Home made crackers

[Meowmie]

I love making home made crackers. The flavor is fantastic, you control the amount of salt and seasonings, they are incredibly inexpensive, and much easier to make than you would think.

Does anyone else make their own crackers?

 

[Tracky]

Never made them,but would love the recipe please. Love the idea,like making your own crisps .

 

[Whpped]

I have never found a recipe which keeps the crackers crispy for more than 48-72 hours. And usually you have to keep them open, not sealed in a container.

 

[Meowmie]

Honestly, I don't think crackers ever last more than an hour. I make small batches and they get snatched up as soon as they come out of the oven. Had a busy day today, tomorrow I'll dig out my recipe box. I'm thinking maybe a wax bag might be the way to go to store them.

Have you ever tried freezing them?

 

[Whpped]

You actually may be right about storing them in a wax bag. I know that if you store them in an air-tight container, they go soggy. I have never tried freezing them, that's kinda funny. Does that really work?

I currently have bananas frozen, and my DH thinks I belong in the loony bin. Now if I had to freeze crackers, he may think I am crackers...

 

[Meowmie]

Homemade saltine crackers

2 c. flour
1 tsp sea salt (divided)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tbsp. butter
2/3c milk

Preheat oven to 375°


Combine flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and baking soda very well. Cut in butter
(I do this in a food processor)
Stir in milk. Shape into a ball, and knead a few times. Divide into pieces
and roll with a dusting of flour very thin. (I use a pasta roller) Lay the uncut
sheets of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet, Pierce with a fork, sprinkle with remaining salt.
Cut into 1.5" squares using a pizza cutter or pastry wheel.

Bake at 375° for 10 to 11 min. Watch carefully, as they can go
from light brown to burnt fairly quickly.

_________

I use the same recipe for oyster crackers just cut them smaller.

I don't know where I got the recipe from, I have it written down
so probably from a friend or family member or a magazine.

While I don't make these to store but to use fresh, I do have
written on the side it to store them in a mason jar with a rubber seal.

Using the processor and pasta roller these are a snap to make.
If you don't have a pasta roller, you can use thicker rubber
bands on the your rolling pin for a consitant depth.(or buy bands from
amazon. Another method would be to lay popsicle sticks along the sides of the
dough and roll till it is at that depth.

Even thickness is key to having great crackers that are evenly
cooked.

As for freezing them, I have no idea if that works. Was just trying to think of options. I freeze cookies so I thought ... maybe

These crackers are fairly light on the salt, you may want to adjust it.
I tend to use less salt that most people so I may have reduced it from the original recipe. I know sometimes I leave the salt out of the dough and use it all to sprinkle on top.

 

[ACSAPA]

I don't make my own crackers, but I like the recipes for making your own seasoned crackers by adding oil and spices to store bought crackers.
Here's a recipe for seasoned oyster crackers.

http://allrecipes.com/personalrecipe/63018834/seasoned-oyster-crackers/detail.aspx

 

[Meowmie]

I've had those before! My mother-in-law used to make them! They were so good. I never did get the recipe, there were 2 of her recipes I never got. That cracker recipe, and her really fantastic recipe for sugar cookies.

The reason I never got them is because I would have gained 100 lbs if I had those recipes!!

 

[ACSAPA]

I've had those before! My mother-in-law used to make them! They were so good. I never did get the recipe, there were 2 of her recipes I never got. That cracker recipe, and her really fantastic recipe for sugar cookies.

The reason I never got them is because I would have gained 100 lbs if I had those recipes!!

There's also one for seasoned saltines ,called firecrackers. This blogger forgot to mention that after you season them, you're supposed to bake them at a low temp in the oven for a few minutes. http://www.misszoot.com/2011/01/17/omg-spicy-saltines/

 

[Meowmie]

Firecrackers sounds like something I would enjoy the taste of, but my body would hate me for!

I'm having a hard time not copying the recipe for the oyster crackers. I know I would eat too many of them.

 

[Becky]

I've never made crackers from scratch before, but I'm going to have a go next time we've got people over. I love nice crackers with cheese so I'll get thinking about some nice flavours - have you tried making poppyseed ones?

