November 12, 2009
One surefire way to impress your guests is to serve homemade crackers. Kim and I concocted these in preparation for Donald Link’s visit and they were amazing!
Makes 1 pound of crackers
Preheat 325 oven degrees
1c all purpose flour
1/2c whole wheat or rye flour
1/2c cornmeal
1T sugar
1/2t+1t salt
10T unsalted butter, cut into 1/2” cubes
3/4c buttermilk
1T sesame seeds
2t poppy seeds
Mix the flours, cornmeal, sugar and 1/2t salt in a standing mixer using a paddle blade. Mix on low speed until the butter breaks down into pea- sized pieces. Pour in the buttermilk and mix just until combined, so that the dough remains a little wet. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, pressing into a flat disk, and chill overnight.
The next day, divide the dough into quarters. Lightly flour the counter and roll out dough to a 1/16” thickness. (Alternately, you can flour the quarters of dough and roll them out thin with a pasta machine.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place rolled out dough on it. Prick all over with a fork. Chill again for at least an hour.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the seeds and remaining 1t salt. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat each sheet of dough with water and then sprinkle evenly with the seed mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Rotate half way through the baking process so that they brown evenly. Cool on a rack completely. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Variation: White Spelt flour can be substituted for the all purpose and whole grain spelt for the whole wheat. Sheep or goat yogurt can be substituted for the buttermilk. If using spelt flours you might have to reduce the buttermilk or yogurt by a few tablespoons. Pour in enough to bring the dough together and have it a little wet and no more.
