Homemade Savoury Crackers Four Ways

Delicious, homemade, savoury crackers. Surprisingly easy. Endlessly versatile. Recipe below.

Last time I made crackers. Oh dear. Tasty, yes, but not for those with delicate teeth. They were a little hard to bite. In an attempt to make them crisp, I had created concrete.

"They're nice dipped in soup," I offered, somewhat lamely. But it turned out they were also waterproof. No matter how long I waited with my cracker submerged, it didn't get any softer.

My homemade crackers were no competition for the light, crunchy delights from the supermarket.

So my children continued to munch their way through mountains of bought crackers. And I continued to shake my head at flimsy whiteness (not a wholegrain in sight!) and the addition of palm oil (why?!) not to mention plastic packaging (shopping is quite a minefield). Until last week when Colin* mentioned that he'd been making herby rye crackers and I felt inspired to give crackers another try.

*Who's Colin? Colin was kind enough to reply to my newsletter last week and it turns out he has quite a story...

Not wishing to leave success to chance, I had a quick Google and found this cracker recipe which I used as the basis for mine.

Homemade Savoury Crackers

The ingredients were:

1 cup wholemeal flour

2 cups plain flour

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp bouillon powder (we had no salt, I had to improvise)

4 tsp sunflower oil (the recipe said olive oil but I save the nice stuff for salad)

2 cups of water (the recipe said one cup but my flour was very thirsty)

Then, fairly obviously, it's just a case of combining the ingredients and perhaps (as I had to) adjusting the amount of water to make a workable dough. Workable, in this case, means 'fairly stiff and not too sticky'.

You can divide the mixture into four equal portions, in order to make four flavours of cracker. For each portion, roll out the dough into a rectangular shape, as thinly as you can. The recipe I was following said 1/8th of an inch or thinner.

Then you brush the dough with water and sprinkle on whatever seeds and seasoning you would like to use. TIP: gently use a rolling pin to press the seeds into the dough and help them to stick better.

I kept one batch of crackers plain. The other three batches had toppings as follows:

Flax seeds, sesame seeds, fennel seeds, dried parsley, salt and pepper

Dried herbs: thyme, parsley and basil. Salt and pepper

Flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, salt and pepper

Then I had what might be a genius idea. For the speediest crackers, here's a trick.

Top Trick For Speedy Cracker Production

For each batch, transfer the entire rolled-out dough to a baking sheet. I used my trusty non-stick baking liners* too. And, already in situ, gently cut the dough into cracker-sized pieces, like so:

*affiliate link

Crackers aren't going to spread, so there's no need to faff about, moving them individually or spreading them out. They can bake in this position, no problem.

As instructed in the recipe, I pricked the crackers with a fork to help them stay flat during cooking.

Bake at a fairly high temperature for about 12 minutes or until nicely browned.

Admittedly, some of mine were somewhat unevenly baked but I quite enjoyed the variety of some being extra browned.

A quick stint on the cooling rack ensured that the crackers became nice and crispy.

The plain ones resemble some of those bought ones that my children love so much.

The mixed seed topping worked out really well.

And here's Mr P's lunch/snack by way of a serving suggestion:

So, there you have it: homemade savoury crackers, four ways. Or, infinite ways, really, because you can certainly adapt this recipe to your own preferences. Let me know if you have a go. And thanks to Colin for the inspiration :o)

More From Freshly Baked

If you're ready to make your first loaf, but would like some extra guidance, I've shared a foolproof recipe and detailed step-by-step instructions in my ebook: First Loaf.

My ever-increasing recipe collection is available in my ebook: The Recipes.

Thanks so much to everyone who has already bought a copy!