Lars makes them and they look very good!

Maybe he will come in here with his flatbread photo. If he doesn't add his voice here I have his recipe but not the photo .

I used to make them but they're a lot of work and like homemade bread, tend to get stale quicker than the purchased ones.

ONION CRACKERS

1 medium onion, peeled
1/2 cup water
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup barley flour
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 cup butter

Puree the onion in a food processor or blender. Add the water and continue pureeing until the onion is almost liquefied. Strain the onion liquid through coffee filters to obtain onion juice. You should end up with 3/8 cup juice. Discard any extra juice.

Mix together the flours, wheat germ and mustard. Cut in the butter until it is amalgamated into fine particles. Add the onion juice, bit by bit, tossing constantly with a fork.

Pour the mixture into a plastic bag and press together until it forms a ball. Knead lightly.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Divide the cracker dough into quarters, and roll out 1/ 4 at a time  on a lightly floured board. The dough should be 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick (approx 9 X 9 inches). Cut the dough into rounds with a biscuit cutter or a glass, and prick each dough round with a fork.

Place on ungreased baking sheets and bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on racks, then store in airtight container. The crackers will keep in good condition for at least one week. Makes about 3 dozen.

Notes: After you make the dough, you can refrigerate it overnight before rolling it out. Sometimes I brush the tops with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds and kosher salt.

Great post! - I've been wanting a recipe for a long time. Made a copy, will definitely give it a try.

If memory serves me, I saw a recipe some time ago, whereby, bread was flattened, pricked with a fork and baked, but darned if I can recall any particulars.

Thanks for the recipe.

Bejay

Here's as posted by Lars back in 2003. I saved the whole post, and found his photo from way back then.
Best looking crackers I've seen! (sharon)
**************************************8

.Posted by: publickman (My Page) on Fri, Sep 26, 03 at 20:07

Linda, I didn't think anyone was interested in this cracker recipe, as it seems that only a couple of people like to make their own crackers. I used the ginger ale in the picture because I thought it looked pretty, but I think I'll have white wine next time!

Lars' Flatbread

Ingredients

1-1/3 cups water (lukewarm)
2 tbsp dried malt extract
1 tbsp dry yeast (or one package)
1/2 cup oatbran
1/2 cup rice bran
1/2 cup rice flour (optional)
1-2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame seed oil
2 tsp sea salt
3 to 3-1/2 cups unbleached flour

Toppings:

1 egg + 1 tbsp water (for brushing on top of dough)
garlic powder
onion granules
caraway seeds
poppy seeds
sesame seeds

Pour lukewarm water into KitchenAid mixer bowl and add malt extract. If you use liquid extract, you will have to double the amount and use less water. Whisk in yeast until all is dissolved. Then stir in oat bran, rice bran, and rice flour. I added in rice flour by accident the first time, thinking it was rice bran and then had to add the rice bran on top of that! I think the rice flour actually helped the texture, and so I left it in the subsequent batches.

Allow this mixture to rest for half an hour or more, and then add the oils. You can add less oil if you want a harder cracker. Then add 2 to 2-1/2 cups flour that has been sifted with the salt, and put the bowl in the machine with the dough hook. Mix at high speed (with the splash guard on) until blended. Then add flour in small increments until the dough makes a ball that is not too sticky. Finish kneading by hand, or simply place in a bowl that is lightly greased with olive oil, and allow to rise for a couple of hours, or leave it in the refrigerator covered overnight. I let my dough rise twice.

Preheat oven to 375°. Pinch of balls of dough about 2-1/2 to 3" diameter and roll the dough on a wooden board into a somewhat rectangular shape about as thin as possible. Make the shape fit the shape of the baking sheet you will be using. Prick the dough all over with a fork or similar tool and brush lightly with egg wash. Dust very lightly with garlic powder and onion granules. You dont want this to be too heavy. Sprinkle caraway seeds (if desired), about two per square inch. You dont need many of these, and it is easy for them to be overpowering. Then sprinkle poppy seeds evenly over, as desired and finish with the sesame seeds. Its better not to overdo the seed toppings (especially the caraway), but I havent had a problem with the poppy seeds so far.

Pat the seeds into the dough with your fingers and then cut the dough in quarters vertically and then horizontally using a pizza cutter or ravioli cutter. I only have a ravioli cutter, and I had to dodge the caraway seeds, or else the wheel would get stuck.

Transfer the dough, using a metal spatula, onto an ungreased baking sheet, and bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes, or until toasty in appearance. You will need to watch them closely towards the end, as they will burn easily, once they are done. I use a toaster over for most of them, but sometimes I bake them in the regular oven until almost done and then finish the untoasted ones in a toaster oven at a lower temperature about 350° for 2-5 minutes. You can always toast underdone ones later, if you want to, and add cheese to them at that point.
--------------
This may seem like a lot of effort, but it is really very simple and doesnt take that much time, until you get to the baking stage. I think the results are worth it, and you can vary the toppings so that the batches are not all the same. Ruthannas idea of using onion juice for part of the water is a good one, but I havent done that yet.

