Crackers are very important in my house. Crackers and cheese can be a meal, a snack, a late night writing/blogging source of fuel. I can not resist a good cracker! With a slice of cheese or a dip, I’m powerless.
DIY crackers could also be a fun project for kids; they can totally handle rolling them out using the pasta roller (it’s something they can crank and move! That’s like the requirement for all the fun kids toys, right!?)
These crackers are also something you can whip up when you don’t have much around except the basics! A little butter, a little milk, and you’re in business. I bet these would be good with flaked roasted garlic or onion too, and the seeds could be changed up to suit your mood or what you have on hand.
In the food processor (what would I do without this machine? It’s one of my most used kitchen appliances) put in some flour, a little salt, sugar, some poppy seeds and a little cubed butter.
Slowly add in milk until it’s a cohesive dough.
Form into a disk and put it in the fridge. I left mine in their overnight, but as long as you give it an hour it’s fine. Leaving it in their overnight was an experiment, and it worked! So if you want to make this dough a day (or probably even 2 days) ahead, go for it!
Also, this little guy is my favorite for measuring small amounts of liquid. I got it in the baking aisle at Winco, but here’s a similar one.
When you are ready to roll out and bake the crackers, preheat the oven and get out the pasta roller. You could also just use a rolling pin and a large area of counter/table and some flour on the counter and rolling pin to make sure it doesn’t stick.
Cut into 8 pieces…..
Shape into little discs…..
And here’s why this recipe is genius! I might just make all my crackers using the pasta maker from now on.
You start the dough disc going through the pasta machine at level 1 (or the widest setting) and then with each pass through of the dough, gradually set it smaller and smaller. I went from a level 1 down to a level 5. I was worried this dough would stick, rip, tear and otherwise be difficult… but it wasn’t! It worked like a dream and behaved very well as far as cracker doughs go.
And look how thin!
Put 3-4 long pieces of rolled out dough onto a large baking sheet. Spritz or brush lightly with water and sprinkle more poppy seeds and some kosher salt on top, lightly pressing them in with your fingers so the seeds and salt stick.
Bake 10-15 minutes. CRUNCH!
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds, divided
- 4-6 tablespoons milk
- Kosher salt for sprinkling
- In a food processor, combine the flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of the poppy seeds and sugar. Pulse to mix them together, then top with the butter pieces. Pulse until the mixture looks like a coarse meal. With the machine running, pour the milk slowly through the feed tube until the dough comes together in a clump. Add a little more milk, teaspoon at a time, if necessary until the dough is roughly in a ball. Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap, form into a small disc and refrigerate for at least an hour, or until you are ready to proceed with rolling and baking the crackers.
- When you are ready to roll them, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Set up your pasta maker or clear a large space on a counter. Take the dough out of the fridge and on a lightly floured counter, cut into 8 wedges. Form each wedge into a small ball. You can either roll them into long ovals or rounds with a rolling pin on a floured counter until 1/8 of an inch thick, or use the pasta maker.
- If using the pasta maker, roll each small disk of dough through the machine, starting with the widest setting and gradually going smaller. For my Atlas machine, I started at 1 and decreased the thickness to 5, passing the dough through once or twice at each setting.
- On a parchment lined baking sheet, set each piece of rolled out dough and lightly brush with water or use a spray bottle to spritz lightly with water.
- Sprinkle with the kosher salt and remaining tablespoon of poppy seeds (you may not use all the poppy seeds, just sprinkle the amount that looks good to you). Press them in a bit with your hands on the surface of the dough. Prick with a fork all over each piece of dough.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the crackers are lightly browned and crisp. Let cool. Break each cracker into about 4 pieces. Serve immediately or store in a plastic bag for up to 1 week.
Resources:
Pasta maker, Atlas, Amazon
Bowl, Martha Stewart Collection “Lorraine Stencil” Dinnerware Collection, Goodwill
Kosher Salt, Diamond Crystal, Amazon
Recipe, Kathy Casey’s Northwest Table: Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Southern Alaska, Amazon
Mini glass measuring cup, Amazon
Food Processor, Cuisinart, Amazon