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Flatbread Crackers

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Crackers for Lent and Other Times

We are heading into lent while under coronavirus lockdown. My church (yes, Raechel – you represent the ENTIRE church) has asked me to teach the congregation how to make their own bread for our virtual Maundy Thursday service. Somewhere there is a very strange video of me making these crackers – I hope everyone who sees it gets a good laugh. It seemed like crackers would be a natural fit – they are quick, relatively easy, and taste great.

Homemade crackers are a special sort of thing in our house – they honestly don’t happen very often. Under normal circumstances, we totally support whoever makes Triskets and Wheat Things.  But we aren’t under normal circumstances, and these crackers are kind of nice to make when you have a little extra time and want something special. If you are making them for this Thursday’s service, I hope you find some extra love in your heart knowing that a few other people may be doing the same thing.

Some Cracker Tips

  • Make them your own – these crackers are not meant to be perfect. If you don’t have an ingredient – substitute and use whatever you have around the kitchen. No olive oil? Melted butter or canola oil will be fine. No rolling pin? Use a wine bottle, you get the idea.
  • You can use any kind of flour you have around. Whole wheat flour works great. Throw a couple tablespoons of rye in there if you have it.
    • I’ll even attempt to give a gluten free alternative: substitute the white flour with a gluten free flour mix – if you have xanthin gum around, add 1/2 t if it isn’t already in your flour mix. Instead of kneading the dough, you’ll add just enough water to pat the dough into a ball with your hands. You probably won’t be able to knead your dough. And you may need to roll your dough between parchment paper.
  • Don’t be intimidated by kneading the bread dough. If you have never kneaded dough before, all you have to do is gather the dough into a ball, take the end of the ball that is farther from you, pull it over the dough, and gently push with the heel of your hand, then give the ball a quarter of a turn and repeat. In this recipe, the point of the kneading is simply to give the dough a better elasticity and cohesiveness.  If you are still nervous about kneading, check out this video.
  • I wrote this recipe based on doing the mixing and kneading by hand. This works well for this dough, but if you have a mixer or food processor, you can adapt the recipe to your tools.
  • You may find that your dough shrinks back when you roll it out. In this case, the gluten needs to relax a bit – so let the dough rest a few minutes longer.
  • If you wonder if your dough is rolled thin enough, then it probably isn’t thin enough. If you have a few holes from being rolled too thin, that’s okay. Think of these crackers as rustic.
  • I like to cut the dough into long strips before I bake it. The strips can be as thin or thick as you like. The strips allow the centers to get crispy without the edges getting too brown. I also like how the crackers break from the strips, they have a little consistency of width, but still have some rough edges. However, if you don’t want to cut the dough, you can cook the rolled dough in one big piece and see what you think. On the other end of the spectrum, if you want more consistently shaped and browned crackers, you can cut them all into even squares – just be aware that moving the crackers from the cutting board to the baking sheet can be time consuming. The easiest way to do this is by rolling and cutting the crackers on parchment and then moving the parchment and crackers to the baking tray in one big motion.
  • Finally, for the sourdough lovers out there, use 200 grams of sourdough starter (unfed is fine), and reduce your flour down to about 1 cup plus 2 T (132 grams). I’m assuming your starter is at 100% hydration, meaning for every gram of flour you feed it one gram of water. I suppose that making these with sourdough starter technically no longer makes these flatbread crackers. You can keep this in mind, if you are really looking for unleavened bread for lent.

 

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Flatbread Crackers
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ cup flour (use your favorite - I like 1 cup of white, ½ cup of whole wheat, but add in 2 T of rye for fun)
  • 2 t fresh herbs or ½ t dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, herbs de Provence)
  • ½ - 1 t coarsely ground black pepper
  • 1-3 t seeds (optional - sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds)
  • ½ c, finely shredded Parmesan (optional)
  • ¾ t fine salt
  • 1 t sugar
  • 2 T olive oil
  • ½ c cold water
  • Optional Toppings
  • sesame seeds
  • poppy seeds
  • garlic flakes
  • course sea salt
  • seed mix (such as Everything Bagel seasoning)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
  2. Combine the flour, herbs, black pepper, seeds, cheese (if using) salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Stir with a spoon to combine.
  3. Add oil to bowl and stir.
  4. Add all but 2 T of water to bowl to combine. Add remaining water 1 T at a time until the dough just forms a shaggy ball.
  5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 2-4 minutes until it is smooth. Add flour just so the dough doesn't stick to your hands.
  6. Let the dough rest, covered with a towel, on the counter or in the bowl for 10 minutes.
  7. Divide the dough into 4 smaller balls.
  8. One at a time, roll each ball as thin as possible. If the dough shrinks back as you roll it, then allow to rest a few more minutes before continuing to roll it out.
  9. If you are adding a topping, sprinkle the topping on the dough and use the rolling pin to lightly roll the topping in place.
  10. Using a fork, poke the dough all over to prevent large air bubbles from forming.
  11. Cut the dough into 3-4 strips, place strips onto a baking sheet, and bake for 4 minutes. At four minutes, check the crackers, you can turn the strips over at this point to help them crisp or just leave them to cook on the first side. Either way, check every 2 minutes until they are crispy and lightly browned.
  12. When the cracker strips are crisp and slightly golden on the edges, remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack.
  13. Repeat rolling and baking process with remaining dough.
  14. Snap into smaller pieces.

