Saltines
Par Laurie le 10 juillet 2016, 17:42 - Bread, buns, biscuits, bagels - Lien permanent
Everyone knows those crackers and yes, even in France, you can find them in every store but what's the fun? Give me a recipe and I'll never buy the item ever again. I'll make it from scratch. Granted, I probably spend more time in my kitchen than I should – thinks my dog who sighs every time he sees me don my apron – but hey, whatever makes me happy... Rambling again? OK. So, crackers it is.
Saltines got really popular with sailors back in the 18th century because they were easy to store. As a matter of fact, they're very easy to make too. I like the fact I can be creative with shape and sprinkling salts so that with one batch, you can make lots of different varieties. I store them in a mason jars and take a few for carbs in my lunch box.
Here's how I make mine...
Oh and yes, for once in this category, the recipe doesn't require to master the art of using yeast properly. Bliss!
For 36 big ones or more smaller ones (which I did on my first attempt):
4 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
1 and 1/3 cup milk
1 egg yolk or 1 egg white (depending on what you have at hand)
1 Tbsp water
salt crystals or herbs for sprinkling
Crumb the flour, baking powder and butter together. I use the flat dough hook of my kitchenaid but you can do it by hand, which is quite fun and relaxing, actually! Add herb seasoning if you want. Add the milk.
Roll out the dough paper thin on a lightly dusted surface. I say lightly because my first attempt was rendered more difficult as the dough was quite dry and got drier on too much flour.
Cut into pieces – be creative.
Place on a baking sheet and prick with a fork. I was distracted the first time I made them (photos attached) and I forgot that part. It's meant to make sure the crackers will stay flat so you can store them more easily. They were good anyway though uneven in shape, which is fine by me because I like things that look homemade and not perfect. My point of view. Do whatever is best by your own standards but know you don't need to throw away the whole batch if you forgot to prick the crackers!
Brush with the egg wash – it's the egg yolk or white beaten lightly with the water. I use either, depending on what I have at hand. The first time I made them, I had just made oven-fried shrimp cocktail (see recipe on this blog) and had used the white so I had one extra yolk to use. As you probably know, they must be stored in the fridge in an air-tight container and used in the next 24 hours so try to combine several recipes so they won't go to waste.
Sprinkle with salt crystals or pepper or herbs...
As you can see on the photo, I even attempted to make small balls of dough. I included the salt crystals inside the dough and rolled it into a ball. It was REALLY good.
Bake until golden brown at 325°F. That will be about 15 to 20 mn.
Store in an air-tight container. They won't stay fresh for months as do store-bought crackers but they have no preservatives, right? See the silver lining? ;)