Recipe: Parmesan Crackers

I’ve started making a lot of food from scratch lately. Instead of buying cheap pasta sauce with a million ingredients I can’t pronounce or expensive stuff with ingredients I can, I just make my own. I’m also trying to stay away from buying premade snacks, so last night I decided to try a recipe to replace my beloved Cheez-Its.

Parmesan Crackers

Recipe by Mark Bittman in the NY Times via Stylish Cuisine

1 cup all-purpose flour, more as needed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup cream or half-and-half, more as needed
Coarse salt, pepper, sesame or poppy seeds, minced garlic or whatever you like for sprinkling (optional).

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly dust with flour. Put flour, salt, cheese and butter in bowl of a food processor. Pulse until flour and butter are combined. Add about 1/4 cup cream or half-and-half and let machine run for a bit; continue to add liquid a teaspoon at a time, until mixture holds together but is not sticky.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until 1/2-inch thick or even thinner, adding flour as needed. Transfer sheet of dough to prepared baking sheet (drape it over rolling pin to make it easier). Score lightly with a sharp knife, pizza cutter or a pastry wheel if you want to break crackers into squares or rectangles later on. Sprinkle with salt or other topping if you like.

Bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool on a rack; serve warm or at room temperature or store in a tin for a few days.

Yield: About 4 servings.

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The recipe was super simple and took all of 20 minutes to get in the oven. I’m sure it would go even faster if I had a food processor, but I just used a fork instead. I also substituted sour cream and a little milk for the cream/half and half and added some dried thyme. I cooked mine for about 15 minutes. They didn’t come out crispy – next time I might roll them thinner and bake them longer.

I think this will be a good recipe to play with though. Up next – fresh bread and homemade noodles.

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