For years bakers have searched high and low for the best dessert recipes. Cookies, pies and brownies are just a few of the many sweets that top this list of most commonly baked goods. That being so, it's easy to forget that you can also create delicious savory snack recipes in the kitchen. Bread, bagels and even crackers can all be made at home and are a delightful way to spice up your weekly snacks and meals. If making crackers at home is a challenge you're up for, we're here to help. While making a batch of homemade crackers might seem intimidating, it's much easier than it sounds. Continue reading for a complete guide to making homemade crackers and a list of ingredients to get started.
Why Make Homemade Crackers?
With the endless amount of options scattered across grocery store shelves, you may be wondering why someone would want to make crackers at home. Aside from the joy you receive from baking them, making homemade crackers puts you in control of the ingredients. That way, you can ensure that only the healthiest and most nutritious foods make the cut. If you're following a specific diet, are cooking for someone with a food allergy, or want to start eating healthier, cooking snacks and meals from scratch is an excellent way to take control of your health.
Ingredients in Homemade Crackers
If you've read this far and making crackers from scratch is something you'd like to try, then it's time to learn about the ingredients you'll need to make them. Learning more about the most common cracker ingredients is an excellent way to create flavorful cracker recipes that meet all of your expectations. Keep scrolling to review the standard ingredients that go into homemade crackers.
Flour
The most crucial ingredient when making homemade crackers is flour. Flour is the base of cracker dough, and without it, crackers cannot be created. When choosing which flour to use for crackers, it largely depends on your dietary restrictions. Enriched, grain free and gluten free flours can all be used to create delicious crackers. And with each flour, a new taste is created. That being said, certain flours are used more often than others. Here's a list of our favorite flours that make crackers with the perfect crispy texture.
Tapioca Flour
Tapioca flour is derived from the cassava plant and is a favorite amongst those following a paleo diet. Its starchy and slightly sweet flavor pairs well with other alternative flours like potato starch, cassava flour and coconut flour. A staple in gluten free baking, it also tops the list of ideal baking flours, especially when making homemade crackers.
Coconut Flour
Add a tropical twist to your next crispy cracker recipe and use coconut flour as a base. Not only does this flour taste great, but it provides an easy-to-create gluten free base that individuals with celiac disease can enjoy symptom-free. Just make sure the other ingredients are gluten free as well! Coconut flour works so well it has quickly become one of our most popular gluten free flours and serves as ans alternative to wheat flour. At Bob's Red Mill, our Organic Coconut Flour is created from the highest quality coconut and is Fair Trade Certified, empowering farmers to improve their communities.
Flaxseed Meal
It's no secret that flaxseeds are great for you. However, when in their whole seed form, our bodies cannot break down and digest the seed properly, which means that we lose out on a lot of the nutrition it has to offer. By grinding flaxseeds into a meal, our bodies can better digest them and enjoy the benefits. Containing a wealth of omega-3 fatty acids, flaxseed meal makes an excellent and nutritious homemade cracker base. Additionally, it's a low-carb alternative to other flours and a perfect substitute for those following a ketogenic diet.
Unbleached White All-Purpose Flour
For a no-fail flour that's sure to produce delicious crackers, we recommend sticking with the all-time favorite Unbleached White All-Purpose Flour. As the name suggests, this flour is ideal for all kinds of baking recipes, including pie crusts, bread, cookies and of course, crackers. One of the most significant benefits of all-purpose flour is that it has an incredibly versatile flavor, making it a fitting flour to use when including ingredients like herbs and spices in your cracker recipe. At Bob's Red Mill, our Unbleached White All-Purpose Flour is an unbleached, unbromated baking flour milled from the highest quality North American wheat. Use it to make a delicious batch of homemade crackers and save what's left to create a flavor-filled cookie.
Oil
When making any dough, there should be a healthy balance of wet and dry ingredients. One of the most important wet ingredients in a cracker recipe is oil. When mixed with water and flour, oil helps keep your baking recipes moist. It does this by capturing the released gases and slowing down gluten formation to create foods with a perfect texture. While there are several different baking oils on shelves, when making crackers, two of the most common are olive oil and coconut oil. Let's take a look at each.
Olive Oil
Olive oil is derived from olives, a fruit grown on the olive tree, and is a primary ingredient in a Mediterranean diet. It's an oil extremely rich in antioxidants and contains significant healthy fats, making it an essential part of a well-balanced diet. Often used in cracker recipes, olive oil can also be drizzled atop of crackers with a pinch of salt to increase the flavor.
Coconut Oil
Like olive oil, coconut oil is also derived from a fruit—coconut. Made by pressing fresh coconut meat, it adds a tropical taste to whatever it's combined with. Commonly used in baking and cracker recipes, coconut oil can also be added to smoothies to boost flavor and nutrition.
Water
When making any cracker recipe, water is usually a primary ingredient. Water helps bring all of the ingredients in a recipe together, mixing flavors and textures to create the ideal one. When making homemade crackers, don't forget to have some purified water on hand, as the recipe is sure to call for it.
Seasonings
To ensure that your homemade crackers taste delicious, you'll want to add a few seasonings to the recipe. Salt, black pepper and nutritional yeast are just a few of the many cracker seasonings commonly added to dough. Continue reading to learn more about these ingredients to better decide which to incorporate into your following recipe.
Salt & Black Pepper
While salt and pepper may seem like a no-brainer, many people often forget this step when making crackers at home. Adding just the right amount of salt and pepper will boost the taste of your dish significantly. To pack more punch, try using flaky sea salt as soon as your crackers come out of the oven.
Herbs & Spices
Like salt and pepper, herbs and spices are an excellent way to turn a bland cracker recipe into a flavorful one. Herbs like rosemary, oregano, lemongrass and basil are commonly used to create savory crackers recipes that pair well with dips and appetizers.
Nutritional Yeast
To create a cheese-like flavor without dairy, add a bit of nutritional yeast to your homemade cracker dough. Nutritional yeast is an excellent way to replicate cheese's flavor profile and add a bit of nutrition to your vegan crackers. A great source of vitamins and minerals, nutritional yeast contains all nine essential amino acids making it a complete protein similar to animal products.
Add-Ins
Aside from seasonings, add-ins are another excellent way to flavor a cracker recipe. Add ins can be incorporated into the recipe itself or used as a topping after the crackers have fully baked. Add-ins like sunflower seeds and flax seeds are an excellent way to add a bit of crunch to your crackers while also loading them up on important nutritional properties like healthy fats and protein.
A few of our favorite cracker add-ins include:
Now that you know more about the ingredients used to make homemade crackers, it's time for you to decide which to use in your next crispy cracker recipe. From choosing the flour to selecting add-ins, creating crackers from scratch provides you with an opportunity to customize them to your personal taste preferences. From sweet to salty, there are hundreds of cracker recipes out there just waiting for you to give them a shot. Don't believe us? Check out our favorite cracker recipes and bake the one that sounds best to you. We're confident that you'll be happy with the outcome. From everyone at Bob's Red Mill, have a healthy and happy day!
Have a secret ingredient you love adding to your homemade crackers? We’d love to hear more about it. Let us know how you flavor homemade crackers in the comments below.
what i read on line looks like your brand flour makes good cracker ,from Norwegian recipe ,i hope soon i could buy bob's whole grain unbleach flour
peaple always look for that kind of flour thank you