Water biscuit crackers, plain and as part of a snack, with herring and garlic cream topping and a parsleygarnish | |
Place of origin | Various |
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Created by | |
Main ingredients | Flour, water |
A cracker is a flat, dry baked food typically made with flour. Flavorings or seasonings, such as salt, herbs, seeds, or cheese, may be added to the dough or sprinkled on top before baking.[1] Crackers are often branded as a nutritious and convenient way to consume a staple food or cereal grain.
Sep 02, 2015 Today’s post is sponsored by Alouette! Their cheese with these crackers – ?! Just stop for a second and think about this: you, sitting outside, with a crispy, golden brown assortment of Homemade Flatbread Crackers, soft cheese, a glass of wine, end-of-summer sun on your face. Yes yes yes yes.
Reproduction of 19th-century hardtack, in the Army (square) and Navy (round) styles
Crackers can be eaten on their own, but can also accompany other food items such as cheese or meat slices, dips, or soft spreads such as jam, butter, or peanut butter. Bland or mild crackers are sometimes used as a palate cleanser in food product testing or flavor testing, between samples. Crackers may also be crumbled and added to soup.[2] The modern cracker is somewhat similar to nautical ship's biscuits,[3]militaryhardtack, chacknels,[4] and sacramental bread. Other early versions of the cracker can be found in ancient flatbreads, such as lavash, pita, matzo, flatbrød, and crisp bread. Asian analogues include papadum and senbei.
Names[edit]
In American English, the name 'cracker' usually refers to savory or salty flat biscuits, whereas the term 'cookie' is used for sweet items. Crackers are also generally made differently: crackers are made by layering dough, while cookies, besides the addition of sugar, usually use a chemical leavening agent, may contain eggs, and in other ways are made more like a cake.[5] In British English, crackers are sometimes called water biscuits,[6][7] savory biscuits, or simply biscuits, though the latter also is used for sweet cookies.[8]
Types[edit]
Crackers come in many shapes and sizes, such as round, rectangular, triangular, or irregular. Crackers sometimes have cheese or spices as ingredients, or even chicken stock.
Saltines and oyster crackers are often used in or served with soup. Additional types of crackers include cream crackers and water biscuits.
Cheese crackers are prepared using cheese as a main ingredient. Commercial examples include Cheez-It, Cheese Nips and Goldfish.
Graham crackers and digestive biscuits are also treated more like cookies than crackers, although they were both invented for their supposed health benefits, and graham crackers are sweet.
Mock apple pie is made using Ritz (or similar) crackers.
The characteristic holes found in many crackers are called 'docking' holes. The holes are poked in the dough to stop overly large air pockets from forming in the cracker while baking
Brands[edit]
Cracker brands include Bremner Wafers, Captain's Wafers, Cheese Nips, Club Crackers, Handi-Snacks, In a Biskit, Town House crackers, Ritz Crackers, Stoned Wheat Thins, Triscuit, TUC and Wheat Thins, among others. Such crackers are sometimes spread with cheese, pâté, or mousse.
Gallery[edit]
- Arare, small Japanese rice crackers
- Bagel chips
- Cheez-It crackers made by Kellogg
- Cheddar cheese flavored Goldfish crackers
- Mein gonChinese American crispy fried 'noodles'
- A bowl of oyster crackers
- Japanese Senbei rice cracker with seaweed topping
- Triscuit shredded wheat crackers
- Trio of Water biscuits: Left: Supermarket own brand, Right: Excelsior from Jamaica, Top: Carr's Table Cracker
- Beaten biscuits are a relative of crackers
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Manley, D. (2011). Manley's Technology of Biscuits, Crackers and Cookies. Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition. Elsevier Science. ISBN978-0-85709-364-6. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
- ^'The right moves for soup sippers'. tribunedigital-baltimoresun. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
- ^Gooii. 'Hardtack (Ships Biscuits) recipe - Cookit!'. cookit.e2bn.org. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
- ^Raffald, Elizabeth (1818). The Experienced English Housekeeper: For the Use and Ease of Ladies, Housekeepers, Cooks, &c. : Written Purely from Practice, and Dedicated to the Hon. Lady Elizabeth Warburton, Whom the Author Lately Served as Housekeeper, Consisting of Near Nine Hundred Original Receipts, Most of which Never Appeared in Print ... with Two Plans of a Grand Table of Two Covers and a Curious New Invented Fire Stove Wherein Any Common Fuel May be Burnt Instead of Charcoal. James Webster.
- ^'Original NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Chocolate Chip Cookies'. NESTLÉ® Very Best Baking. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
- ^'Water biscuit definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary'. www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
- ^'British Vs. American English: Food Terminology'. www.lostinthepond.com. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
- ^'Biscuit definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary'. www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crackers (food). |
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cracker_(food)&oldid=917523016'
Today’s post is sponsored by Alouette! Their cheese with these crackers – 👌!
Just stop for a second and think about this: you, sitting outside, with a crispy, golden brown assortment of Homemade Flatbread Crackers, soft cheese, a glass of wine, end-of-summer sun on your face. Yes yes yes yes yesss.
I’ve never even made crackers before today. Never! Can you believe that?
