Home made crackers. I’ve been thinking about making crackers for a few months. I finally made a batch.

Why make crackers at home when the grocery store has boxes of them for such a small price?

Some people want to control the ingredients in their crackers. You know, avoid all the chemical additives and questionable preservative ingredients.

Some people want to control the flavor of their crackers. You know, add some more spice and less salt or less spice and more salt.

I just wanted to see if I could rise to the challenge of making thin, crunchy, tasty crackers. It sounded like fun and since we eat a lot of crackers for snacks, it was a good idea.

I did it!

Italian Cracker Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups wheat flour
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 TB Italian spices
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup cooking oil
2/3 cup water

Recipe Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place all ingredients in mixing bowl.
3. Stir until dough forms into a ball.
4. Roll dough between pieces of wax paper until really thin.
5. Cut into squares. Sprinkle with salt.
6. Bake on preheated, greased baking sheet until golden, about 25-30 minutes.

Approximate Nutritional Information:

Servings Per Recipe: 4, Amount Per Serving: Calories: 123, Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 6g, Sodium: 99mg, Carbs: 45g, Protein: 9g

Make It a Meal:

Serve with cheese, meat and vegetable tray for a light lunch.

Variations:

Replace the Italian spices with basil to maintain a Mediterranean flavor. Replace the Italian spices with taco seasoning for a spicier cracker.

During my research for a good cracker recipe,I found some recipes, read them all and then took the basis of those recipes and created my own recipe. I based it on ingredients I had so I didn’t have to make a run to the grocery.

The next time I make these crackers, I’ll roll them out even thinner than I did this time. But I’ll have to find my rolling pin. (see story below) These crackers were rolled to about the thickness of a quarter. That turned out to be a bit too thick for my preference.

The crackers taste delicious! I can’t stop snacking on them. But a thinner cracker would be crispier and then I’m sure I’ll only stop eating when they’re all devoured.

Rolling Pin Story

This story starts nearly a year ago with a water leak in my kitchen ceiling – from the upstairs bathroom plumbing. It moves quickly to a demolished ceiling and repaired plumbing. This was all accomplished within the first week. My husband has mad plumbing skills! And he’s not afraid to wield a crow bar against century old plaster and lathe ceilings.

That’s when progress dropped to a creeping crawl. We contracted with a local fellow to replace the dry wall and his schedule was full up with outdoor projects until the weather turned cold. He made us a priority though, the minute the cold weather hit – that’s a really good thing since all the insulation came out of the ceiling along with the plaster. The dry wall went up and the holidays arrived.

You can imagine that we didn’t want to spend our holiday season under construction, so we halted forward progress until we were recovered from the seasonal excitement. Once we were back in the mood to remodel, we finished up the dining room and the downstairs bathrooms. (Another story for another day).

And I’m sure by now you’re wondering what the heck this all has to do with my rolling pin. It’s simple, what do you do when you plan to tear out and remodel your kitchen? You move everything out. The stove went to sit for a week in the living room. The refrigerator lived in the husband’s office for a month. The dishes, bowls, etc that are stored in the shelves were all boxed up and toted to the second floor.

I’ll bet you can guess where my rolling pin is. Well, I’m guessing… it’s in one of those millions of boxes stacked in the bedroom my daughter vacated a year ago. I’m not digging through all of those boxes just so I can make some crackers.

No Rolling Pin – No Problem

Since I didn’t have a rolling pin at hand, and I’m saving all my pennies for new backsplash in the kitchen I wasn’t going to buy a replacement, I made due.

I’ve shopped around and there are so many rolling pins on the market – some have specific tasks – like pastry or pasta. And so many amazing materials – wood, granite, glass, marble – it’s quite exhilarating to shop!

Fox Run Black Marble Rolling Pin – $17.00
from: Cilantro, The Cooks Shop Inc.
Fat Daddio s 14 inch Stainless Steel French Rolling Pin – $22.95
from: Cilantro, The Cooks Shop Inc.

I pulled out an empty canning jar from the cupboard (I have no idea why those weren’t boxed up!) and used that to roll out my cracker dough. It worked pretty well, just took a few more swipes across the dough since it was quite a bit shorter than my rolling pin.

Serving Suggestion

The plate you see in the pictures makes a really nice snack tray. We often will take a plate like this to the deck for a light meal when the weather is hot or we’re just looking for a little something to nibble on. I slice up some cheese, add some tomatoes or olives, maybe a bit of pepperoni and the crackers. We’re all set with a tall glass of iced tea.

 

Interested in one of the books pictured above? You can purchase on Amazon here.