Olive Oil, Rosemary and Lemon Thyme Crackers

A cracker that’s flavoured delicately with olive oil, rosemary and lemon thyme.

Inspiration to bake comes from so many different places, at least it does for me. Case in point: I was on the streetcar returning home from my weekly status meeting with the marketing company when I pulled out my phone to check up on what’s going on in the world of Facebook. The very first story I see is a recipe for crackers from one of our favourite Food Network Canada’s celebrity chefs, Laura Calder (French food at home). You already know how I love to bake my own crackers so this post hit all the right buttons and I knew right away I wanted to make it. The recipe uses fennel seeds and JT is not a huge fan of fennel, so I improvised and replaced the fennel seeds with chopped rosemary. What can I say? They are light, crispy, delicate crackers that (wait for it) taste as if they were deep fried but they are NOT! The recipe came together so easily (I used my food processor to make the pastry-like dough) and they baked up rather quickly. I made mine long triangles but you can really do any old shape; I rather liked that they weren’t uniform and quite rustic. I changed the name of the crackers because mine had a distinct Olive Oil flavour. Definitely making these again.

(Please click here to see Laura’s original recipe)
Makes about 24 crackers, but it depends on what size you cut them.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (125 g) flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• A good grinding of mixed pepper corns
• 2 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) non-fat yoghurt
• 1 tsp fresh lemon thyme leaves
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. Using the metal blades in your food processor, add all the ingredients and pulse until entirely combined and the dough resembles small pea-like chunks. Don’t over mix because we don’t want the butter to melt.
3. Turn out onto a piece of lightly floured parchment and roll out to about 1 mm (1/8″) thick. You will need to flour both sides as this dough is rather sticky.
4. Cut into shapes using a pizza wheel and a kitchen ruler. (I cut triangles that were around 13cm x 5cm  (5″ x 2″)
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they begin to get a golden tone. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
6. Store in an air tight container.
7. Serve with your favourite dip or cheese.

They are strong enough to hold dip.

I used a lovely peppery Olive Oil (the one that our neighbour Tom’s father bottles from Greece).

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A slightly healthier Whole Wheat Cheez-itz

I need a little gift to take to dinner at friends tonight so I’ve been searching my beloved blogs to see what’s out there. I’ve been following Dara on Generation Y Foodie since Ann at Cooking Healthy for Me reviewed her self published cookbook. Dara generally cooks on the healthier side so when I saw this recipe originally posted by Ann, with a little twist, I knew I had to try it. What Dara did was change out the white flour for whole wheat and she added a bit of texture with some ground flax seeds! Brilliant, if you ask me. These little cheese nibbles are a family favourite now, thanks to Ann (my niece and nephew devoured an entire batch in 25 minutes last weekend!) and as I’m always looking to make things a bit healthier…I jumped on these.

They still have the same cheesy taste, but they have a bit of texture from the whole wheat and the flax, and they also have a touch of earthiness too. We gave it a good thumbs up. Thanks Dara for this lovely treat, I will be making it again and again.

Yummy little cheesy nibbles

Whole Wheat Cheez-Itz

You know you want one!

Ingredients:

• 8oz sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated (I had to add a bit of mozzarella as I had run out of the cheddar)
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed
• 2+ tbsp ice water
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425° F
2. Add the cheese, flour, flax, sea salt and cayenne into a food processor. Process a couple of times to mix everything together.
3. Add the olive oil at once as you are processing the mixture, adding in the ice water one table spoon at a time until the dough sticks together nicely.
4. Refrigerate for 30+ minutes (but to be honest, I never have time for this, please see my tip below).
5. Place a sheet of parchment below and on top of the ball and roll out to about 1/8″ (2mm) thickness.
6. Cut using your favourite cookie cutter (mine is a 1″ (2.5cm) square with scalloped edge. It’s a perfect size because they do shrink in the oven.
7. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until they have a golden bottom (this is the perfect crunch).
8. Cool and enjoy.

Tip:

I store my grated cheese in a zip-lock bag in the freezer. I virtually never remember to defrost it in advance, but using the ice cold cheese in this recipe allows me to skip the step of chilling the dough. Time saved on both counts!

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Gluten Free Almond Sesame Crackers

I originally posted this recipe in November 2008, but it’s so tasty, I decided it deserved a post on its own!

Gluten Free Sesame Crackers

I’m baking them as a gift for our hosts in Calgary along with braised tomato and roasted red pepper jam. They are 100% gluten free.

Sesame Crackers (from Elana’s Pantry)

These are delicious!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups unblanched ground almonds
• 1½ teaspoons sea salt
• 1 cup sesame seeds, I like black and white versions, toasted lightly.
• 2 eggs, whisked until frothy
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (I use a flavoured olive oil)

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together almond flour, salt, sesame seeds, eggs and oil until well blended
2. Separate dough into two halves
3. Line two large (12 x 16) stainless steel baking sheets with parchment paper
4. Place one half of the dough in the center of each lined sheet
5. Cut another piece of parchment paper and place it over one of the balls of dough (use the top of the first one for the second one!)
6. Roll dough out between the two pieces of parchment paper, until it is ⅛ inch thick and covers the entire baking sheet; remove top paper and repeat process with the other piece of dough
7. Cut the dough with a knife or pizza cutter into 2 inch squares
8. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown (watch carefully, these can burn very very easily!)
9. Cool and serve

Makes ~96 crackers

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