Crackers & Dips (9 page)

Rub the nuts together in a clean dish towel to remove their papery skins; discard the skins. Place the hazelnuts, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse until the nuts look like fine cornmeal, about 45 one-second pulses. (Be careful not to overprocess the nuts or they will begin to turn into nut butter.) With the machine running, gradually add the butter and egg mixture through the feed tube until the mixture comes together into a moist ball of dough. (You may not need all of the egg mixture.)

Divide the dough into two portions. Center one portion of the dough on a piece of parchment paper. With moistened fingers, form the dough into a rectangle measuring 4 by 6 in/10 by 15 cm, cover with a piece of plastic wrap, and roll the dough out until it is
in/2 mm thick, lifting up the plastic now and then to make sure there are no creases in the dough.

Remove the plastic wrap and transfer the dough on the parchment paper to a baking sheet. Using a pastry wheel or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 2-in/5-cm squares. Any unattractive or partial segments of the dough can be scraped up with a bench scraper and added to the second ball of dough. Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the second ball of dough.

Bake the crackers until they are light brown around the edges and firm when poked, 12 to 15 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets once from top to bottom and from back to front while baking, and watch carefully the last few minutes—they can go from perfectly cooked to burned in a matter of seconds. If some of the crackers are done before others, transfer them to a cooling rack and return the undone crackers to the oven for a few more minutes. Cool the crackers on a rack and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

CRACKER TIP:
Don’t panic if you spy a layer of white foam forming on the crackers as they bake—this is from the natural fats in the hazelnuts heating up. The foam will settle back into the crackers as they finish baking.

SEEDED QUINOA CRACKERS

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is harvested from an ancient Andean grass related to the goosefoot plant. It’s considered a sacred grain by the Incas, and for good reason; it is an excellent source of protein and lysine. Quinoa flour has a strong, grassy flavor. If you prefer something milder, try millet flour, which is mild and buttery. Find quinoa and millet flours at natural food stores or online.

Try these nutritious crackers with a creamy dip or spread like the Fresh Artichoke Dip (
page 112
) or (Don’t Tell Them It’s Vegan) Mushroom and Cashew Pâté (
page 132
).

MAKES 30 CRACKERS

1 tbsp hulled sunflower seeds

2 tsp unhulled toasted sesame seeds

1½ tsp flax seeds

1½ tsp fennel seeds

¾ cup/90 g quinoa flour or millet flour, plus more for rolling

½ cup/65 g cornstarch

½ cup/40 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup/30 g almond flour (or ¼ cup plus 1 tbsp/30 g blanched almonds, ground in a food processor)

1½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp xanthan gum

½ tsp fine sea salt

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

6 tbsp/90 ml whole milk or soy milk

1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/gas 4. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. In a small bowl, combine the sunflower, sesame, flax, and fennel seeds.

In a large bowl, whisk together the quinoa flour, cornstarch, cheese, almond flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. Add the olive oil to the dry ingredients in the bowl and mix with a fork or your fingertips until the mixture looks crumbly and streusel-like. Add the milk and stir until the dough comes together. Knead the dough in the bowl until it is smooth and cohesive, about 5 strokes.

Divide the dough into two balls. Dust a large piece of parchment paper with quinoa flour and place one ball of dough on it; pat the dough into a small rectangle. Cover with plastic wrap and roll the dough out between the sheets until it is ⅛ in/4 mm thick, lifting up the plastic now and then to make sure there are no creases in the dough. Remove the plastic wrap and, using a pastry wheel or pizza cutter, trim any irregular edges (save the scraps). Cut the dough into rectangles measuring 2 by 3 in/5 by 7.5 cm and transfer the crackers to the prepared baking sheets using a lightly floured spatula or bench scraper, spacing the crackers closely together.

Brush the crackers with the beaten egg and sprinkle them with the seed mixture, pressing gently with the bottom of a measuring cup to adhere the seeds to the crackers. Repeat the process with the second ball of dough, scraps, and the topping.

Bake the crackers until they are golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets once from top to bottom and from back to front while baking. Cool the crackers on a rack and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

CRACKER TIP:
I prefer unhulled toasted sesame seeds for the topping in this recipe because the unhulled seeds are crunchier and have a nuttier flavor than the tiny white hulled variety (the ones you see on top of hamburger buns). Look for unhulled toasted (or “roasted”) sesame seeds at Asian markets and whole foods stores.

