homemade crackers

I eat crackers almost every day with my lunch.  I love them and always have a box on hand.  Last weekend, I decided to try and make my own.  Who knew they were so easy to make and SO much better than store bought?  Not this girl.  

They were so good that part of me wants to make a proclamation that I am never buying store bought crackers again!  But, I am far too lazy and realistic to go and say things like that.  

I browsed various websites and put together a recipe of my own based on what I found.  I am pretty sure this is a versatile recipe that can easily be changed by adding herbs or spices or using all oil or all butter.  And, you might be able to use gluten free flour.  

homemade crackers {makes a lot}
-1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 tablespoon sugar
-2 tablespoons of cold butter, cut into small pieces
-3 tablespoons of olive oil 
-warm water {about 1/2 cup}

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet {or two} with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, mix together the flour, salt, sugar, and butter.  Drizzle in the olive oil and then the water . When the dough forms a ball, stop with the water.
3. On a floured surface, roll out the dough.  I did half at a time.  The key is to get the dough as thin as possible.  When you think it is thin enough, roll a little more.  I got lazy with the rolling on the second half of the dough and the crackers didn't have the same crunch.  The thin ones were so much better.

4. Use a small knife or ravioli cutter and cut squares - however big or small you want, it doesn't matter.

5. Transfer the crackers to the baking sheets and bake for about 7 minutes.  Watch these closely.  They can go from too soft to burnt in a minute.  

6. I let the crackers sit on the baking sheets for a minute when I took them out of the oven and then I transfered them to a plate.

The next time I try this I am going to use either all butter or all olive oil.  Neither taste came through very much and I think that is because there wasn't enough of either fat in the dough.

You can sprinkle the crackers with whatever you want before baking - I tried salt and pepper and did a few with dried dill.   Another tip I noticed around the web was that a lot of people scored the crackers before baking.  I forgot to do this and I think it would have cut down on the air bubbles that appeared, but they tasted the same, so whatevs.

Enjoy!  I will share a creamy tomato soup recipe that pairs perfectly with these crackers later in the week.