Home-made Crackers!

A friend of mine at work is having to eat a very limited diet for a while, due to recent surgery on her small intestine. She told me she was getting really bored with crackers! That inspired me to try making some home-made ones. So far, I've done two batches of graham crackers, two of cracked wheat crackers, and one batch of herbed wheat crackers. They're fun!

Graham Crackers

Here are my hints for crackers, based on my experiences so far:
1) Try to roll them as evenly as possible, so they bake evenly. Also, be sure they're very thin, or they will end up soft and doughy on the inside, not crisp and "crackery."
2) You definitely don't want to underbake crackers, as that will also make them soft and doughy. On the other hand, if they are deeply browned all over they don't taste as good. You want to aim for brown edges and golden in the center.
3) You'll have to hover over them and watch carefully towards the end of baking. It will help to have a spatula and small pan or rack ready, so you can scoop off the ones that have gotten done a little early and push the rest of them back into the oven to finish up.

The graham crackers were from the recipe in the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. They do have a graham cracker recipe posted on their Web site, but it's not the same one. The one from the book has a higher ratio of whole wheat to white flour, butter instead of oil, confectioners' sugar instead of plain sugar, and no egg.

The Best Graham Crackers, from “The King Arthur Cookie Companion,” p. 332-333

1/2 c. (2 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. (7 7/8 oz.) whole wheat flour
3/4 c. (3 oz.) confectioners’ sugar (I reduced this to 2 oz. the second time, which we preferred)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon (optional) (I reduced this to 1/2 tsp.)
1/2 c. (4 oz.) unsalted butter, cold, cut into chunks
2 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract (not in original recipe, I added it)
2 Tbsp. cold milk (not skim), or more as needed

* Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut out two sheets of parchment paper as big as your baking sheets.
* In small bowl, combine honey, vanilla, and milk, stirring until honey dissolves. In bowl of food processor, process together flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stop processor, add butter chunks, and pulse them in until mixture is crumbly and looks like coarse corn meal. (You do not want any large pieces--this is not pie crust.)
* Gradually pour milk/honey mixture through feed tube and process until mixture mostly comes together. Remove bowl from food processor, toss mixture with fork and gradually add more milk if needed. It should come together and not be dry, but not sticky either. (Note: the King Arthur recipe calls for cutting the butter in by hand, but I love to use my food processor!)
* Turn dough onto floured surface and fold it over gently a few times, until smooth. Divide into two pieces. You may wrap and chill the dough at this point, if you wish, but it is not necessary. (You can also freeze it for future use.)
* Work with half the dough at a time, keeping the remaining half covered. Lay one of the pieces of parchment paper out on your work surface, and flour very lightly. Roll out dough into a rectangle a little bigger than 10 by 14 inches. Trim edges evenly and prick all over with fork or dough docker. Use pizza wheel to cut dough into rectangles. (They recommend 16 rectangles, 4 strips x 4 strips, but I did more like 4 x 8 for smaller crackers.) Pick up the parchment and transfer to baking sheet. There is no need to separate the crackers from each other.
* Bake for about 15 minutes, until just browning around the edges and medium gold color in center. Remove from heat and let cool 8 to 10 minutes on pan, until just barely warm. The second time I made these, I used the convection bake setting at about 315 degrees. They may not take quite as long to bake that way.
* Break crackers apart along scored lines and cool completely on rack.

I made these twice, one time with regular whole wheat flour and buckwheat honey, one time with white whole wheat flour and barley malt syrup. They were great! My friend at work really liked them. So did my husband -- he promptly pulled out a jar of peanut butter and went to town. (That's why I had to make a second batch!)

My husband then said, "Could you make those Stoned Wheat Thins at home?" We go through a lot of them, so it seemed worth a try. After reading the ingredients and looking through cookbooks, I modified the Soda Cracker recipe from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Bread. (If you like to make bread, you really must get this book, by the way. More recipes than you'll get through in a lifetime -- unless you bake bread as often as Mr. Clayton!)

rolling out the Bulgur Wheat Crackers

Bulgur Wheat Crackers adapted from Plain Soda Crackers, p. 694-697, Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

