SEARCH

5 Ingredients or Fewer

Cheese Caraway Seed Crackers

by:
January  7, 2016
4.5
2 Ratings
Photo by adinab
  • Makes lots
Author Notes

These very cheesy crackers, sprinkled with caraway seeds or salt or even sesame seeds, are the perfect appetizer for any party.
—adinab

Test Kitchen Notes

I like homemade crackers. They're infinitely more interesting than what you'll find in a supermarket aisle—so I was intrigued by this cracker recipe. I needed to add two more ounces of butter to the dough in order to be able to roll it out; the resulting crackers were crisp and fragile, and very rich. I’d recommend serving with a beer. —Timothy

Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
  • 8.8 ounces grated Gouda or cheddar cheese
  • 7 ounces very cold butter, cubed
  • 7 ounces all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1 egg, whisked
  • Caraway seeds, to sprinkle (or sesame seeds or flaky salt)
Directions
  1. Place everything (minus the egg and seeds) in a food processor and pulse a few times until combined and crumbly. Taste the pastry and add more salt if you wish; it should be on the saltier side. Form a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
  3. Roll the pastry on a floured surface (it is easier to do this in 2 batches) and cut the pastry into 1- x 2-inch rectangles using a very sharp knife. Place the crackers onto the baking trays and brush them with the whisked egg. Sprinkle them with caraway seeds.
  4. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Tags:
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

More Great Recipes

Semolina Crackers with Baked-On Goat Cheese

Flaky Cheddar-Parmesan Crackers

Chickpea and Buckwheat Crackers with Turmeric and Fennel

Cheesy Turmeric Crackers

Popular on Food52

The Best Vanilla Extract Substitute Is Probably Hiding in Your Kitchen

11 Easy Dinner Recipes for When It's Been a Loooong Week

The 15 Best Pasta Salad Recipes to Make All Summer Long
Continue After Advertisement

1 Review

Write a Review
JJ October 22, 2017
I've made 2 batches of these this week using sharp cheddar! I love them. I'll include my notes, for what they are worth:

-I prefer these rolled to 1/8th of an inch (4mm) and baked for 11-14 minutes. The instruction to bake for 20 minutes work if you roll them to about 1/4 inch. I've tried rolling on a floured surface and rolling between sheets of parchment and didn't notice a significant difference in the result. I divided the dough into 3 equal parts. Note that if you want to roll yours thinner than 1/4 inch you should stir them or at least rotate the pan halfway thru baking.
-The headlining Food52 reviewer added extra butter to make the dough come together- I added 1-2 oz water instead and rolled and folded a few times to distribute the layers of gluten. Mine turned out pretty much as pictured.
-I don't own a food processor, but finely grating the cheese and rubbing in the chunks of butter worked fine and didn't add much time at all. I used a pizza wheel to cut the rolled dough into rectangular pieces quickly.
-Caraway and salt (I used kosher) on top make these extra special. I tried egg wash on the top to help them adhere, but I actually prefer brushing on a careful, thin layer of water to keep the flavor and texture where I preferred - toasted flour/butter flavors as opposed to a slight cooked egg taste. With thin crackers that little brushed on egg makes a difference!

The flavor is definitely similar to a Cheez-it, but these are much butterier, more delicate and mild, with a special little crispy crunch. And a much prettier, puffier aesthetic.

Thanks for the recipe, adinab!