If you don't have a pasta roller, you can use thicker rubber bands on the your rolling pin for a consitant depth.(or buy bands from amazon.

That is such a good tip!!

 

[Meowmie]

Yes, I have made poppy seed, sesame seed, quinoa, chive, onion, cheese... you name it I've put it in crackers. Once you find a cracker recipe you like you can alter it many ways.

I should have said if you use plain old rubber bands, make sure you don't get them on the food. who knows what chemicals are in them. Maybe better to take bakers twin or plain cotton crochet thread and wrap serveral layer of that, or use boards on the side of the dough.

 

[Meowmie]

YAY! UPS just delivered my dough docker. I used to make crackers just once in awhile but to get GMO's completely out of my diet and not go broke, I refuse to buy store crackers. The pasta roller makes it so easy, but pricking a sheet of crackers with a fork, not so much.

I went through pages on Amazon to find what I needed. I typed in "pointy pricky thing to make crackers" and that didn't work. I now know it's called a dough docker.

start to finish crackers in 15 min now

 

[Meowmie]

Becky, I suggest you try making some before you spring them on guests, make sure you have them how you like them.

One thing I never mentioned that is important- As with cookie and pastry dough, you want to handle the dough as little as possible or you will have tough crackers.

 

[Becky]

Becky, I suggest you try making some before you spring them on guests, make sure you have them how you like them.

One thing I never mentioned that is important- As with cookie and pastry dough, you want to handle the dough as little as possible or you will have tough crackers.

Good point, I'll give it a try. We don't actually have any plans to have anyone over for food for ages, so I've got plenty of time for practice

 

[Meowmie]

I was too lazy to go dig out my canning jars to store the crackers in so threw some in a Tupperware container, and some in a gladware container. I hid them and ate one each day. After 2 days the ones in Tupperware began losing their crispness, but the ones in gladware stayed crisp until I ate the last one- 11 days later.

I guess the different the plastic makes a huge difference. I'll be making my crackers in bigger batches and storing them to have on hand!

 

[Meowmie]

Since starting on this forum I have re-found my love for baking. My kind of baking, which quite often doesn't involve recipes.

My newest cracker-

Cheese nips

I recipe yeast bread dough- made with garlic salt instead of salt, 1.5 x the normal amount of salt.
powdered cheddar cheese ( used about 1/2 cup but make them as cheesy as you'd like)
basil or other herbs of your choice

Mix cheese powder with the flour before adding to the dough recipe.

After first kneading, run through pasta machine on thickest setting, then run through the fettuccini cutter.
Unlike with soda crackers, crackers based on yeast dough will not get tougher if you roll and re roll the dough.

Work in small batches, and cut the 'fettuccini' cheese bread into 1 to 1.5" strips. Place on lightly oiled baking pan or on a nonstick mat. Cover with towel and let rise for 45 min to 1 hour.

Bake at 350 for about 14 min. Check the texture of one of the crackers. You don't want them to brown, but you do want them cooked through so they will be crispy.

This is so fast and easy, I'll never have to buy GMO laced cheese crackers again.

If anyone wants my basic bread dough, which is what I base most of my bread recipes on, just let me know, but in general if you have a favorite bread recipe this should work.

 

[Becky]

I don't think we have powdered cheddar cheese in the uk, do you think it would work with grated cheese?

 

[Jessi]

I have done it before, but it's not something I do regularly. While they are fairly simple to make, crackers are something I consider a pantry staple. We don't eat them daily, but I like being able to grab a few here or there for this dish or that snack, etc. I find it way more convenient to have them in stock instead of constantly making them, especially since homemade ones don't stay fresh very long.

Now goldfish crackers or cheeze-it style crackers....? Those take more effort, but are soooo much better homemade than they are are from a box. Yum!

 

[Meowmie]

I find the effort involved to be very minimal, but without a pasta machine it would be tedious.

Using finely grated cheese would work, I have done it before. You would need to use a well oiled pan or bake on parchment paper or a silpat. Those would be my preference as I don't like oily crackers or scrubbing pans.

I now have several containers of cheese nips and saltine crackers. They keep very well in containers like glad ware. MUCH better than they ever did in Tupperware.

And the cost savings! Oh my!