1/4 c. bulgur wheat (1.4 oz / 40 gm), pulsed in mini food processor to break up the largest bits
2 Tbsp. solid vegetable shortening
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. malt syrup
3/4 c. boiling water
1/4 c. white whole wheat flour (1.25 oz / 35 gm)
3/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (3.75 oz / 106 gm)
1 1/2 tsp. instant dry yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 c. (2.5 oz / 71 gm) all-purpose flour, or more as needed to make dough
more flour as needed for kneading and rolling out
2 Tbsp. melted butter for brushing (I used browned butter for more flavor)
salt for sprinkling

* Place bulgur, shortening, oil, and malt syrup in heat-proof bowl. Pour boiling water on top and stir until shortening melts. Let cool to 120 to 130 degrees F.
* In mixing bowl, place white wheat flour, 3/4 c. all-purpose flour, yeast, salt, baking powder, and cream of tartar. Whisk to mix.
* Pour liquid over dry ingredients; stir vigorously to blend with spoon or spatula. Gradually add the rest of the flour to make a dough that can be kneaded. If the dough is sticky, sprinkle in more flour until it can be worked.
* Turn out on lightly floured surface and knead until soft and elastic, about 4 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add sprinkles of flour as needed.
* Place dough into oiled or buttered bowl, cover, and refrigerate. The longer the better, up to 18 hours.
* Place one rack in center of oven and preheat to 425 F. If you have a convection oven, set to 375 F convection bake instead.
* Cut two pieces of parchment paper the size of your baking sheets. Cut another piece about a yard long.
* Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a long rectangle about 18 inches by 6 inches. Fold one-third of dough into center from short ends, so you end up with a dough packet about 6-by-6 inches and 3 layers thick.
* Lay the large parchment out on your work surface. Roll the dough out to a very large rectangle -- aim for about 11 by 26 to 28 inches. (If you don't have enough room for this, cut dough in half and roll it in two smaller batches.)
* If the dough gets too stretchy and hard to roll, cover it up and let it rest for a few minutes so the gluten can relax. Once you've finished rolling, again let it sit for a few minutes to relax. Trim the edges neatly and remove the scraps. (Note: breaks in the dough can be patched by moistening the area lightly and applying a small piece of dough pinched from the edge. Squish the patch into place and go over it lightly with the rolling pin to flatten it out. You can use a similar technique to even up the edges.)
* Cut the long dough rectangle into two equal pieces about 11 by 13 inches. Place the two pan-sized parchment papers over the dough, centering each one on one of the dough pieces. (The parchments will overlap.) Flip the whole "sandwich" over and peel off the top layer of parchment paper. Gently pull apart the two pieces of parchment paper.
* Prick the dough all over with a fork and cut into the size and shape of crackers you desire (a ruler and a pizza wheel are good for this). Brush the top of the dough all over with the melted butter, and sprinkle lightly with salt. (Mr. Clayton recommends sprinkling from about 12 inches above the dough to get a light, even coat of salt.)
* Slide the crackers on parchment onto your baking sheet. They will shrink slightly when baked, so it will not be necessary to separate them. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, until brown at the edges and golden over almost all of the top. Remove to rack to cool.

Herbed Wheat Crackers

My last batch was Herbed Wheat Crackers,
adapted from Plain Soda Crackers, p. 694-697, Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

About 1 Tbsp. dried rosemary and 1 tsp. dried thyme, pulsed in spice grinder or mini food processor until rosemary is in small pieces (I'm sure fresh would have been better. Maybe next time.)
2 Tbsp. solid vegetable shortening
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. malt syrup
3/4 c. boiling water
1/2 c. white whole wheat flour (2.5 oz / 71 gm)
1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (2.5 oz / 71 gm)
1 1/2 tsp. instant dry yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 c. (2.5 oz / 71 gm) all-purpose flour, or more as needed to make dough
more flour as needed for kneading and rolling out
2 Tbsp. olive oil for brushing
salt for sprinkling

* Place herbs, shortening, oil, and malt syrup in heat-proof bowl. Pour boiling water on top and stir until shortening melts. Let cool to 120 to 130 degrees F.
* In mixing bowl, place white wheat flour, 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, yeast, salt, baking powder, and cream of tartar. Whisk to mix.
* Continue as for Bulgur Wheat crackers above.

Now that I have mastered a couple of basic recipes, I want to branch out to fancier crackers! I'd like to try something with cornmeal, olive oil, and fresh rosemary, for example. And some sort of sesame cracker. Then there were all the fancy ones I saw at Whole Foods -- sundried tomato and olive, for example. All sorts of tastes in a simple cracker!

