It started with a picture I saw in the local paper about making crackers from scratch. I saved it, but then never found it again. But I kept thinking…how do you make crackers? And how would they taste different? So I decided to experiment. It was right before we were having lentil soup for dinner, and I was out of bread, and I had nothing to lose, so I thought “Oh, what the heck.” I did a quick search online and was disturbed by the complexity of the recipes I found there. One said don’t mix too hard. Another said mix for 7 minutes. Some used milk and eggs, and others said let it sit for hours before you bake. Some said cook on low heat for a long time, and others said cook for a short time on high heat. Well, you know me…I wanted the quickest, easiest, no-fuss option, so I pulled the essence out of the recipes I saw and came up with this simple recipe.
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How good were they? Well, after a few Uncle Cracker jokes, there were shocked, respectful, and delighted comments, filled with awe. Lucia asked for them repeatedly for snacks. Eve asked me to make them all the time. Maya came home the next day from New York and, as my pickiest eater, reluctantly and suspiciously tried one. First she asked for the recipe to make for her smug married dinner parties in the city. Then, she found the last cracker, which Lucia had left sitting out after taking a few bites (and which was probably licked by the cat a few times)…and she ate that! The whole batch lasted exactly 24 hours.
Maria’s Crackers
Ingredients:
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (organic from the Rodale Institute!)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup warm water
- 1/3 cup olive oil (plus more for the pan)
Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees (because that’s where mine automatically goes to when you turn it on).
2. Put the flour, salt, warm water, and olive oil in a bowl, and stir until all the flour is absorbed (less than a minute). It kind of feels more like dough than batter.
3. Take a baking tray (I used a heavy one with edges, rather than a light one with no edges), and slather it with more olive oil.
4. Put the dough on the tray and smooth it out to cover the whole bottom. I used a rolling pin doused with oil. And my hands, too. No need to be fussy here! In fact, the thin rustic-edged ones tasted the best, I thought.
5. Take a knife and cut the dough into squares, rectangles…whatever!
6. Sprinkle the top with a bit more salt
7. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden. The crackers will harden up more after they cool.
The potential variations for this recipe are endless: cheese, herbs, nuts and seeds, spices. I can see a lot of cracker experimentation in my future. And what I loved about them was that they were so easy and quick, and required no plastic packaging to bring into the house or to throw out afterwards. I stored them in a glass container, but as I said, they didn’t last long!
Wish had an oven so could do it also. Cant eat crackers any more because of the salt
Great idea! Can’t wait to try this. I’ve often wondered how to make my own crackers but never did the research – thanks Maria!
I’m looking for a variation of this recipe, I’d like to make cornbread crackers. Maybe if I use 1/3 cup of cornmeal and the rest is pastry flour? Any thoughts?
Maria, Thanks for sharing this. I have tried other recipes and they were total flops. I can’t wait to give these babies a try.
Doesn’t it make you wonder why we stopped making our own crackers?Totally looking forward to making my very own for the first time this week!
I make my own dehydrated onion and flax crackers.
I will have to try this. I made homemade marshmallows that was quite the treet 2
This looks like a promising activity for the impending storm. My 8 year old is a cheese and cracker fiend, he could live on that combination, so he might enjoy making his own.
Thanks!
Love the short, simple ingredient list. That’s my kind of recipe! I only eat whole wheat crackers, and have only found a few I like in the stores…and they are so expensive. With this recipe, I can make all kinds of different flavors.
Thanks!
I have a handy cutter wheel gizmo that I cut ravioli out with that works great for crackers. Or try using a pizza wheel to cut them.
I can’t believe this, just this morning I was thinking to myself that I would like to find a recipe for crackers since I have never baked them. I am looking forward to trying this. thanks!
Gotta try it! Sometimes I get tired of all the bread and want something crisp and light, like Wasa Crisps! So this will be something to do when the weather turns bad again. Thanks Maria!
I made crackers years ago thinking that it would be great for the kids. They ended up being a greasy flop. I would like to try making crackers successfully, and your recipe sounds like it could be just that.
Have bean soup ready, now for the crackers…
any nutritional values? im on weight watchers, and the amount of soup ive been eating is ridiculous! Crackers are a blessing and these sound great! would love to count the points per serving though.
Celia, I haven’t made them yet but I might suggest making a batch and counting how many crackers you get. Then (and I’m thinking it’s probably available online somewhere) add the number of calories in 2C of flour with the calories in 1/3 C of oil, divide that total by the number of crackers you come out with and you will have an approximate calorie count per cracker. Then you can decide the serving size.
Marvelous, Maria – thank you! Perfect timing – I just discovered the other day that my saltines have all gone bad (they taste rancid, would you believe?) I’ll try it with homeground flour. Unfortunately I’m out of soft wheat to make pastry flour, so I’ll see how it goes with hard wheat.
