4pure

Friday, July 27, 2012

The daring bakers challenge: crackers

  

Our July 2012 Daring Bakers’ Host was Dana McFarland and she challenged us to make homemade crackers! Dana showed us some techniques for making crackers and encouraged to use our creativity to make each cracker our own by using ingredients we love.
Crackers, the July challenge of the daring bakers. Something I didn't make before and I really wanted to try sometimes. But because of the vacation I didn't see / think about the challenge until two days ago. And yesterday I discovered I had to make two different crackers, one with a pasta machine. So I had (to) little time to choose the right recipes and to adjust taste. And that was a pity, but there is a start. But the flavor was not optimal.

That's something that I'm going to adjust in the near future. I shall put an * at the recipe on what I'm going to change when I make the recipe.

Ingredients:
Cheddar herb crackers:
- 200 gram Cheddar, grated;
- 235 gram all purpose flour;
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano;
- 1/2 teaspoon salt;
- 1/2 teaspoon peper;
- 120 mL olive oil, extra vierge;
- 120 mL water.
* Topping: in the original recipe there was a mixture of 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of cayennepeper sprinkled on top. This was to much for our family. Without anything it wasn't right either. I will make this one again with sea salt on top.

Mediterranean herb whole-wheat crackers:
- 120 gram whole wheat;
- 125 gram all purpose flour;
- 2/3 teaspoon salt;
- 180 mL water (37 degrees Celsius);
- 55 mL olive oil, extra vierge;
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped;
- 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, finely chopped;
- 1 teaspoon fresh basil, finely chopped.
* Topping: smear a bit of olive oil on top and sprinkle sea salt on it.

Preparation:
Cheddar herb crackers:
Mix all the ingredients until you got a dough. When the dough sticks to much, add a little bit of extra flour. When it is falling apart, poor some water on the dough and mix again. Wrap the dough in plastic foil and let it rest for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.  Roll the dough with a roller and cut the crackers with a cookie cutter. Lay baking paper on a baking plate and spread the crackers on them. Bake the crackers during 20 minutes.

Mediterranean herb whole-wheat crackers:
Mix all the ingredients until a dough is formed. Knead for at least another 5 minutes. When the dough is falling apart, poor a little extra water on it. When it sticks add a little extra flour. Put the dough in a bowl, cover it with a wet towel and let it rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Take your pasta machine and roll the dough. Cut the dough in triangles. Layer a baking plate with baking paper. Put the crackers on them. Bake during 20 minutes or until the cracker becomes golden brown.

The end result:



6 comments:

What's for dessert? said...

I'm so sad to read about your problems with recipes. I didn't use topping on my crackers and we liked them

Cher Rockwell said...

I was sad that I wasn't able to fit this one in this month, because I wanted to try making them.
It looks like a fun one to play around with!

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear that you were not too happy with the recipes. I was not quite satisfied with mine either but i guess we can both chalk it as an average first attempt :)

Bourbonnatrix said...

your crackers look nice and crispy though... i'm sure you'll be able to adjust next time!

Korena said...

Too bad the crackers weren't as good as you were hoping - they certainly look great, so I hope you can tweak them for next time!

shelley c. said...

I hope you have the chance to play with these a bit more, because I bet you can make them absolutely delicious. They look nice and crisp, and the photos look great, so I know you'll be able to make some delicious crackers really soon! :)