole wheat flour, options include pea flour, tapioca flour, flaxseed meal, cornmeal, and more. Using a variety of flours not only changes the flavor, but it can boost the nutrition of your cracker.
Make Sure You Roll Your Dough Thin
Rolling your cracker dough thin is essential for obtaining that crisp texture you desire. Between ⅛-inch and 1/16-inch is usually the sweet spot. For reference, picture a penny, which is 1/16-inch thick. You can use a rolling pin or even a pasta machine to get the dough to your desired thickness. To improve rollability, you can wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest for 15 minutes. Moistening your dough also helps as well.
Pick a Good Shape
Although it’s fun to try to make adventurous shapes, squares, diamonds, and rectangles are easiest to produce. Crackers with straighter edges tend to be handled less, which can help maintain the dough’s consistency. But most importantly, you want to keep your crackers the same size and shape when baking. Keeping your crackers uniform can help encourage even baking, so nothing burns or comes out underbaked. To help make your crackers look as even as possible, use a flexible ruler and consider purchasing a two-headed pastry cutter.
Master Your Toppings
The flavor of your crackers often depends on what sorts of nuts and seeds you choose to adorn them with. In addition to the usual sesame seeds and poppy seeds, you can also experiment with dried herbs such as thyme, rosemary, and basil, spices such as chili powder, and even combinations like za’atar seasoning or dukkah. You can even use your cracker as a canvas for fancy salts or flavorful cheeses.
Cool Right Away
To master that thin, crispy texture, you’ll want to make sure you remove your crackers from the oven right away to cool. A cooling rack works best. However, if you’re baking in a warm house or a humid environment, allow your crackers to cool in a turned-off oven with the door propped slightly open. Let your crackers cool fully before storing them in your airtight container.
Freeze Extras for Later
Made more crackers than you can eat? Freeze them and save them for later. They freeze well, and they can always be added to the oven again if you want to make them crispier. This can help save you time and money down the line when you want to enjoy some crackers in a pinch. Consider making multiple batches and storing them for a rainy day when you have guests or are throwing a dinner party.
You might be used to buying all your crackers from the store, but making your own crackers can be a breeze. They require only a few ingredients typically found in your pantry, you don’t need any fancy gadgets, and they take less than an hour to whip up from start to finish. With all the possibilities, there’s no reason why you shouldn't be making your own crackers at home all the time! Of course, we also offer snack crackers if your schedule is too busy.
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