Cranberry Pecan Rosemary Crackers
A friend gave me the recipe. I replaced the raisins with cranberries and cut the loaves in half lengthwise to end up with a square shape. Notes in brackets are mine.
Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps
2 cups flour (I used Robin Hood Best for Bread Multigrain)
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 cup raisins (Cranberries)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup flax seed, ground
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
Preheat oven to 350° F.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the buttermilk, brown sugar and honey and stir a few strokes. Add the raisins, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seed and rosemary and stir just until blended.
Pour the batter into two 8”x4” loaf pans that have been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for about 35 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch. (This took a lot longer than 35 minutes). Remove from the pans and cool on a wire rack.
The cooler the bread, the easier it is to slice really thin. You can leave it until the next day or pop it in the freezer. (I froze them overnight). Slice the loaves as thin as you can and place the slices in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet. (I used a meat slicer). Reduce the oven heat to 300° F and bake them for about 15 minutes, then flip them over and bake for another 10 minutes, until crisp and deep golden. (I didn't flip them and baked them 15 minutes longer for the first batch. The second batch, I did at 350f on convection for about 20 minutes)
I am really pleased with the flavour and super easy to make!
ETA. Here is the link to the recipe
http://www.dinnerwithjulie.com/recipe/rosemary-raisin-pecan-crisps/
Comments
but don't get round to it. now I will. These look better than terrific - possibly seven super duper great:-) They have to be tasty and healthy. We love them!
Happy cracker baking
And I am sure you could use a whole variety of grains for the flour. I believe that Lucy knows a thing or two about that. ;-)
I'm like Dab, crackers are on my to bake list almost every weekend and it just doesn't happen.
These look great, super thin and crunchy!
I liked your Nelson Mandela day bread crackers too.
Happy baking Danni :)
I found the same/very similar recipe on The Kitchn a year or two ago. http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-harvest-crackers-with-cranberries-pecans-amp-rosemary-recipes-from-the-kitchn-197627 These have fast become my favorite. I have replaced about 2/3 the white flour and buttermilk with discarded sourdough (though because I love these so much, often I build up my sourdough just to make them). I usually use about 1/3-1/2 of the sugar called for because I find them better with some sugar, but too sweet with what's called for + dried fruit. The Kitchn recipe has even less sugar than what's called for in your recipe. It also calls for 1/2 whole wheat flour - which I sometimes replace with rye because I find the whole grain flour nice here.
I use whatever seeds, nuts, dried fruit, and herbs I have on hand. Toasting seeds, nuts, and grains in a pan before mixing the dough seems to make a discernible difference so I try to leave time for that. I've found slicing can be challenging, but just yesterday I realized that letting the frozen loaves sit out a couple minutes before attempting to cut seems to help. A meat slicer sounds like a great idea!
the buttermilk with sourdough. Can you share your recipe and method? I imagine that there would be some rising time in this or do you still include the baking powder?
Because I adapted for discard or not recently fed sourdough, I assume it won't provide much lift, so I leave in the baking soda and don't leave any time for rising. But someone smarter than me could probably figure out how to do that and avoid using baking soda. I'd appreciate any thoughts on that because I don't think I always properly activate the baking soda. I'd say one out of four bakes doesn't rise very well and I haven't been able to figure out whether my discard sourdough is too acidic, I haven't added enough acid, the dough is too wet, or ... It seems to work less well the older my discard is so I assume it's the former.
In any case, I generally follow the Kitchn recipe, copied below with my notes on adaptations in brackets. It's scaled down to 1/4 the original recipe as I generally bake in small batches, though I like these so much, I should probably reconsider this!
Harvest Crackers with Cranberries, Pecans & Rosemary
Adapted from The Kitchn: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-harvest-crackers-with-cranberries-pecans-amp-rosemary-recipes-from-the-kitchn-197627
*For sourdough version, substitute the following for the AP flour and buttermilk:
Pre-heat to 350. Spray mini-loaf pans [I need just 1 with this scaled down version] with non-stick coating (or butter) and arrange on a baking sheet.
Rehydrate dried fruit with hot water and allow to sit for at least 15 minutes. Drain when plumped.
Toast nuts, seeds (not flax), and/or grains in dry pan over medium heat until fragrant and/or starting to brown. [sometimes I then soak these with the dried fruit but it can be hard to drain the excess water from it.]
Roughly chop plumped fruit, nuts, seeds and grains.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the whole grain flour, rosemary, baking soda, salt, and (if using) citrus zest. Whisk in the brown sugar. Break up any big clumps.
In another bowl, mix the buttermilk and sourdough. Stir to break up the sourdough. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir gently just until no more dry flour remains.
Add the cranberries, nuts, seeds, and/or grains to the batter. Stir gently to distribute the larger add-ins into the batter.
Divide the batter evenly between the mini-loaf pan, fill them about 3/4 full. Bake 30-35 minutes, until the tops are domed and golden.
Remove, allow to cool. Put in freezer container and freeze until solid (~8 hours). [I usually wrap in plastic wrap] Wrapped in foil, they can be kept in the freezer up to 3 months.
Before slicing and baking, heat oven to 300. Remove from freezer and slice as thin as possible (aim for 1/8- to 1/16-inch). [I find this really hard because I don’t have great knife skills and my knives aren’t always super sharp. It’s worked better for me to allow the loaves to thaw a few minutes before attempting to slice. Even a little thick, the crackers turn out nice so I don’t worry about it too much.]
Lay slices on a single layer of parchment lined baking sheet so that they aren’t touching.
Bake for 15 minutes, then flip crackers over and continue to bake 10-15 more. [I find it takes 30 minutes or more to completely dry out when cut thin, longer when they are thicker. Often I’ll keep the oven on for 30 minutes, then turn it off, leaving the crackers in the closed oven to continue drying out. I’ll taken them out an hour or so after putting them in.]
I have so many allergies that I just can't buy stuff at the store, and I love crackers like this topped with a bit of brie. Thank you!
These are truly delicious! Glad that your allergies don’t stop you from enjoying them.