Crackers are pretty exciting to me! You can get them in boxes and they are OK, but there is something about how they are a factory-made kind of thing that makes me want to make remarkable crackers by hand. Just kind of saying 'hey look I can make stunning crackers I am as good as a machine'.
Anyways, I made my first batch of crackers today after reading up a couple recipes. Predictably, I added rye flour and buttermilk to the mix because I am all crazy for rye and buttermilk. Basically, you want to cut some flour with butter shortening as if for pie, then mix it with enough water/milk to make a dough. Also, you want some baking powder in there too to puff it up.Mix your dry stuff, set your butter to "Coarse Meal", turn said meal onto a clean counter, sprinkle the buttermilk over top, and toss together until you've got a dough. Lightly flour your counter and roll out the dough into a big rectangle (1/8 inch thick or less), and trim the edges. Cut crackers, prick with fork a bunch of times, and bake at 350ºF for 7-10 minutes.
I made two batches, being the first batch and the 'scrap trimming' batch. The first ones stayed mostly flat and have a nice crumbly texture but didn't puff up much, the second ones got worked a little harder as they were rolled and re-rolled, and they puffed up a couple large pockets. I'm not sure exactly how done I want these to be. One thing with rye flour is that it cooks much darker than wheat, in that where wheat would be golden-brown, rye looks burnt-brown. Some of my crackers are still pale, some of them are dark and crisp, and I'm not sure which I like better. Warm, I'm loving the paler, softer ones with goat cheese and shaved smoked brisket, though the crispy fellows will probably keep better.
Will certainly make more crackers later, these are pretty simple!