 

Easy Homemade Fruit Leather

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Fruit leathers are homemade fruit rolls and they are very popular in our house. I love them because they are a great way to use up leftover fruit, don’t contain any added sugar, and the kids gobble them up.

You’ll need a couple special kitchen tools for this recipe. The first is a blender. I use my immersion blender to keep the clean up simple, but any good blender will do.

This batch of fruit includes blueberries and mangos.

The second tool is a dehydrator. A decent dehydrator runs about $100 and can be used for other preservation projects. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can try to do these on a very low oven – they will take about 18 hours in an oven. You can also dry them in the hot sun – it will take about 1 to 2 days to dry in the sun.

Fruit leathers ready to go in the dehydrator.

For the diabetics out there, make these without added sugar and they should contain the amount of fruit allowed for a fruit exchange.

This recipe is written for 2 cups of fruit, but it can be multiplied to accommodate as much fruit and drying space as you have.

Enjoy!

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Easy Homemade Fruit Leathers
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Recipe type: snack
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 13" x 15" leather
 
These homemade fruit roll-ups are a great way to use up extra fruit that isn't getting eaten quick enough. They are also an awesome low-sugar snack.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of any combination of ripe or slightly overripe fruit - blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, banana, kiwi, mango
  • ¼ cup of applesauce (optional, to help thicken the fruit)
  • 2 t of lemon juice or ⅛ t ascorbic acid for light colored fruit to prevent darkening (optional)
  • 1-2 T of honey, to taste (optional)
Instructions
  1. Prepare dehydrator trays by lining them with parchment paper over the surface of the tray. I cut out the center hole on my paper to help it fit better. Edges of the parchment paper can be folded up at the edge of the tray. Depending on the size of your dehydrator trays, you will need one or two trays for 2 cups of fruit.
  2. Wash fruit or berries in cool water. Remove peel, seeds, and stems.
  3. Using a blender or immersion blender, puree the fruit.
  4. The pureed fruit should be slightly thick so that it doesn't run apart when poured onto the dehydrator trays. If it seems too runny, add a little applesauce to thicken it up. The applesauce will also help decrease tartness and make the leather smoother and more pliable. If the fruit seems to thick, add liquid, such as orange or apple juice, to thicken.
  5. Taste and add honey, if needed. I rarely add any honey at all.
  6. Pour the pureed fruit mixture onto the prepared tray. Avoid the edges of the tray. Spread it out to about ⅛ inch thick. Thicker spreads will take longer to dehydrate. Spread into any shape you like. I usually do about 2" x 8" rectangles. Larger shapes can be cut smaller later, but will take longer to dry.
  7. Dry the leather at 140 degrees F. The leather will dry from the edges to the center.
  8. After about 4 hours, test for dryness by touching the center of the leather - your finger should not leave an indent.
  9. While warm, you can peel from the parchment and roll. Allow to cool and rewrap in plastic. I usually let mine cool flat and then bag it and freeze.
  10. The leather usually will get eaten pretty quickly. But it will last about a month at room temp or it can be frozen up to a year.
Notes
This recipe can be multiplied based on how much fruit and dehydrating space you have.

 

 

Cauliflower & Quinoa Pilaf for the Instant Pot

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For starters, today I want to give a shout out to all those bloggers who are able to take Instagram worthy food photos. It is all I can do to grab the cell phone and snap a photo of my creations while my kids are screaming for dinner in the background. I’m trying to keep it real here – with quinoa on the lip of the pressure cooker, no fancy backdrops, and whatever.

Anyway… on to the recipe. I started with a pilaf recipe from The Instant Pot Bible by Bruce Weinstein, and then adapted it to what I had on hand in the house. The final recipe is much simpler than the original. And isn’t that what cooking is all about?

The original recipe caught my eye because it contained quinoa, which is super healthy and super quick to cook, especially under pressure. One of the things my family does during dinner is talk about the nutritional benefits of the foods we are eating. I find quinoa especially interesting since it is one of the few plant based proteins that contains all nine of the essential amino acids that are commonly found in meats. It is also a great source of manganese, phosphorus and fiber.

A couple quick recipe notes:

  • Be sure to rinse your quinoa before cooking it. You may be able to save yourself this step if your quinoa is pre-rinsed – check the bag to find out.
  • I used homemade vegetable broth. It is so much tastier than the stuff I find at the store and worth the extra trouble, in my opinion. One of these days, I will try to post a recipe for vegetable broth on this site, but in the meantime, a good pressure cooker book should get you started. Or try this recipe over at Hip Pressure Cooking for Vegetable Broth.
  • To make this recipe super easy and quick, I used frozen, riced cauliflower. If you have fresh cauliflower, break it into small pieces, and increase the cooking time to 6 minutes.

