Oat 'n Sesame Crackers

I don't buy grocery store crackers, because they're too high-priced for not enough food. (The only exceptions are store-brand saltines and oyster crackers, but they're all-white flour.) Lately I've been craving whole-wheat products, so I decided to start experimenting with crackers once again. It's been years since I made any crackers, and now I have such an array of ingredients--things like whole-wheat flour, oat flour, soy flour, wheat bran, and oat bran--that I know I can make really healthy crackers if I can just find the right recipe.

I started with one recipe just to try, but there was way too much butter in it, and the result ended up more like cookies than crackers. I didn't even bother to bake all of it. The rest of the dough went in the trash can. Then I found this recipe. It's my kind of recipe. It tells you what the essentials are and lists all kinds of variations (plus what will happen if you do them). So I took advantage of Labor Day weekend to start experimenting.

When I made my first batch, I decided I liked the crackers, but I wanted to make some changes. But when I finished eating the crackers I had made, I decided to make them the same way, with a dash of sugar and a little less oil. Of course, I forgot the sugar until the dough was already rolled out, but I did manage the "less oil" part, and the crackers were yummy. Those ones are gone too. Time to make more.

The second time around, I doubled the recipe, so now it makes about three cups of crackers. You can cut it in half if you like.

Oat 'n Sesame Crackers



2 c. oat flour (I'm thinking about replacing part of this with whole wheat flour)
1 scant t. salt
1 scant t. sugar, or to taste
Oat bran (optional)
2-3 t. toasted sesame seeds (look for a big jar in the Asian food section--don't buy these in the spice aisle of the grocery store, because the price is crazy and they're untoasted)
1 1/2 T. sesame oil
Water (at least 1/3 cup, but probably more)

The recipe I followed recommends using a food processor to mix the ingredients, so if you have one and know how to use it, get it out. I think the recipe works just fine mixed with a spoon and clean hands, so my directions assume you're doing it that way.

1. Mix together flour, salt, sesame seeds, sugar, and oat bran. Stir.

2. Add sesame oil and stir to mix. It'll look crumbly, as if you had cut shortening into it.



3. Add water gradually and stir. Keep adding and stirring until it forms into a compact ball, so that you could lift it out of the bowl with your hands. If it's sticky, add more flour. Mix the dough with your hands if you need to, making sure it's mixed thoroughly.

This is too sticky:



This is a compact ball:



4. Get out your rolling pin and flour it. Sprinkle your work surface with flour and divide the dough in two parts. Take the first part of dough and roll it out as thin as you can. This will make crisp crackers. If you want denser crackers, maybe a little chewy, don't roll the dough out as thick.

5. Get out a piece of parchment paper that fits your cookie sheet. Slide the parchment paper under the rectangle of dough, as below. (Note that parchment paper can be reused, at least for a few times.)

 

(If you have no parchment paper, you could probably use aluminum foil or a cookie sheet.)

6. Cut off edges of dough, if needed, so that it fits on your piece of parchment paper.

 

7. Ease the parchment paper onto the cookie sheet.

 

8. Now roll out the other piece of dough on its own piece of parchment paper.

9. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 min. Note that the thin edges may burn, depending on how you've rolled out your dough and how long you cook it. I like burnt edges, but if you don't, make sure you roll out your dough to a uniform thickness and don't overbake it.

 

10. Break crackers into pieces and enjoy.