FLAX SEED PIZZA CRACKERS

The dough for these crackers is held together with flax seeds, which become slightly gelatinous when soaked briefly. That gelatin helps bind the ingredients together without gluten, while the sundried tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and aged cheese give them loads of “junk food” flavor, without any of the junk.

MAKES 40 CRACKERS

½ cup/75 g golden or regular flax seeds

⅓ cup/75 ml hot tap water

⅓ cup/55 g chopped oil-packed sundried tomatoes, plus 1 tbsp reserved oil

⅓ cup/25 g grated pecorino romano cheese

2 garlic cloves, chopped

4 large fresh basil leaves

1½ tsp Italian seasoning blend

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp fine sea salt

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

¾ cup/80 g almond flour (or ½ cup plus 2 tbsp/80 g blanched, slivered almonds, ground in food processor)

½ cup/60 g chickpea flour

Preheat the oven to 325°F/165°C/gas 3. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit your baking sheet. Place the flax seeds and hot water in the food processor bowl and let them soak until all the water has been absorbed and the mixture is gelatinous, 15 minutes.

Add the sundried tomatoes and oil, the cheese, garlic, basil, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper to the processor bowl. Process until the mixture it becomes a gummy batter, about 30 seconds, stopping a few times to scrape down the sides of the work bowl. Add the almond flour and chickpea flour and pulse until the mixture comes together into a sticky ball, 40 pulses.

Turn out the dough onto the parchment paper. With moistened fingers, form the dough into a square measuring 6 by 6 in/15 by 15 cm, cover with plastic wrap, and roll out the dough to an 11-by-6-in/23-by-15-cm rectangle about
in/2 mm thick, lifting up the plastic now and then to make sure there are no creases in the surface of the dough. (It’s okay if the rectangle does not have perfect edges or if a bit of dough squishes out the side of the paper, reserve it for patching.)

Remove the plastic wrap and use the reserved scraps of dough to patch any empty edges or corners, pressing with damp fingertips to smooth the dough into shape. Using a pastry wheel or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 2-in/5-cm squares and transfer the dough on the parchment paper to a baking sheet.

Bake the crackers until the edges are firm to the touch and starting to brown, about 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets once from top to bottom and from back to front while baking.

Remove the crackers that are firm from the baking sheet and transfer them to a cooling rack. Break up the still-pliable, underdone crackers with a spatula and space them evenly on the baking sheet. Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake the remaining crackers until the edges begin to brown and the crackers are firm to the touch, 8 to 10 minutes more. Once cool, store the crackers in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

AMARANTH CRACKERS

WITH CHEDDAR AND PEPITAS

I was first introduced to amaranth flour through friend and fellow Portland baker Kim Boyce. In her excellent book
Good to the Grain
, Kim uses amaranth flour to add a rich flavor to her hazelnut cookies; one bite and I was instantly in love with this gluten-free flour.

Here, I pair amaranth flour with the bold Southwestern flavors of chili powder, cumin, and garlic and top the crispy crackers with Cheddar and hulled pumpkin seeds
(pepitas)
. Try them dunked in bold dips like the Tangy Roasted Tomatillo and Avocado Dip (
page 110
) or the Sconnie Beer and Cheese Fondue (
page 120
).

MAKES 35 CRACKERS

1 cup/105 g amaranth flour

½ cup/65 g cornstarch, plus 2 tsp for rolling

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp fine sea salt

½ tsp garlic powder

¼ cup/60 ml water

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup/30 g pumpkin seeds
(pepitas)

½ cup/50 g grated tightly packed Cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C/gas 5. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the amaranth flour, cornstarch, baking powder, sugar, chili powder, cumin, salt, and garlic powder. In a small bowl, whisk together the water and olive oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a crumbly dough, about 10 strokes. Knead and squeeze the dough in the bowl until it comes together into a smooth ball. (If the dough seems a bit crumbly and dry, add a sprinkle of water to bring the dough together.)

Dust a piece of parchment paper with 1 tsp of the remaining cornstarch. Place the dough on the paper and pat it into a rectangle measuring 4 by 6 in/10 by 15 cm. Dust the dough with the remaining 1 tsp cornstarch. Cover the dough with a piece of plastic wrap and roll out the dough until it is
in/2 mm thick.