I printed out two recipes from King Arthur. Both Graham cracker recipes. One regular, one chocolate..they are on my to do list this month. I've never made crackers before though.

I'm eating some of these right now:

Sunflower Cheddar Crackers from 500 Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender

1 ½ c raw, shelled sunflower seeds
1 ½ c grated Cheddar Cheese
½ tsp salt, plus additional for sprinkling
¼ c water

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In food processor with the S blade attached, grind the sunflower seeds to a fine meal.
3. Add Cheddar and salt, pulse six to eight times to blend. Add water and pulse until a dough ball forms.
4. Cover cookie sheet with baking parchment. Turn the dough out onto the parchment, tear off another sheet of parchment and put on top of the dough.
5. Through the top sheet of parchment, use hands or rolling pin to press dough into a thin and even sheet. Take time to get the dough quite thin. Peel off the top layer of parchment. Sprinkle a little salt over the surface and gently press into place. Use a thin, sharp, straight-bladed knife or a pizza cutter to score the dough into squares or diamonds.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Peel off parchment, break along the scored lines and let the crackers cool. Store them in an airtight container.

Yield: about 6 dozen crackers, each with 1 gram of carbohydrates and 0.5 gram of fiber.

BTW, I usually split the dough ball into two and bake in two batches. I use a rolling pin and can get them pretty thin. Thse are good cooked either crunchy or chewy.

Jim, you'll do what you'll do, but I made crackers recently and that was enough for me.

They are too much work for the payoff, and I like to cook.

Cream

Here are a couple of T'nT recipes:

Highland Crackers

1 cup plain flour
1 t. salt
1/3 cup oil
few grains of cayenne pepper
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
1/2 cup cold water
paprika

With a fork, mix flour, salt, pepper, and oil. Stir in oats and cheese. Sprinkle small amounts of water and stir until dough can be shaped. Refrigerate 1-7 days. Roll out on a floured board, using small amounts of the dough so that can be rolled thin. Cut with a pastry wheel or knife into long strips or square crackers. Place on ungreased baking sheets, prick with a floured fork. Bake at 400 F for about 12 minutes. A few minutes before they are done, sprinkle with the paprika. Cool and store.

Krazy Krackers

21 3/4 cups unbleached flour
2-4 TB sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 cup real mayonnaise
8 oz. plain yogurt

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. With a pastry blender, cut in the mayo until well mixed and coarse crumbs form. Stir in the yogurt. With your hands, firmly press dough into a ball. Cut into 16 equal pieces. On a pastry cloth with a covered rolling pin, roll each piece to 1/16 inch thickness - each will be an uneven 8-inch round. Place a few inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets; sprinkle lightly with salt. Prick with a fork. Bake in a preheated 400 F oven until lightly spotted brown - 6-7 minutes. With a wide metal spatula, remove to wire racks to cool. Store in a tightly covered tin. Makes 16 huge crackers that can be broken into smaller pieces.

I have been making these recently and they are very good. Extremely crunchy and not at all bready.

Rice Crackers

1 and 1/2 cups brown rice cooked in 3 cups water with salt to taste
1/2 cup semolina flour
1/2 cup flax seed
2 tablespoons natural (pale) sesame seed
2 tablespoons tamari
Some water

Mix rice in food processor with flour until it is mushed up.
Add flax seed, sesame seed, tamari and enough water to make a thick paste/dough
About 1/2 cup water.

Cut a piece of parchment for a (preferably) rimless cookie sheet.
Put a fist-sized ball of dough on parchment and cover parchment with plastic wrap.
Roll out dough to very thin about 1/8". The dough must be rolled out on the parchment and rolled out
using the plastic wrap.
Remove plastic wrap and score with a pizza cutter into squares about 2" wide or so.
Bake at 325 until golden brown - about 20-30 minutes. Remove from oven, cut apart with scissors, and flip over. The texture should be similar to fruit rollups. Return to oven for 10 minutes. Don't burn.

Remove from oven and place on a rack or counter until all dough is cooked to this stage.
When all dough has been cooked, return all crackers back to the oven and turn off the heat.
The crackers should be on two cookie sheets now and may overlap some.
Leave in the oven until crunchy /dry. Several hours or overnight.
Store in airtight container.

Notes:
Wax paper will stick so use plastic wrap. Whole Wheat flour does not taste good
Use semolina or possibly cornmeal but I have not tried that. Quinoa would be my second choice after semolina. Or even white flour might be fine.
These are my adaptation of Marys Gone Crackers.

