Crackers

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt

spices (for topping)
shown here:
kosher salt
cracked pepper
tarragon
poppy seed
caraway seed
celery seed

suggested:
paprika
rosemary
oregano


Directions:
Preheat oven to 450. In a food processor or with a pastry cutter or with a mixer combine the flour, salt and butter until a coarse meal forms. Slowly stream in the milk. Mix until a slightly sticky dough forms. Add additional milk 1 teaspoon at a time if mixture is too dry. Roll out on a floured surface to a 1/8 inch thick rectangle. Cut out using cookie cutters or slice into squares. You cannot reroll the dough, so think carefully before you cut. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt or spices. Press the spices/salt down into the surface of the cracker. Make indentations with the tines of a fork over each cracker. Bake 20 minutes or until just starting to brown. Remove a wire rack and cool. Store in a air tight container.

Yield: about 20 crackers, depending on size.

My thoughts:

Crackers are one of those things I never really pictured people making at home. Who makes crackers? Who doesn't just buy a box? Lately though, I've been experimenting making crackers. As it turns out, homemade crackers are very easy to make and extremely tasty. These particular crackers are similar in texture to saltines, and can be easily dressed up with a variety of spices. They do only last about 3 days, so I scaled the recipe down to just make enough to serve as appetizers or a few day's worth of snacks but they are so good and quick to make, you might find yourself making more sooner than you'd think.