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gluten_freeThese crisp but tender cassava flour crackers have a dry, powdery Cheez-It-esque nature that almost fools you into thinking there's cheese in there—an illusion helped along by their orangey color—but they're dairy free and vegan. They're also surprisingly easy to make and stay crisp for weeks.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups (180g) cassava flour
1/4 cup (24g) golden flaxseed meal (optional)
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 cup (108g) water
6 tablespoons (78g) olive oil
1 tablespoon (20g) tomato paste (optional)
Time: 20 minutes prep, and about an hour in the oven, with 5-10 minutes of attention paid to the crackers during the baking process.
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 300°F and get out your biggest baking sheet.
2. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Watch out for the cassava flour, it's very fine and will floomp up into a cloud if you make any sudden moves.
3. In a separate container whisk the wet ingredients together, but reserve about 2 tablespoons of the water off to the side.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients. They'll form a stiff, non-sticky dough that holds together without crumbling. Add in some of your reserved water if you need to. I usually have about 1 tablespoon left over.
5. Form the dough into a thick disc and place it between two pieces of parchment paper the size of your baking sheet. Roll out the dough—working from the center out to the edges—until it's in a rough rectangle about 1/8 inch thin, or as thin as you can get it without wearing a hole in it. The middle's going to be thicker and the edges are going to be thinner and that's just the way it's going to be, but try to get it as even as possible. This is easier with a smaller amount of dough—more on that later. If you don't have a rolling pin, you can use a wine bottle or whatever else you've got that's round and has straight sides.
6. Remove the top layer of parchment paper. Slide the bottom sheet and its giant cracker onto your baking sheet. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the dough into one inch squares. The crackers on the edges are going to be funky. Let them funk. Sprinkle coarse salt over the top and poke them with a fork if you want them to have holes in.
7. Cook for 40 minutes in the center of the oven, giving the baking sheet a turn after 25 minutes.
8. After 40 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and separate the crackers. A tiny off-set spatula would be perfect for this, but I don't have one, so I used a paring knife and my fingers. The crackers on the edge will break apart easily because they're already nice and crisp and have moved away from their neighbors, but the crackers in the center will probably stick together along their not-quite-done edges. Space the separated crackers out as well as you can and put them back in the oven and bake for 15 more minutes to dry them out a little more.
9. They're done when they're crispy on the edges and dry on the bottom—give them a tap with your fingernail to check—with a consistent color underneath. If they're not done (and my middle crackers sometimes aren't) they'll be soft underneath with a dark spot in the middle that indicates there's still moisture in there. Transfer the finished crackers to a cooling rack and put the soft ones back in the oven for some extra cooking time. If they're still not done after another 15 minutes, carefully cook them a little more until they are, but you don't want to leave them in so long that they burn.
10. Let the crackers cool completely before storing in an air-tight container at room temperature, and they'll stay crisp and crunchy for weeks.
Notes: Cassava flour is made from the same root as tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour), but it's not interchangeable with tapioca flour. Cassava flour contains more of the root, so it's not just the starch, but like tapioca starch, it has a fine texture and a tendency to billow, so pour—and stir—carefully. While Otto's seems to be the favored cassava flour of the internet, I use Bob's.
The author of this recipe says you can leave out the flax meal and it won't impact the final texture of the cracker. I put in the flax, and I'm saying you might not need all that water. I have about a tablespoon left over once I have the dough at a consistency I like, and I figure the less water you put in, the less you have to cook out.
If you are a fancy pants, you can use a cookie cutter to stamp out crackers from your rolled dough and then gently move the crackers to a parchment covered baking sheet with that tiny off-set spatula I don't have. Gather up the remaining dough, roll it out again, and cut some more crackers out of it. Repeat until done. These are going to bake more evenly and will impress your guests and neighbors.
If you like decorative holes in your crackers, poke 'em with a fork or skewer before baking. The holes will survive the baking process and be clearly visible once the crackers are baked. If you don't want holes, don't do it. The crackers bake just fine without them.
If you rolled these thin enough, they're perfect for shoving directly into your face and cronching away. If your crackers are on the thicker side, they are strong, and you can dip them into dips or spread things on them.
Note to Self: Must...roll...these...out...thinner...Mr. Spock. (Sorry, I turned into William Shatner.) My crackers are often very strong. I prefer the texture of the funky edges which are thinner and crisper, but I'm having trouble rolling these thin enough. Also, the first time I made these I (intentionally) left the thicker crackers in for more than their extra 15 minutes and burnt them a bit, and burnt cassava flour tastes...burnt. Not good.
On the other hand, these need to be cooked until they're done because if they're still soft on the bottom, they're going to be weirdly chewy out of the oven, and chewy and hard after they cool. Seriously, it's like trying to eat a square of felt. I underbaked my second batch and they were a chore to eat. My teeth would literally skid right off them.
One way around this is to make a half order. Having less dough lets me roll it thinner without falling off the edge of my parchment paper. These crackers were beautifully consistent, but it only made about 18. You could achieve the same results by making a full order, cutting the dough in half, and rolling each one out separately. You'd have to cook them on two separate sheets though, either in the same oven, rotating the sheets and swapping their places halfway through the cooking time, or in two separate batches.
Questions? Ask 'em!
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups (180g) cassava flour
1/4 cup (24g) golden flaxseed meal (optional)
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 cup (108g) water
6 tablespoons (78g) olive oil
1 tablespoon (20g) tomato paste (optional)
Time: 20 minutes prep, and about an hour in the oven, with 5-10 minutes of attention paid to the crackers during the baking process.
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 300°F and get out your biggest baking sheet.
2. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Watch out for the cassava flour, it's very fine and will floomp up into a cloud if you make any sudden moves.
3. In a separate container whisk the wet ingredients together, but reserve about 2 tablespoons of the water off to the side.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients. They'll form a stiff, non-sticky dough that holds together without crumbling. Add in some of your reserved water if you need to. I usually have about 1 tablespoon left over.
5. Form the dough into a thick disc and place it between two pieces of parchment paper the size of your baking sheet. Roll out the dough—working from the center out to the edges—until it's in a rough rectangle about 1/8 inch thin, or as thin as you can get it without wearing a hole in it. The middle's going to be thicker and the edges are going to be thinner and that's just the way it's going to be, but try to get it as even as possible. This is easier with a smaller amount of dough—more on that later. If you don't have a rolling pin, you can use a wine bottle or whatever else you've got that's round and has straight sides.
6. Remove the top layer of parchment paper. Slide the bottom sheet and its giant cracker onto your baking sheet. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the dough into one inch squares. The crackers on the edges are going to be funky. Let them funk. Sprinkle coarse salt over the top and poke them with a fork if you want them to have holes in.
7. Cook for 40 minutes in the center of the oven, giving the baking sheet a turn after 25 minutes.
8. After 40 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and separate the crackers. A tiny off-set spatula would be perfect for this, but I don't have one, so I used a paring knife and my fingers. The crackers on the edge will break apart easily because they're already nice and crisp and have moved away from their neighbors, but the crackers in the center will probably stick together along their not-quite-done edges. Space the separated crackers out as well as you can and put them back in the oven and bake for 15 more minutes to dry them out a little more.
9. They're done when they're crispy on the edges and dry on the bottom—give them a tap with your fingernail to check—with a consistent color underneath. If they're not done (and my middle crackers sometimes aren't) they'll be soft underneath with a dark spot in the middle that indicates there's still moisture in there. Transfer the finished crackers to a cooling rack and put the soft ones back in the oven for some extra cooking time. If they're still not done after another 15 minutes, carefully cook them a little more until they are, but you don't want to leave them in so long that they burn.
10. Let the crackers cool completely before storing in an air-tight container at room temperature, and they'll stay crisp and crunchy for weeks.
Notes: Cassava flour is made from the same root as tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour), but it's not interchangeable with tapioca flour. Cassava flour contains more of the root, so it's not just the starch, but like tapioca starch, it has a fine texture and a tendency to billow, so pour—and stir—carefully. While Otto's seems to be the favored cassava flour of the internet, I use Bob's.
The author of this recipe says you can leave out the flax meal and it won't impact the final texture of the cracker. I put in the flax, and I'm saying you might not need all that water. I have about a tablespoon left over once I have the dough at a consistency I like, and I figure the less water you put in, the less you have to cook out.
If you are a fancy pants, you can use a cookie cutter to stamp out crackers from your rolled dough and then gently move the crackers to a parchment covered baking sheet with that tiny off-set spatula I don't have. Gather up the remaining dough, roll it out again, and cut some more crackers out of it. Repeat until done. These are going to bake more evenly and will impress your guests and neighbors.
If you like decorative holes in your crackers, poke 'em with a fork or skewer before baking. The holes will survive the baking process and be clearly visible once the crackers are baked. If you don't want holes, don't do it. The crackers bake just fine without them.
If you rolled these thin enough, they're perfect for shoving directly into your face and cronching away. If your crackers are on the thicker side, they are strong, and you can dip them into dips or spread things on them.
Note to Self: Must...roll...these...out...thinner...Mr. Spock. (Sorry, I turned into William Shatner.) My crackers are often very strong. I prefer the texture of the funky edges which are thinner and crisper, but I'm having trouble rolling these thin enough. Also, the first time I made these I (intentionally) left the thicker crackers in for more than their extra 15 minutes and burnt them a bit, and burnt cassava flour tastes...burnt. Not good.
On the other hand, these need to be cooked until they're done because if they're still soft on the bottom, they're going to be weirdly chewy out of the oven, and chewy and hard after they cool. Seriously, it's like trying to eat a square of felt. I underbaked my second batch and they were a chore to eat. My teeth would literally skid right off them.
One way around this is to make a half order. Having less dough lets me roll it thinner without falling off the edge of my parchment paper. These crackers were beautifully consistent, but it only made about 18. You could achieve the same results by making a full order, cutting the dough in half, and rolling each one out separately. You'd have to cook them on two separate sheets though, either in the same oven, rotating the sheets and swapping their places halfway through the cooking time, or in two separate batches.
Questions? Ask 'em!
CRACKERS!
Date: 2019-09-25 04:19 pm (UTC)Couple Qs:
In step 8, are you pulling the outer crispy ones out of the baking process, letting them cool, while the thicker center ones continuing cooking?
You mention 1" squares and sturdiness. Have you tried making them larger? I'm always seeking crackers sturdy enough to make erzatz-sandwiches.
Re: CRACKERS!
Date: 2019-09-25 05:52 pm (UTC)In step 8 everybody goes back into the oven. Sometimes I leave out a couple of the super funky edge pieces with a lot of coastline if they're looking like they're about to burn. You don't want these to brown at all, in my experience that means they're already burnt.
I have not tried making these larger, but there's no reason why you couldn't. If you want them on the sturdy side, just know that there's a point where if they're too thick they just won't dry out enough in the oven. Every batch of these I make turns out a little different, and it all has to do with how thick or thin I've rolled them out, which, sadly, is a difficult thing to measure or standardize.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-26 01:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-09-30 10:43 pm (UTC)