Now, if I could only find that recipe for homemade Wheaties that I clipped in 1976, tried, and then lost. They were actually better than General Mills!
My father is a heart patient, he love to eat crackers due to the prescription from the doctor, he can’t eat heavy meal. Basically crackers are so light to digest. Therefore I always try to make different types of Crackers. There are lots of Crackers available in the grocery stores. My kids also love to eat crackers. That’s why all the time my Kitchen Cabinets Hamilton is full with different type of crackers but the home made crackers are the best. I will try that recipe today for sure to make my family healthy.
I really like the recipe. I did make a change though. They were a little too thick and not crisp enough when just using one cookie sheet. So I took about a third of the dough and used a second cookie sheet so I could make the dough thinner. It worked great. I baked them about a minute to a minute and a half less than the recipe called for. Be sure to roll them out evenly though. I had a spot that was thinner and it got overdone while the rest of the pan was fine. They do taste great thicker. They just aren’t as much the texture of a cracker.
I need a recipe for a cracker or biscuit that is packed with as much vitamins and minerals as possible. I can’t eat most things, but crackers are easy for me to digest. I could carry them around with me, otherwise I just don’t eat anymore. Thanks
I have to try this. I have been looking for away to make my own crackers, ever since a family member was put on a low sodium diet. He love crackers with his meals.
Pamela Jo
Crackers in the store are such a rip-off! I have been paying up to $4.49 a box and I just now pulled out of the oven, two trays that cost about fifty cents. My husband is a cracker fiend. I cannot wait to purchase different types of flour and add all the herbs as soon as my garden comes up!
After reading this recipe, I am going to give it a try. I have been looking for something like this for baking with my herbs from the garden. I will give this a try.
Love your recipe, Maria! I adapted as Melanie (1/21/2012) and the crackers are perfect. I used scan spelt flour with parmesan cheese, lots of seeds and nuts, and coconut oil instead of olive.
Found this receipe the other day…since we are cutting back on or grocery purchases decided to make these to go with tuna salad. I cut out the salt added a magic seasoning about 1/2 tsp. When I rolled it out on the pan I sprinkled on Garlic Powder and Sesame seeds. They turned out great! So Kimberly you don’t need salt.
My toddlers and I are eating these warm from the oven now. Thank you! ‘It’s so freaking easy’ + 100% whole wheat + olive oil = the magic elements that tipped me over the edge on my search for a cracker recipe. Belive it or not, the rolling out part stopped me for ages from making a cracker, but it was easy, and we roll things out the same way: without flour. Whole wheat pastry flour told me these would have a good crumb. Thank you, I’m sold, this is going to be part of our snack reperetoire from now on! Who knows, my husband might like them too. Thanks a mill.
I love baking stuff with my toddler, and she loves “helping” me and choosing the cookie cutters. But we really don’t need more sweets you know? So making crackers with cookie cutters, and decorating them with different toppings – herbs, salt, seeds, cheese – would be perfect! Definitely the activity of the day tomorrow and I think we’ll be making some for Thanksgiving. 🙂
Tried these yesterday. Easy, as promised! And good. I made the plain variety. Next time I’ll add one of the spices. Anyway, thanks!
thank you for this recipe. i cook but don’t bake so this looked soo easy. And it was!! i added on top oregano and salt. the only problem was they were a little too heavy and i’m guessing it’s because, down here in australia, i could not find any wholemeal pastry flour. any ideas?
going to try these for my gcse course but just wondering do you have to use whole wheat pastry flour or can you just use plain flour ?
I used plain all purpose flour and they were great. 🙂
My little boy has the flu and it’s really bothering his tummy, too. Now that he’s finally able to keep some fluids down, it’s time for something mild. The nurse was shocked we didn’t have store bought crackers in the house (who buys those?!?), so I made these instead. Super easy, quick, tasty (according to my son – I can’t have gluten), and any fun shape you want. Will have fun making them again when he’s well!
I was looking up cracker recipes and came across yours. I loved that it was one bowl and didn’t include butter. Just made it tonight–adapted a bit and added thyme and cracked black pepper–and OMG are they delicious! Thanks for the inspiration!
I made these and we really enjoy them. I realized after the first time, that thinner was better and crispier, so I make half a recipe
And use two pans, so I can roll them out very thinly. Great! Thank you for sharing your recipe. Delicious!!!!!!
These are so delicious! Recently we cut out dairy and cheese from our diet, and went vegan. Triscuits were our favorite, but we started actually looking at what was in them, and won’t be purchasing them again. I used cracked pepper on top of my crackers, and added smoked sea salt to them, just for kicks. SO delicious. They are close enough to the ones we used to buy, but so much tastier! They are so easy that I am going to make a batch for my co worker, without the salt.
