Homemade crackers, you ask? Yes! Homemade caraway-seed crackers are so much easier than you may think, and super flavorful. Whether you want to try something new for your next cocktail party, or get a group together for a fun DIY kitchen project, these crackers are so worth it.
I developed this recipe last summer when I catered a fundraising event. I wanted to serve chicken salad with a little textural crunch. Since I couldn’t dare buy crackers, I made them from scratch instead. Honestly, these crackers were a huge hit!
Sadly, I forgot all about them until just last month! But, over the summer I have been part of a women’s book group. We’ve been studying beauty in creation, which is a lovely thing to reflect on when you take a moment to look around. Our host decided that one week we should focus on the beauty of food and the possibilities of creating beauty through cooking. When she asked me to lead our discussion on the topic, I was all too eager to dive right in!
Since you can’t open the bible without finding something to do with bread, I decided to focus our cooking demo on bread making. As I read about unleavened bread, I was reminded of these crackers. I knew they would be perfect for a little hands-on action. The dough mixes so easily together, and even with lots of hands in the mix, I knew it was pretty fail-proof.
To start, you whisk the dry ingredients together, then pour in the heavy cream and a little chili oil. The oil is absolutely optional, but I like the warmth it brings through in the cracker. All of this gets mixed together until a nice ball of dough forms, then it gets cut into two sections and rolled out super thin. In my opinion, the thinner the better so they are a nice, crispy wafer. But again, these are fairly forgiving. With all the cooks in the kitchen, we had all different ranges of thickness. Which, aside from some taking a little longer to cook than others, they all tasted great in the end.
I like to use a biscuit cutter to cut rounds from the dough, and an off-set spatula helps lift them off the lightly floured surface. I’ve also cut the dough into rectangle strips, or shaggy squares. So, use what you have and don’t be afraid of some free-form cracker shapes. Rustic, we call that!
The beauty is that these delightful snacks bake in just about 10-15 minutes. So all in all, they take less than 30 minutes. How is that for fun and easy??
To honor the promise of abundance, I served our homemade crackers with an assortment of cheeses, dried fruit, bunches of grapes and a little drizzle of honey, too! It was a wonderful way to break bread with an amazing group of women, and take a moment to appreciate all the blessings that surround us on a daily basis. If you feel inspired to bake, or break bread with special people, try this recipe as a group! After all, cooking really is the best way to bring people together.
Whisk together flour, sugar, caraway seeds, celery seeds and salt.Mix the chili oil into the heavy cream then incorporate the wet into the dry, stirring to combine. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.
Tear dough into two sections and roll out very thin. The thinner the better! Cut with biscuit cutter. Set on parchment lined sheet pans.
Brush with heavy cream and finish with maldon salt, or a course kosher salt, then bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until golden and crisp.
Keywords: how to make homemade crackers, crackers, how to make crackers from scratch, easy recipes, easy cracker recipes, caraway seeds
Of course! Gotta have a good vehicle to eat the delicious chicken salad… can’t wait to try this. I’ve never attempted crackers before.
Right?!? They are so easy, you wont believe it!