King Arthur’s Rich Crackers
Home made crackers? Why not?
Time: 2 Hours
Ingredient Availability: 5/5
Difficulty: 2/5
Recently, I’ve noticed that I haven’t really had many snacks. Sure, I could just buy some and leave it at that, but since this recipe from King Arthur’s Baking Companion exists, I thought I would give it a try. There’s also a recipe for regular crackers in that cookbook, but I’m more of a fan of buttery crackers, so I decided to make this one. Apparently the process is similar to a pie crust.
Key Ingredients & Omissions:
Since this recipe is a lot like a pie crust, the ingredients are fairly similar, as well. With that being said, nothing was left out. I would only recommend that you use a good quality/tasting butter, since that is where a lot of the flavor will be coming from.
Tools:
Circular Cutter
Rolling Pin
Cooking Review:
Mix Dry Ingredients and Cut In Butter: 9 minutes
To start, I whisked the dry ingredients together. I cut the butter in to smaller pieces and pressed it into the flour mixture until there were small pieces coated in flour.
Mix in Cream and form dough: 10 minutes +1 hour refrigeration
I mixed the egg and cream together in a separate bowl before pouring it over the flour mixture. Using a fork, I mixed it together until it just started to come together. I pressed the dough together so that it held together better and then transferred it to a sheet of wax paper. Next, I pressed it into a rough oval, wrapped it up, and transferred it to the refrigerator.
Roll & Cut Dough: 11 minutes
I floured a clean work surface and transferred the chilled dough to it to be rolled out. I tried to get it somewhere between 1/16” and 1/8” without it tearing. Once rolled, I used a glass to cut out circles of the dough. The circles were transferred to a lightly oiled pan lined. I reformed and re-rolled out the excess dough and cut out a few more crackers to join the others. I pricked the tops with a fork before baking.
Baking: 13 minutes
I baked the crackers for 7 minutes before flipping the crackers and letting them bake for another 6 minutes. Once done, I brushed them with melted butter and transferred them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Analysis:
These crackers really remind me of a pie crust or crispy biscuit. They definitely puff up more than a pie crust, but the texture is fairly similar to that of a pie crust. The flavor is more like a buttery biscuit. I enjoyed the nice crunch they have along with the flaky interior. The flavor is plenty rich for a cracker, with a nice butteriness and a slight sweetness. I will say that I think they could use just a touch more salt. Maybe I should have finished it with a little salt after brushing them with butter. Using salted butter at the end may also help with that. While the crackers are generally crispy, some parts are more on the soft side, as my rolling wasn’t perfectly even. I kind of like the variation, but it’s not what most would expect from a cracker. If you roll them out thinner and more evenly, I doubt that would be an issue. I’m going to give this recipe a 7/10. If you find pie crust difficult to make, this will be a little easier, but a lot of the same concepts apply. The flavor is good overall, but needs a little more salt to bring it all together. The texture is also good, but it’s easy to have some spots softer than you may like.