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I made these crackers and it was SO EASY! I did add some ingredients to my half of the dough…as my husband doesn’t like the following ingredients. I added flax seed and honey to his. He loves them. In mine I added, course wheat bulgar, flax seed, honey, pepper jack cheese and sprinkled the top with seasalt and sesame seeds. Absolutely. DELISH! I AM A FAN OF YOUR PAGE. THANKS AGAIN.
My family comes from a long line of Norwegians. Every holiday my Aunt makes a Nordic traditional recipe called “Flat Bread”. I love it, in fact growing up I thought it was the most magical, unique thing I’d ever tasted. I’ve recently gotten the recipe from her …. turns out by reading your recipe, my magical food was nothing other then…. a cracker! I still love and enjoy it just the same. Thank You for your other ideas surrounding this MAGICAL CREATION- Jennifer
Thank you so much for this recipe. I am trying very hard to know exactly what I am putting in the mouths of my family. I have moved to organic fruits and veggies, meat and eggs from a local farm, and making my own breads…but snack foods are a bit harder to control (especially when my kids are all over 11 and breaking old habits is hard). I am so excited to find that I can make crackers and know exactly what is in them (particularly, no GMOs). Have a batch in the oven. Can’t wait! Thanks again.
I am going to ty this I am looking for a great cracker! No organitc thing just great taste. I tried another recipie and it was too thick, tasted good but I want a perfect great on that I can use as a special give EVERY time. I’ll let you know as this one looks perfect! Love you, and Thank you for the post.
I’ve made this several times now and so far the sesame version is our favorite. I roll the dough as thin as possible on a silpat, cut into shapes, poke (or not) and bake. I have substituted Merlot wine for the water….interesting color and flavor : ) Thank you so much for coming up with this recipe!
TY, TY, TY!!!
I have a ton of health issues… and like every other person on the planet… still need to eat… by tweaking your recipe: substituting powdered milk for flour and coconut oil for olive, omitting the the salt… dividing the batch in half and spicing one with: with dehydrated onions, onion powder, pepper flakes, dill weed, flax, chia, and a light (very light) dusting with onion salt… in 30 minutes from reading this recipe to eating the first crackers permitted on my diet… I am one super happy lady! My DH is gonna love the spicy ones in his lunches! An the others are satisfying my sweet tooth, RIGHT NOW! Again TY, TY, TY!
Delicious and very easy recipe! Thanks so much for sharing! I did half AP flour and half whole wheat flour, added in 1 TB poppy seeds and 1 TB cracked black pepper, and it was divine! I will have to try the full wheat version next time. I am so amazed at how easy this was!
i would like to know if i don’t have any wheet flour what kind can i use
I’ve just made them. I’ve eaten five before they are even cool, delicious. I sprinkled half with black pepper and half with parmesan. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Thanks for a great recipe! I split the flour (1/2 c. white, 1/2 c. whole wheat, 1/2 cup barley flour, 1/2 cup rye flour) and added 1 tbsp. maple syrup. YUMMY!
Is pastry flour a specific kind of flour? Or can I just use whatever I have in my canister…
These were AMAZING! Never made crackers before, but these were super easy, fast – took about 3 minutes to throw together – and turned out better than expected! I used white flour (didn’t have any wheat, but I’m sure they’d be just as good) and topped with sea salt, sesame seeds, and parmesan. I think I used a little too much oil in my pan, but maybe that’s why they were so good…. mmmm. Also, I cooked a little more than 20 minutes to get them all browned on top. Thanks for this recipe, I’m definitely adding it to my collection!
I LOVE these crackers & so does my family. It took me 4 times to get it exactly the right consistency of a cracker. One of the earlier posters comment helped – she said to divide the dough onto 2 pans to make it thin enough to be of cracker consistency – she was right. I’ve made all the combinations Maria suggested in her original recipe, but my favorite is to combine them all. Little bit of cheese, sesame seeds, dill, garlic, and salt – soooo yum! Only problem is the batch disappears within a day. They are very quick & easy to make though. I got the pastry flour at a health food store – none of the others had it that I could find. Thank you Maria – healthier crackers help me keep the weight off I lost.
For the lady looking for a cornmeal cracker. I do have this. Its cornmeal wafers.
1 1/2 c. boiling water
1 cup white or yellow cornmeal
pinch of salt
1/4 cup of bacon drippings
this makes a batter. spread it thin over your 10 x 14 inch baking pan, the thinner the better.bake until lightly brown. Remove from the oven , cut into squares and serve hot. Make sure its a little brown . good luck.
sorry, do grease your pan well for the cornmeal wafers, This is a thin batter. easy enough.
Oh My! These are excellent. I added paprika to the flour and both honey and vanilla to the water. Can’t stop eating them.