Lots of great baking experimentation is going on this week at Nebraska Kitchen!
On Wednesday, I took the “Steel-Cut Oat Crackers” recipe in King Arthur’s Whole Grain Baking (p. 162), which I have never baked, and made some adaptations to replace the 4 Tbs. of butter. I used 2 ½ Tbs. canola oil, which I whisked with ¼ cup buttermilk rather than water. I found that I needed an additional 4 Tbs. of water to get the dough to come together. The recipe assumes that one has left over steel-cut oats, which I never do. I ended up cooking 2 Tbs. steel-cut oats in 3 oz. of water. That probably made about 1/3 cup rather than the ½ cup, but the recipe still worked. After I combined the dry ingredients (and cut the salt to ¾ tsp. and added 1 Tbs. Bob’s Red Mill milk powder), I distributed the cooked and cooled steel-cut oats, using my fingers to break them apart. I then added the buttermilk-oil mixture, before adding the water, one tablespoon at a time, and bringing it together first with a pastry fork and then with a bowl scraper. I divided it in half and wrapped one half in saran before rolling the first one out. The next time I bake these, I would wrap both halves and let them rest 15 minutes, as the second half was much easier to roll out after resting while I worked with the first half. I baked at the stated temperature, but I used the convection setting on my oven and baked on the third rack up (slightly above center) for 15 minutes, turning halfway. We had them with pea soup tonight, and they are excellent and nicely crisp. I will bake these again, as we like the flavor, and they are fast to make, especially if cut into 2-inch squares with a pizza wheel. I am delighted now to have a third cracker recipe.
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