In my (pre-homemade-cracker) mind, homemade crackers were something for people who make their own everything. Homemade ketchup. Homemade air freshener, cereal, laundry soap. And then obviously, homemade crackers. Like, oh, I see. You’re one of those people who makes their own crackers. Riiiight.
But now, in my (post-homemade-cracker) mind, homemade crackers are actually AMAZING and actually AMAZINGLY EASY. So… here I come? I am now one of those homemade people. Bring it on.
I’m not going to sit here and pretend that homemade crackers will coming out of my oven every week. I’m just not. Be real with yourself -> I’m the girl who easily succumbs to the fastest possible option, and even though homemade crackers are definitely easy, they are not as easy as (oh no I can feel myself about to say this) cheap takeout pizza. And other such options.
But here’s where homemade crackers fit for me: we luv having people over and we look for any opportunity to make it happen – last day of summer! first football game! celebrating Friday! Bachelor Finale! Apple Keynote! <- seriously there’s a party happening at our house around this event in a few days. I must be married to a Bjork.
And one of the very best ways to make the most of entertaining and friends time is by placing a tray of crackers, cheese, meats, honey, fruit, and maybe even a bottle of wine in front of your face. It’s easy meets fancy meets LOVE THIS KIND OF FOOD, and if you can pause for long enough between cheese-stuffed-bites to take a breath and say something, it’s a perfect scenario for long, lazy, relaxed conversations.
Just keep feeding yourself the cheese.
These crackers gave me the excuse I needed to finally harvest some thyme from my three-inch thyme plant in the baby garden, and I almost cried when I snipped the sprigs off because, well, there goes the whole plant. Was it even ready to harvest? I can’t wait around forever for these things.
Ugh, gardening. What am I even doing?
Flavor for the crackers: a sprinkling of fresh thyme (or whatever herbs you like!) and just the right amount of freshly cracked black pepper, although it’s important to note: beware the heavy-handed pepper addition because too much black pepper turns these into cough attack crackers, says the girl who “loves black pepper” and found herself struggling to breathe with Crackers Round 1.
Boost up those two beauties with the addition of a little flour, water, and olive oil, and there you are!
Homemade flatbread crackers are yours for the taking.
The cheese situation here is a really good one.
Alouette has two new products on the market (which can be found in the regular grocery store, thank you very much!) and I think I was only supposed to pick one for this post, but I loved them both so much that I need to tell you everything.
Le Bon Dip is a magical, versatile cross between a traditional veggie dip and a soft cheese that works like a charm for entertaining because it goes with, hmm, let’s see: EVERYTHING.
We had a party with my dinner club friends a few weeks ago and I wanted to see how people liked it, you know, to see if it actually stood up to the Real Life Test, so I added a bowl of the Roasted Red Pepper and Chickpea variety to our massive buffet of crackers and cheese, grilled burgers, salad, and chips and dip galore. By the end of the night, after everyone finished chip-dipping, cracker-spreading, and burger-topping, it was 100% gone-zo. Friend approved!
I know I’m only supposed to mention one, but I need you to know that Le Petite Fromage is also heavenly, and to me, it seems like more of a lunchbox or one-on-one snacking choice. These little guys are individually packaged so you can just grab one, spread it all on a cracker or two, and call it done.
YEAH RIGHT. More like grab five. And please get the Garlic & Herb PLEASE.
Both cheeses have less than 50 calories per serving and they are made with legit ingredients including real pieces of chickpeas and vegetables and all the other things that you can actually SEE and TASTE in the dip, which is just 💗💗💗. I really think you guys will like this stuff.
One last idea: these crackers, spread with that soft garlic herb cheese, dipped in yesterday’s sweet potato turkey chili. I’ve done it and I’m here to recommend it.
See you at 4pm for happy hour on my sun-soaked deck! I’m not going to tell you what we’re having but 👆👆👆
Making Homemade Crackers
Description
These easy homemade flatbread crackers are super adaptable and they are the perfect pair for cheese and wine. Crispy, real food, snacking perfection!
ScaleIngredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons fresh herbs of choice (I used thyme)
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (more or less to taste – as written, it will be pretty peppery)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup cold water
- Alouette Le Bon Dip or Le Petite Fromage for serving
What Are Graham Crackers Made Of
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Pulse the flour, thyme, pepper, salt, sugar, and olive oil in the food processor until evenly distributed.
- Add the water and pulse just until the dough starts to stick together (about 10 seconds). Remove the dough, press together gently with your hands to form a single ball, and cut into four pieces. Let the dough rest for about ten minutes.
- Roll out each individual piece of dough as thin as you possibly can. If the dough starts to shrink up, let it rest a little longer. You want the dough to get very, very thin. Once it’s rolled, place it on a piece of parchment paper and transfer to a baking sheet.
- Bake for 4-5 minutes, but check periodically to make sure it’s not getting too brown – flip each cracker piece and bake another 4-5 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the crackers sit in the oven for 1-2 hours to really dry out and get crispy.
- Break into pieces and serve with ALouette Le Bon Dip or Le Petite Fromage and a glass of wine for a perfect snack or happy hour treat!
Notes
What Are Oyster Crackers Made Of
Nutrition information is for 1/5th of this recipe.