Jim:
It's OK for Specality Crackers but
for run of the mill, sounds like a lot of work.
My Humble Opinion,

Make some Graham Crackers and use them for a Crust,
to use under the CheeseCake you are going to bake.
LOU

Lou,

That's what I am learning from this thread. It's worth making crackers at home if you are going for something out of the ordinary. Lars' photo, for instance, shows a cracker that couldn't be purchased. And most of the other recipes are for very special crackers.

I'm trying not to think about cheesecake.

Jim

I've made graham crackers different times, but mostly just to do it as a project with the kids when they were young. It really is a lot of work for the payoff you get. There are so many other things to make that seem more worthy of my time. :)

I think you're probably on the right track in thinking that if you're going to make them, make something extraordinary.

Judi

Jim:
You are right. Lars Crackers look great and all the others are really special.
Lou
PS: How can you stop thinking of Cheese Cake, when I keep talking to you about it.

I found this recipe recently. I haven't had a chance to try it, but it looks interesting.

Parmesan Cream Crackers

Time: About 20 minutes

1 cup all-purpose flour, more as needed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup cream or half-and-half, more as needed

Coarse salt, pepper, sesame or poppy seeds, minced garlic or whatever you like for sprinkling (optional).

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly dust with flour. Put flour, salt, cheese and butter in bowl of a food processor. Pulse until flour and butter are combined. Add about 1/4 cup cream or half-and-half and let machine run for a bit; continue to add liquid a teaspoon at a time, until mixture holds together but is not sticky.

2. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until 1/2-inch thick or even thinner, adding flour as needed. Transfer sheet of dough to prepared baking sheet (drape it over rolling pin to make it easier). Score lightly with a sharp knife, pizza cutter or a pastry wheel if you want to break crackers into squares or rectangles later on. Sprinkle with salt or other topping if you like.

3. Bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool on a rack; serve warm or at room temperature or store in a tin for a few days.

Yield: About 4 servings.

I would just like to say that although I said in my recipe that rice flour is optional, it really helps to make the crackers crisper. Since I keep rice flour on hand, I always use it. You actually can buy similar crackers to these in Sonoma, but that's the only place I've seen them, and I got the idea for the recipe from the package I bought there. I used all the ingredients on the package list, but I may have added some of the toppings.

Lars

Here's a good-looking recipe for Gluten-Free Sesame Crackers. Got it from the Boston Globe.

GLUTEN-FREE SESAME CRACKERS

Makes 60 small crackers or 45 large ones

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1 cup Ancient Harvest organic quinoa flour

1 cup tapioca flour

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces

6 tablespoons cold water

1. Set the oven at 325 degrees. Place the sesame seeds on a rimmed baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and cook them for 20 minutes or until they are gently toasted. Cool completely.

2. Turn the oven temperature up to 400 degrees. Butter a 14-by-16-inch baking sheet.

3. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the quinoa and tapioca flours with the sugar and salt. Pulse for a few seconds to mix them.

4. Add the butter and pulse again just until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. While the machine is running, add the cold water all at once; stop when the dough comes together into a ball.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl and on a board with your hands, knead in the sesame seeds. Set the dough directly on the baking sheet and press it with your fingers or with a small rolling pin to the edges of the pan. It will be about 1/8 inch thick. It is not necessary to use extra flour for this. Prick the dough all over with a fork.

6. With a long chef's knife or a pizza wheel, cut the dough into crackers. For 60 crackers, make 5 horizontal cuts and 9 vertical cuts; for 45 crackers, make 4 horizontal cuts and 8 vertical cuts.

7. Bake the crackers for 20 to 25 minutes, turning the sheet from back to front after 10 minutes. When the crackers are done, they are light brown; remove any crackers that brown at the edges of the pan before the rest are done. Keep checking the edges of the pan. Cool the pan on a wire rack.

8. With a small metal spatula, remove all the crackers from the pan. Store in an airtight container. Ingrid Lysgaard

© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.

/tricia

Reinhardt has 3 whole grain cracker recipes in his latest whole grain book. I've been buying the Trader Joe's graham crackers as the store bought ones don't have that much graham flour if at all. There are several recipes for grahams on the internet but I haven't tried any. Most of the recipes look fairly easy once you have the ingredients.

Saw this in the Houston Chronicle and thought of your post:

http://www.chron.com/dis/storympl/life/food/everyday/6268913.html

I've made Saltines using Alton Brown's recipe a number of times.

I usually brush them with garlic butter just prior to them going in the oven.

Very tasty.

Cracker-making hints:

-If you would like the crackers to be crisper, substitute a small portion of rice flour (up to 20%, but you may have to play with that number) for the wheat flour. Mill your own rice flour in a coffee/spice mill. Use medium- or short-grain rice for baking, not long-grain rice.

