Baking Crackers: My Latest Obsession

[BakerAunt]

On the KAF Baking Circle in 2015, KAF-Sub-rius (I miss his baking discussions also) had mentioned in a baking thread that he had tried and liked the Sourdough Cracker Recipe from the KAF site. That started my fascination with baking crackers. I make a variation of that recipe with the Vermont Cheese Powder, and my husband and I like them a lot. I mentioned it in my Baking Circle Highlights for 2015.

I don't take my starter with me on vacation, so I've been searching out other cracker recipes to bake while we are here, and it would be great to have a variety of cracker recipes for parties. I've posted the Rye Crisp one that I tried last week, and I expect to make it regularly. Tonight, I'm baking the second half of Cheese Herb Crackers--another recipe from The Baking Sheet 13.1 (Holiday 2001). I've taste tested a few from the first batch, and it's another great recipe. It also uses baking powder and yeast.

Of course, I did some tinkering. The recipe was developed back when KAF was pushing its new mellow pastry blend. I decided to use almost half whole wheat pastry flour with the regular AP flour. I used grated parmesan cheese as the cheese and put in some dried rosemary, sage, and thyme, in addition to half a tsp. of the pepper. (I have to watch the spices with my husband.) I think that next time I bake these, I will divide the dough into three parts, since the dough covers almost the entire baking sheet, so the edges brown faster than those in the center.

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• This topic was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

I love crackers, but I totally fail at making them! I think my biggest problem is getting them rolled out evenly so that they're evenly baked.

[BakerAunt]

I would do better if I had my wood strips here. I do have a Joseph Joseph rolling pin that does do 1/16th of an inch, but it is not long enough (another reason to divide the dough into thirds rather than halves next time).

[Mike Nolan]

You should be able to find replacement wood strips at a hobby store, I've even seen them at hardware stores.

For that matter, 1/16 of an inch is 0.0625 of an inch, and the thickness of a penny is 0.0598 of an inch, so if you tape a row of pennies to the counter, that should be really close to 1/16 of an inch.

[aaronatthedoublef]

My go-to rolling pin is a warped, but much loved, European model I have used for decades. It has crossed the US with me twice now. I wonder if it would work for something so thin and could I get the consistency.

[Mike Nolan]

I've got a tapered rolling pin, I've never figured out how to use it for anything. My go-to rolling pins these days are two non-tapered wooden ones with no handles, like the ones we used in pastry school, in two different diameters. I like the larger diameter one for pie crusts, the smaller diameter one for other doughs.

[BakerAunt]

When I'm at home, I use my "pastry wands" and a long, non-tapered pin. I can get good consistent pressure along its length. I have a long pin that is set for 1/4 inch (that's what happens when one spent too much time at the KAF site). I also have a heavy maple one with handles that I use for sweet roll dough. I stopped using if for bread because I think that rolling it out with it was contributing to the blow-outs in the finished loaves. I also have a glass one that a friend gave me, where one can fill it with ice water. (It was her Mom's, so she wanted it to go to a baker.) I've not used it yet.

Here, I have that Joseph Joseph one, and I have the little one with the handles that was my mother-in-law's. What I did was roll out to 1/16th the best I could with the JJ one, then used the other to roll it out a little flatter. One side was a bit uneven on the second bake.

I want to get the special Swedish style pin that docks the dough.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by BakerAunt.

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