Easy Homemade Nut Crackers
Crispy and crunchy with a subtle nutty flavour these easy crackers are perfect with cheeses, dips and spreads. Here there's a combination of hazelnuts, almonds and pecans, or you can swap in your own favourite mix of nuts.
It's recommended you read the accompanying blog post before starting to cook. Use digital scales and metric measurements as these were used to test the recipe.
Ingredients
- 100 g plain/all-purpose white flour
- 75 g wholemeal flour (plus extra for rolling out)
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 90 g chopped nuts (toasted or untoasted) e.g. 30 g each of hazelnuts, almonds, pecans
- 100 - 120 ml water
- 25 ml extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 220° C /200° Fan /Gas 7 /425° F.
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Cut two sheets of baking paper to fit the base of a shallow baking tray approximately 31 x 21 cm.
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Sieve the flours, salt, pepper, and baking powder into a bowl then stir in the chopped nuts.
Stir the olive oil into 100 ml of water then pour into the flour mixture.
Start by stirring with a silicone spoon to combine, then switch to your hands to bring together into a dough that leaves the bowl clean: add a little more water if necessary but just a teaspoon at a time so the dough doesn't become wet.
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Transfer to a clean work surface or silicone mat and briefly knead/fold into a smooth ball.
Cut in half (use digital scales for accuracy) then set one half aside, covered with the upturned bowl so it doesn't dry out.
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Dust one of the sheets of baking paper with a little wholemeal flour.
Place one piece of dough on it, lightly dust with more flour, and roll out very thinly until it covers the paper: the dough should be no more than 1-2 mm thick, or the crackers will be hard rather than crunchy.
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If liked, neaten the edges of the dough using a pizza wheel, knife or, for wavy edged crackers, a pastry wheel: put the scraps with the reserved dough.
Mark the dough into squares or rectangles of your preferred size: you don't need to cut all the way through and try not to cut into the paper.
Slide the paper and crackers onto a baking tray.
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Put the crackers in the preheated oven and bake until crisp and golden brown (11-15 min). Check after 8-9 minutes: crackers at the edges of the tray may cook much quicker, so snap these off on put on a cooling rack and return the rest to the oven. For even cooking you can also turn crackers over for the final few minutes.
While the first tray is baking, roll and cut the remaining dough on the second sheet of baking paper then cook as above. If you have two suitable trays you can prep and bake both at the same time if preferred.
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When done, leave the crackers on a cooling rack until completely cold before storing in an airtight container. Should keep for 2 weeks.