Going Crackers

The last time I was at the store putting a pack of $5 flat bread crackers into my basket I thought to my self, "Self, you know you could make a whole pile of these tasty flatbread crackers for next to nothing!"  So with a sigh I put my delicious albeit spendy crackers back on the shelf and swore to not buy them again until I at least tried to make them at home.  A quick pinterest search turned up a whole lotta cracker recipes but nothing that was really jumping out at me, so as usual I decided to wing it! The first 2 rounds through the oven were too thick and ended up with more of a wheat thin texture despite the fact that I had rolled them to less than an 1/8th of an inch with my rolling pin. With very sore arms (that dough is really tough to roll out!) I turned to my faithful old Atlas Pasta roller and cranked out the rest of the dough on the #6 setting. The resulting cracker was perfectly thin, crispy and my my arms were saved! If you do not have a pasta roller you'll just need a bit more elbow grease to get them to that deliciously thin texture.

Rosemary, Sea salt and Flax Crackers

For crackers: 2 3/4 c. unbleached flour  1/4 c. ground flax seeds 1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper 4 tbsp olive oil 1/2-3/4 c. water
for topping: 3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary finely chopped 1/4 c. sea salt
Preheat oven to 450 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats. Mix flour, flax meal, salt & pepper in the bowl of a stand mixer. Once combined add water and olive oil and mix until dough just stays together. You can do this by hand without a mixer but since the dough is so dry it takes a while. Separate dough into several small balls and roll out either by hand or with pasta bike until desired thickness is reached. Transfer the thin dough sheets to parchment lined cookie sheets and spray lightly with olive oil spray or other cooking spray. Sprinkle chopped rosemary and salt over the top of the crackers and use either a pizza cutter, pasta cutter or just plain old knife to slice into what ever cracker shape strikes your fancy. Bake for approx 10 minutes or until they are brown around the edges. Allow the crackers to cool and enjoy! The delicate little things store best in a zip top bag or something to keep them from going stale.
These tasty snacks can be made in any combination of flavors, next time I'm thinking black pepper & lavender or sun-dried tomato & basil! These go great with a glass of wine and a bit of cheese and some spicy salami or just straight outta the bag while the kids are napping!



& Fancy Crackers!