Home Made Crostini Crackers

One of my favorite snack items are Crostini crackers. They are simple, flavorful, and accompany everything from dips to spreads very well. (I love these with hummus). In addition, there are many varieties available featuring herbs, cheeses, seeds, olives, etc. They are truly a versatile little item, and I usually have a bag on hand.

With grocery prices soaring, especially on "specialty items." The last bag I bought was nearly five dollars, for a 7.5 ounce bag! This seemed outrageous, as the ingredients are simple, and relatively inexpensive. I decided it was time to figure out how to make my own. After a couple of attempts to replicate the store bought Crostini crackers, I created this recipe. The flavor resemblance is extremely close, and, in fact, I almost think mine are better, as they are fresh, and have not sat in packaging, on a shelf, or had to endure long warehousing and transportation to the grocery store.

Best of all, this recipe makes a tub full. As my time is my own, and ingredients are cheap, it costs far less than the grocery store, for significantly more crackers.   

Home Made Crostini Crackers

Skill level:

(I gave this and "advanced" rating, because the dough can be fragile when rolled, otherwise this is an extremely easy recipe)

Ingredients

2 teaspoons yeast

3/4 cup warm water

2 cups flour

1/3 cup olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Additional Flour

Dried herbs (optional)

Preparation

1. In a bowl, combine yeast, water, and 1/4 cup of the flour. Using a whisk, stir together until combined.

2. Allow the yeast mixture to sit for 20 minutes. It will expand and become "fluffy" looking.

3. Using a stand mixer, fitted with the standard stirring attachment, add remaining flour, olive oil, and salt. Blend on medium slow setting for 4 to 5 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. When done, the dough will be ribbony, stretchy, and quite sticky.
   
4. Put a small mound of flour onto a clean surface, and speed it out until you have a 6 to 8 inch circle of flour.

5. Scrape dough from bowl, on top of the flour pile.
   
6. Gently kneed the dough in the flour, 10 to 15 times, until dough is no longer incredibly sticky. Kneading time is minimal, as you do want the dough to remain soft and stretchy.

7. Divide dough into 2 parts,
8. Optional: Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of dried herbs onto one of the dough mounds, and gently kneed another 20 to 25 times, until herbs are combined into the dough. (In the pictures, I used a mixture rosemary and oregano leaves). 


9. Round both dough clumps into nice rounds.

10. Loosely wrap dough balls in plastic wrap. 

11. Allow to sit for 1 hour. Dough will rise slightly, and wrap will tighten around the dough.

12. Take 2 cookie sheets, and cut 2 pieces of baking parchment to the size of the baking sheet.
13. Take one ball of the dough, and roll out very thin, on a lightly floured surface. Make sure to roll the dough nearly to the size of your baking sheets.  (I try to leave 1 1/2 to 2 inch borders).

14. Place one piece of parchment on top of the dough.

15. As the dough is very thin and fragile, carefully roll dough and parchment around a rolling pin, and transfer (parchment side down) onto one of the baking sheets.
    
16. Repeat steps 13 through 15 with the remaining dough ball.
17. Use a fork, and poke random holes all over the rolled dough.  The crackers will puff while baking, the random holes keep the crackers from becoming completely hollow.

18. Using a pizza cutter, cut the rolled dough into 1 1/4 wide strips.  (I found that using a knife does not work well, as the dough is thin and sticky).

19. Again, using a pizza cutter, cut the strips into 2 1/2 wide pieces.

20. Place the first baking sheet with the cut strips into a 425 degree oven. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, until the crostini begin to brown and puff up a bit. 

21. Remove from oven, and turn all of the crostinis over, braking apart any that may have stuck together.

22. Bake again for another 5 to 7 minutes, until lightly browned.

23. Remove from the oven.
24. Repeat steps 20 through 23, with the remaining cut dough.
25. When both batches are complete, reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees.
26. Pile all of the crostini onto one baking sheet, and allow to dry and crisp in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

27. Remove "dried" crostini from the oven, and transfer to a cooling rack.
28. Allow to cool completely, as part of the crispness is achieved while the crackers cool.
29. Store in an air tight container, until ready to serve.