-Purchase a hair pick or wide-toothed hair comb for pricking the dough if you don't have a dough docker for the task. Much quicker than using a dinner fork. Don't OVER-dock the dough.

-Even and consistant rolling. If you have a problem consistantly getting the same thickness to your dough (they bake evenly if they are the same thickness), use a set of Rolling Pin Guide Rings on your rolling pin.

http://www.cakesbysam.com/store/cart.php?target=product&product_id=22175

If you have a pasta roller, you can run the dough through it.

-If you have a problem keeping seeds on the top, use a spray-on product from King Arthur Flour - Quick Shine - an egg wash substitute. Your seeds will stick and your crackers will have a nice finish.
-Store crackers in a FoodSaver vacuum-sealed canister or a jar or other container with a FoodSaver Universal Lid to keep them crisp. They should easily last 2-3 weeks - depending on the ingredients.
----------------------

I recently found a recipe for crackers that is made with a pourable batter I'm going to work on. You should get paper-thin crackers with this recipe. We'll see....

-Grainlady

Cheddar Pennies
Delicious cheddar penny cookies!!! Makes 70 pennies. I think I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com

1 to 1½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt
1 pinch cayenne pepper
6 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted

Mix together the flour, salt and cayenne pepper. Stir in the Cheddar cheese and melted butter to form a firm dough. Roll pieces of dough into ropes as big around as a penny. Slice into 1/4" slices. If dough is too soft, it can be chilled until firm. Place slices on a lightly greased cookie sheet so they are 1" apart. Bake at 325º 20-25 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly toasted and the tops are firm. Cool completely before serving. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Sesame Seed Whole-Wheat Crackers
From a Womens Day or Family Circle back in the 1970's. My kids rolled out a lot of these on rainy Indiana afternoons. Wheat germ can be used instead of the sesame seed.

1 C flour
1 t. salt
1 C whole wheat flour
3 T. oil
1/2 C sesame seeds
2 T. molasses

Combine ingredients with 1/2 C water until well mixed. Gather into a ball and knead several times. Divide in half. Roll each half out to fit a lightly buttered 18 x 1 4cookie sheet. Cut into 2" squares with a pastry wheel. Prick surface of each cracker with tines of fork. Bake at 350 for 10 mins or till lightly browned and crisp. Cool and store in airtight tin. Makes about 9 dozen.

Oatmeal Crackers
Another Womens Day or Family Circle recipe. I made a few variations, and prefer these over the Sesame Seed crackers, which came from the same magazine as above. Notice theres very little fat.
1 1/3 C flour
1/2 t. each baking soda and baking powder
1/3 C buttermilk
1/3 C soy flour (adds protein, but can leave out, just use more flour)
1 C rolled oats
3 T. olive oil
2 T. honey or molasses

Combine ingredients with 1/2 C water until well mixed. Gather into a ball and knead several times. Divide in half. Roll each half out to fit a lightly buttered 18 x 14" cookie sheet. Cut into 2" squares with a pastry wheel. Prick surface of each cracker with tines of fork. Bake at 350 for 10 mins or till lightly browned and crisp. Cool and store in airtight tin. Makes about 9 dozen.

Sesame Cheddar Sticks
This recipe came from a Womens Day or Family Circle, but I found it kind of tasteless, so I changed a few things. The original recipe called for 1/2 C margarine, 3T Worcestershire sauce and 2 t. cold water instead of the buttermilk, brewers yeast, mustard & chili seasoning. Real good with salad.
1 1/2 C flour
1 t. brewers yeast
1/2 t. salt
1 C sharp cheddar
1 t. dry mustard
1 T. sesame seeds
1/3 C buttermilk
1 t. chili seasoning (opt.)

Combine all ingredients except buttermilk with pastry blender till crumbly. Stir in buttermilk and shape into a ball. Handle lightly. Roll out on lightly floured board 1/ 4" thick. Cut into 3" x 1/2" strips. Place on ungreased baking sheets and back at 400 for 8-10 mins till golden.

Whole Wheat Crackers
This recipe came from Grit Magazine, 4/7 - 4/13/91. Makes about 60 crackers.

1 t. dry yeast
1/ 4t. sugar
1/ 4C whole wheat flour
1/3 C warm water
1/ 4t. salt
1/ 4t. baking soda
2 T. oil
1 C flour
1 slightly beaten egg white

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in oil, sugar & salt. In medium bowl mix flours & baking soda. Add yeast mix. Knead thoroughly. Chill in plastic bag for 1 hr. Roll out on flour into 12x10" rectangle. Fold in thirds & roll out again. Repeat twice more. Let rest 10 min. Cut in half & roll each into 1 4x 10" rectangle. Cut into 2" squares, prick well & brush with egg white mixed with 1 T. water. Sprinkle with coarse seasoned salt. Bake on greased baking sheet, 350, 10-12 min.