YWP: Shaker Lemon Tart, or "Pie is its own statement"

Some clever pie-baking bloggers have come up with the "You Want Pies With That?" blog event. For this month, the theme was "Pies as a Fashion Statement." When I read this to my husband, he frowned in disapproval and said, "Pie is its own statement." (This is the man who always asks for a pie on his birthday. He knows good pie!)


In keeping with that idea, I present the Shaker Meyer Lemon Tart. The simple, beautiful lines of Shaker furniture have "been their own statement" for many years. Shaker lemon pie is also very simple, uses every bit of the lemon, and is intensely and wonderfully lemon-flavored. My twist is to make it as an open-faced tart using Meyer lemons.


I first came across a Shaker lemon pie recipe in Bernard Clayton's "Complete Book of Pastry," then again in Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Pie and Pastry Bible." (Two wonderful books, by the way.) Then I discovered Meyer lemons. Oh my, what a wonderful flavor! But here in Wisconsin, they are expensive, and available only during a limited season. I hated to waste even a bit of them -- aha! Shaker lemon pie! It uses the entire lemon, only the seeds are discarded.

I decided to make it as an open-faced tart instead, because the filling is very intense and is best in a thin layer. I was thrilled with myself for creating a new recipe! Imagine my chagrin when I discovered Martha Stewart and her crew had gotten there first. (Sigh.) Still, it's a great recipe and I have made it many times since.

Recipe for a 13 by 4-inch tart pan:

Filling (must be started at least 24 hours in advance):

In advance:
1 1/4 cups / 190 grams Meyer lemon slices
15 tablespoons / 188 grams granulated sugar (increase to 1 1/4 cup / 250 grams for regular lemons)
1/4 tsp salt
When ready to bake:
1 1/4 teaspoons potato starch or cornstarch
2 1/2 large eggs (125 grams)

For a 9-inch round tart pan, use 1 1/2 cups lemon slices (228 gm), 1 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar (225 gm), 3/8 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp. potato starch, 3 eggs (150 gm).

Start with two Meyer lemons, preferably organic, well washed to remove all wax coating. (Note, you may also use regular lemons, but be sure they are thin-skinned. The kinds with really thick skins will be too bitter.) Slice them in half from stem end to blossom end. With cut side down, cut off the stem end to reveal the flesh inside, then cut into extremely thin half-round slices until you reach the other end. Save the two end pieces that only have the rind and pith on them -- you can grate the peel off them to flavor your tart dough. Pick out all seeds from the slices with the tip of a knife and discard seeds. Place slices in measuring cup. Continue until you have the amount needed for the recipe.

In a non-reactive bowl, combine the lemon slices, sugar, and salt. Share or stir gently to distribute the sugar evenly over the slices. Cover and let macerate for 12 hours at cool room temperature, or in the refrigerator. After 12 hours at room temperature, refrigerate -- they will keep for at least a week. At this point, you may freeze the mixture for later use. (That's what I did for this tart.) The sugar will keep the lemons from getting too mushy when they thaw.

When you are ready to fill your crust (see below), scoop the lemon slices out with a slotted spoon and place in another bowl. Stir the lemon juice/sugar mixture until all sugar is dissolved. Pick out any seeds you may have missed (they will show up as you stir). Spoon out a tablespoon or so of the liquid and use it to dissolve the potato starch or corn starch, then stir the starch mixture back into the filling. Beat eggs until well mixed, then gently stir into filling. Leave lemon slices and filling in separate bowls.




The pastry crust is Rose Levy Beranbaum's Sweet Pastry Dough from "The Pie and Pastry Bible," or available here. I made only 3/4 of the recipe and flavored it with vanilla and grated Meyer Lemon peel.

