I haven’t been eating crackers for a while. They always come in plastic bags or in plastic wrapped plastic trays. I’ve wanted to make them for a while but I didn’t get around to it until now. I didn’t have any recipes in mind and I thought they would probably be a pain to make. But I finally decided to make them. These are really easy and really good. I got the recipe here but I used olive oil instead of canola oil. Here are the ingredients I used:
- 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 cup water
Whisk together flours and salt.
Add oil and water and mix until mixture forms a ball. Place on a floured surface and divide dough in half.
Roll out one half to an 1/8 inch thickness. Trim the edges so you have a rectangle.
Place on a greased baking sheet. I use Silpats. They’re mats made of silicone that you place on baking sheets to prevent sticking. They work really well and nothing goes into the landfill, whereas with parchment paper something goes into the landfill every time. Place the dough on a baking sheet. Mark squares with a knife but don’t cut through all the way. Prick with a toothpick or fork. (I forgot to do this the first time.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (less or more depending on the thickness of the crackers) or until golden and crispy. Mine looked like this:
Break into squares.
Enjoy! These are really tasty and crunchy. I imagine they’d be good with any kind of dip. My little sister and I ate them with some of this homemade peanut butter.
Update 1/28/12: I made these last night again, but I substituted rye flour for the all purpose flour. They were pretty good!
Update 4/9/12: I made these again yesterday, but I added some freshly ground buckwheat flour. I also added some freshly snipped rosemary for flavor.
The Plastic-Free Chef 
Thanks for the recipe! I bookmarked it and might try it on the weekend. Furthermore, good luck for your plastic-free-mission!
Regards from Germany,
Das Apfelmädchen
Thanks! I hope they turn out well.
Mary Kat, this cracker recipe sounds perfect, especially with the rye flour! Can’t wait to try it . . .
BTW, you may want to try different settings on your camera to get rid of the yellow (assuming you want a ‘truer’ lighting). Try ‘sun’ or ‘cloudy’, etc. Every camera is different so not sure what would take away the blue cast. Also, if you shoot in natural light with a tripod the light is very pleasing. I realize that’s not always possible but adding a white sheet in back of the object so light can bounce onto your subject may help. I’m learning too. Photographing food is a real challenge. Check out this guys work: http://www.foodportfolio.com/b there are lots more but this guys work is stunning and can give you some ideas about lighting, etc.
All the best to you!
Wow, that guy’s pictures look awesome. I’ve been working on lighting more. This is an old post so that’s why the pictures look more yellow. Now I edit the photos. I also changed the lightbulbs in my kitchen since the ones I had before made everything really yellow. If you look at some newer posts I think you’ll be able to see a bit of a difference. At some point when I have time I’ll go back and edit the old pictures.
Something to aspire too eh?! His food is not unlike looking at fashion magazine models . . . there is a ‘food stylist’ who not only styles the food with coloring, etc. but they have a plethora of dishes and accessories to create the scene, he has an assistant moving around the lighting, and then of course post editing is top notch. I don’t mean to take anything away from his outrageous photographs, I’m just stating these things for perspective.
Indoor lighting is a challenge for me. I use ambient light as much as possible but I don’t like the restriction of a tripod so it limits me a bit. You can edit the past photos but personally I don’t think it’s necessary. The more you shoot the more you’ll get the lighting nailed down with camera settings regardless of the lighting situation.
You’re doing a great job . . . keep it up! : )
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