Crunchy Parmesan Crackers

7 Reviews 4.1 out of 5 stars

This recipe comes from Pam Correll of Brockport, PA, grand prize winner in EatingWell magazine's 2012 Whole Grains Makeover contest, sponsored by King Arthur and the Whole Grains Council. You'd never know these tender/crisp, very cheese-y crackers are 100% whole wheat — they're a great example of how white whole wheat can step in for all-purpose flour in all kinds of baked treats.

Prep
25 mins
Bake
14 to 16 mins
Total
1 hr 7 mins
Yield
about 200 small (1") crackers
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Crunchy Parmesan Crackers

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Get out several large baking sheets; no need to grease them.

  2. Whisk together the flour, salt, pepper, and Parmesan.

  3. Add the cold butter, working it in until no large pieces remain; a mixer works well here.

  4. With the mixer running (or stirring all the while), drizzle in milk until the dough comes together; you may not use the entire 1/2 cup.

  5. Gather the dough into a ball, and squeeze it a few times to bring it together. Divide it into three pieces. If you have a scale, they'll weigh about 6 1/2 ounces (187g) each.

  6. Working with one piece of dough at a time, flatten it into a rough square, and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough 1/8" thick; it'll be about 10" square (or an 11" circle, if your rolling efforts result in a circle).

  7. Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment or aluminum foil. Using a sharp knife, pizza cutter, or pastry wheel, cut the dough into 1" squares; don't separate them. You may trim the edges first, if you like, in order to separate the "good looking" crackers from the raggedy ones around the edges.

  8. Lift the piece of parchment/crackers onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle the crackers with coarse sea salt, additional grated cheese, and/or dried herbs.

  9. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

  10. Bake the crackers for about 15 minutes, until they're a medium golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan.

  11. When the crackers are cool, store them airtight at room temperature.

Tips from our Bakers

  • As you bake the crackers, the ones around the edge will brown more quickly than the ones in the center. If you're not a fan of darker crackers, remove the pan from the oven, carefully transfer the crackers around the edge to a cooling rack, and return the pan to the oven to continue baking, until the remainder of the crackers are golden brown.
  • While the original recipe calls for sprinkling with coarse sea salt, we've made that an optional step here; we feel the crackers are salty enough without adding more on top.

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