 

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Cauliflower & Quinoa Pilaf
Author: 
Recipe type: side dish, pressure cooker, vegetable
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients
  • 2 T butter
  • 1 cup of chopped onion (can substitute with shallots or leeks)
  • 1 t chopped garlic
  • 1 t cumin seeds
  • ½ t dried ginger powder
  • 1 cup of rinsed quinoa
  • 1, 16 oz package of fresh or frozen cauliflower rice
  • 2 cups of vegetable stock
Instructions
  1. Preheat the base of your pressure cooker using the sauté setting.
  2. Sauté the onion in the butter for 2-3 minutes until it is soft, but not browned.
  3. Add the garlic, cumin seeds and ginger powder and sauté briefly (about 10-30 seconds) until you can smell the spices.
  4. Turn off the heat on the pressure cooker.
  5. Add the quinoa, cauliflower and stock. Stir to combine.
  6. Lock on the lid of the pressure cooker and set the cook time for 1 minute on high pressure. Double check that the pressure valve is closed. Turn off the "keep warm" setting, if your machine has one.
  7. Once the cooking has completed, release the pressure using a quick release method.
  8. Fluff the pilaf and serve.

 

Easy Mini Chocolate Lava Cake in the Pressure Cooker

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This is a take on one of my favorite chocolate cakes. I’ve modified it to make individual cakes using my pressure cooker. I’ve also made this recipe as easy as possible to make – we often make it in my pressure cooking classes and I don’t like to unnecessarily complicate things during those classes!

The first thing you’ll want to do is find small jars or ramekins for baking the cakes. I use 4 ounce Ball glass jelly jars for making this recipe. I find that size is just about the right size for individual cakes in our house. You are welcome to use larger jars or ramekins – just adjust the cooking time up 2-3 minutes if you are using larger containers.

I typically make this in my 8 quart stovetop cooker, because I can easily fit eight small 4-ounce jars in this cooker. Once you make a layer of jars on the bottom of the cooker, you can stack a second layer on top of those. Stack the jars so they are slightly off-set from each other, kind of like if you were staking a solo cup tower. Depending on the size of your electric cooker, the second layer can be harder to fit – in that case, just cook them in two batches.

Also, I use chocolate chips in this recipe as the chocolate. I don’t use anything fancy for the chocolate – I use whatever is around the house, which is typically Kirkland brand chips. They end up tasting pretty darn good. I also think that the espresso powder that I use helps to intensify the chocolate flavor. I get mine from King Arthur Flour and I use the tiniest bit so my kids can’t taste the coffee –  a little of this special ingredient goes a long way. Feel free to leave the expresso powder out, if you don’t have it.

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Easy Mini Chocolate Lava Cake in the Pressure Cooker
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8
 
This is a super quick and easy chocolate dessert in the pressure cooker. If
Ingredients
  • ½ cup butter
  • 4 ounces chocolate chips
  • 1½ cup confectioners sugar
  • 2 eggs at room temperature * see note at bottom of recipe.
  • 3 egg yolks at room temperature *see note at bottom of recipe
  • ½ t instant coffee granules or espresso powder (optional)
  • 1 t vanilla
  • ½ cup (2 ounces) flour - white or finely ground whole wheat pastry flour)
  • ¼ t salt
  • whipped cream or ice cream for serving (optional)
Instructions
  1. Butter or oil 8, 4 ounce ramekins or jars.
  2. Chop up butter and melt with chocolate chips in the microwave. Cook for 30 seconds, stir, add 30 seconds and stir again. Be sure to stir - the chips don't just melt and tell you they are melted. Let this mixture cool a bit to room temperature.
  3. Using a wooden spoon, stir confectioners sugar into melted chocolate.
  4. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and egg yolks together.
  5. Stir eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, instant coffee granules (if using) into the chocolate.
  6. Using a wooden spoon, add flour and salt to the chocolate mixture, stirring until combined.
  7. Divide the batter evenly between the ramekins. Don't overfill, because they will puff up a bit during baking.
  8. Put one cup of water and a steamer rack in your pressure cooker. Stack the ramekins in the pressure cooker. Use two layers, if necessary.
  9. Follow your pressure cooker's instructions and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes. Turn off the keep warm setting. Allow to natural release for 5-10 minutes, depending on how gooey you like the center.
  10. After the natural release period, release remaining pressure using the quick release method and serve warm. These are great with whipped cream or a little ice cream.
  11. If not serving right away, you can set the lid back on the cooker after releasing pressure and they will stay warm for about 30-45 minutes.
  12. Note on eggs - the 2 eggs plus 3 egg yolks makes an excellent cake, but if you don't feel like messing with the extra egg whites, you can make this recipe with four eggs. It will be a little less rich, but great, nonetheless.

 

 

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