Crust (for a 13x4 inch rectangular tart pan)
3 Tablespoons sugar (38 gm)
1/2 teaspoon grated Meyer lemon zest
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cool, cut into cubes (3 oz / 85 gm)
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (75 gm)
1/2 cup unbleached pastry flour (75 gm)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk (18.6 gm)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons heavy cream

Place sugar and lemon zest in food processor and process until sugar is very fine. Add butter and pulse until sugar disappears. Add flour and salt and pulse until mixture resembles crumbs. Turn into a bowl. Mix together egg yolk, vanilla and cream. Using fork, stir egg mixture into flour mixture just until it begins to come together. Bring mixture together with hands. Place on plastic wrap, pat into rectangle (or disk if you are using a round pan) and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Lightly grease the tart pan. Roll dough out on lightly floured surface to slightly larger than pan. Place in pan and ease down into pan (don't stretch). Trim edges of dough to about 1/4 inch beyond edges of pan, then fold them down inside to make a doubled edge. Press edges smooth with fingers. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 30 minutes to set dough and help prevent shrinking. (I froze mine for several weeks.)

When ready to bake, set rack to middle of oven and set a heavy baking pan or baking stone on the rack. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place buttered foil, or parchment paper on top of the tart dough. Leave edges of foil or paper hanging over the edge so you can use them to lift out the weights. Fill tart with pie weights or dry uncooked rice or beans. Set on top of preheated stone or pan, and turn oven down to 375 degrees. Bake for about 20 minutes, until it begins to turn slightly brown at the edges. Remove from oven and gently lift out the foil and weights. (If the dough sticks to the foil, it probably isn't baked enough. Put it back in the oven for a few more minutes.) Place empty tart shell back in oven for about 5 minutes, until bottom is slightly golden. Take out of the oven and brush very lightly with a mixture of 1 egg white whisked together with 1 tablespoon of water, to seal the dough.


Turn the oven down to 325 degrees.

Finish preparing the lemon filling, as above. Arrange the lemon slices over the bottom of the tart, neatly or randomly as you prefer. Pour the liquid over them. (If there is any extra liquid, place it in a small custard cup and bake it along with the tart.) Place in oven (still on top of stone) and cover loosely with a tent of foil.


Bake tart at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes, until the filling has just set.


Let cool completely. Serve, perhaps with whipped cream and a twist of candied lemon peel -- or let it stand on its own!

By the way, here is a picture of my very first Shaker Lemon Pie. I made it about 5 years ago, -- regular lemons, filling recipe from Bernard Clayton's Shaker Lemon Pie, crust from Bernard Clayton's Half-and-Half Pie Crust. I reserved a bit of the egg/lemon juice/sugar from the filling to glaze the top crust and cut-outs.

Bungalow Banana Bread

My husband was very skeptical about the Black-and-White Banana Loaf for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie project. "Banana and chocolate? Ugh!" was the gist of his remarks. So I agreed to make another loaf as well, of our favorite banana bread.


It is a slightly adapted version of the Hana-Banana Nut Loaf from Bernard Clayton's "New Complete Book of Breads." A wonderful book, by the way! I highly recommend it. You can take a look at the original recipe here.

I love this recipe because it has so much banana, and not too much butter or sugar.

Bungalow Banana Bread
by Bungalow Barbara, slightly adapted from Hana-Banana Loaf in Bernard Clayton's "New Complete Book of Breads."
Makes one loaf.

1 c. all-purpose flour (5.0 oz. / 142 g)
1/2 c. whole wheat flour (2.7 oz / 76 g)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
optional: 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon or a pinch of ground nutmeg
6 Tbsp. butter, room temperature (3 oz / 85 g)
1/3 c. light brown sugar (2.55 oz / 72 g) or granulated sugar (2.33 oz / 66 g)
2 eggs, room temperature (3.53 oz / 100 g)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. mashed bananas (about 13.2 oz / 375 g; about 3 to 4 bananas)
note: if you are a little short on mashed bananas, make up the difference with sour cream, yogurt, or milk.
1 c. coarsely broken or chopped walnuts (4 oz. / 113 g)

Grease an 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pan. Line pan with buttered wax paper or parchment paper.

Set rack to middle of oven. Preheat to 350 degrees F.

In bowl, stir together white flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and optional cinnamon or nutmeg.

In another bowl, cream butter & sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla, then banana puree.

Stir dry mixture into egg mixture in two additions, mixing gently just until incorporated. Stir in nuts gently, just until incorporated. When adding flour & nuts, stir only to blend ingredients thoroughly and moisten the flour. Don’t overmix or bread will be tough.

Pour and spoon into prepared pan. Level with spatula. Bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until dark brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool on in pan on wire rack for 15-20 minutes. Remove from pan & cool before cutting.