Back in the day, when da boy was allergic to wheat, I tackled crackers. People thought I was crackers when I'd tell them I was making my own crackers. Yeah, I made cereal bits too out of gluten free graham cracker dough. There were times when even I questioned my own sanity. I came across a converted version of King Arthur Flour's Traditional Soda Crackers made with a gluten free brown rice flour blend on a celiac newsgroup. Newsgroups - there's a blast from the past! Of course I had to first tweak the flour blend to remove the cornstarch ....sigh.... nothing is ever easy when dealing with multiple allergies. But that flour blend became one of my favorites and is really quite versatile. I would make regular salt top crackers and garlic crackers. The kids loved them and would down half a tray before they were even completely cooled. These are crispy and crunchy and buttery. Still not quite a saltine, but they fit the bill for me. They are not terribly difficult, although take a bit of time. So worth it if you really miss yummy crackers.
Today, I was craving crackers....and then I spotted the package of Penzey's Pizza Seasoning sitting on the counter. Hmmm.....pizza flavored crackers?? Oh, yeah! There went my day!
Gluten Free Soda Crackers
1 1/2 cups
KathyP's Brown Rice Flour Mix (174g)
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| Ignore the dough hook in the picture - you won't "knead" it. My original method used it, but you can do all the mixing with the paddle attachment. |
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2/3 cup hot water (120°F to 130°F)
1/2 tsp brown rice syrup (or 1 tsp sugar)
2 Tbsp coconut oil (or shortening) (28g)
2 Tbsp butter or
margarine (28g)
salt, seeds, or other topping
In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 1 cup of the flour mix, yeast, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Set this on "stir" to combine.
In heatproof measuring cup, combine hot water, coconut oil, butter/margarine, and the brown rice syrup. Stir until the fats melt. Add the wet works to dry and mix well to combine. Put the mixer on medium low speed for a minute.
Scrape down the paddle and bowl. Add remaining 1/2 cup flour and beat on medium for 3 to 4 minutes. This is where I added 1/2 tsp pizza seasoning to the dough. This will not look a wheat based dough. It will just be sort of a jiggly mass. You will surely think it's way too wet, but trust me, it's fine.
Drizzle about 1/2 tsp oil into a zip top quart freezer bag. Squish it around to coat the inside of the bag. Scrape the dough out of the mixer bowl and place in oiled bag. Form dough into a rectangle in the bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. You can even do this overnight. It won’t rise much.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425F.
What you need for this part are several sheets of parchment that fit your baking sheets, a rolling pin, a fork, and some sort of cutter. A pizza wheel works well here. Avoid using a knife since that is likely to cut through the parchment. I use a antique fluted brass cutter that was my great grandmother's. My grandmother passed it down to me and it makes me think of her every time I use it. She had the patience of Job when us kids would "help" her bake!
Slit the bag open and divide the dough into half or thirds depending on the size of your baking sheets. I use half sheet pans (13" x 18") and divide my dough in half. Transfer a portion of the dough to a well floured piece of parchment paper (or Silpat).
Sprinkle with more flour mix and place another piece of parchment on top. Roll dough into a large rectangle about 1/16-inch thick. It's a good idea to keep lifting up the top parchment to make sure nothing is sticking. Dust with more flour as needed. This stuff is wet and sticky - flour is your friend here.
Fold the dough in from the short ends to make three layers (like folding a letter). This is where it's handy to have a bench scraper or you can just use the parchment like a shirt folder to flop the ends over.
Roll out again, as thin as you can get it making sure the dough is even. Try not to roll over the edges too much as they will get too thin. Remove the top sheet of parchment. I can get even thickness, but I can never get a nice rectangle! Oh, well, I actually like the jagged edge crackers - I don't feel bad about sampling those as they cool.
Prick the dough all over with a fork. Sprinkle crackers lightly with salt , seeds, or other seasoning if desired. For my pizza crackers, I mixed up 1/2 tsp Kosher salt, 1/4 tsp pizza seasoning, and 1/2 tsp nutritional yeast. Press salt/seeds lightly into dough with your fingers.
Cut into squares using a pizza or pastry cutter. I just cut freehand, but if your OCD starts twitching over that, then use a straight edge. Be extra careful if you are doing this directly on a Silpat. Carefully transfer parchment to baking sheet.
Repeat w/ remaining
dough.
Bake crackers in a preheated oven for 12 to 18 minutes, depending on the thickness and size of the crackers. Crackers will be lightly browned. Turn off the oven. Separate crackers on the trays. They will have shrunk slightly, so just separate any that are still touching. Return pans to oven and prop open the door. Leave pans in oven for 20 min to finish drying/crisping.
Remove from baking sheet and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Stand guard to smack hands that will try to snitch crackers! Store in an airtight container if there are any left! Enjoy your crackers!
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