I made crackers once 30 or 40 years ago and they did not turn out well, and I did not try again until last week at the beach. I figured I had improved my skills over the past 30-40 years, crackers really couldn’t be very hard to make, and some people really like making crackers and have raved about the results.
I adapted a recipe from www.recipetineats.com and made 2 batches. My first was an overbaked disaster because I followed the timing in the original recipe rather than looking at the crackers and taking them out of the oven when they seemed to be done. (Since crackers are very thin, they can easily overbake or burn. Smaller crackers and the ones on the edges will cook faster than larger crackers and the ones in the middle of the pan.) The second batch was as shown in the above photograph. I started checking the crackers at 12 minutes and took out the ones which seemed to be done. The rest I left in the oven and checked again after another 2 minutes and another minute later. Baked to the right level of doneness, they were crispy and very tasty. I plan to experiment with whole grain and high fiber flour when I make them again.
For the cracker dough
4.33 oz. (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. white sesame seeds
1/3 cup water
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
For Sprinkling/Spraying on Top
1 Tbs. white sesame seeds
½ tsp. Maldon finishing salt (or 1/8 tsp. table salt)
Olive oil cooking spray
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together with a dough whisk. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface (I used a pastry cloth) and knead into a dough. Divide the dough into 2 pieces.
Roll the first piece out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/8 inch in thickness. Transfer the rolled out dough to a sheet of baking parchment and further roll out until it is about 1/12th inch thick. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Fully rolled out each piece covered nearly all of a 10.7 inch by 13.6 inch sheet of baking parchment.
Sprinkle the top of the dough with the sesame seeds and salt. Press in with your fingers. Coat the top of the dough with cooking spray. Place the baking parchment with the dough on a cookie sheet
Cut the dough into roughly 2-inch squares with a knife or pizza cutter. (The squares will shrink as they bake.)
Bake the crackers for 12 minutes. Remove all the crackers which are nicely browned and return the ones which are still tan colored into the oven for another minute or two or three until they are done.
Let the crackers fully cool for 20 minutes or so before putting them into an air tight container for storage.