Remember Molly? She’s around here quite a bit, I mean, not here, but here. Although she’s over the oceans in Istanbul, her celeriac salad is here, and even her underwear is here. She’s always living somewhere else and saving the world, but we never let her stay away for long.
As I’ve mentioned before, Molly is a little, well, sensitive in the food department. Her lovely and tiny self has very specific dietary needs, and her habit of living in faraway places makes meeting those needs difficult. A few months ago, I packed a priority mail box with bags of gluten free flours, millet, and flax seeds so that she could make her very own Molly bread.
The bread didn’t work out so well, but somewhere along the way, she found crackers. Not just any crackers, but the ones I have been looking for. Light and wheaty, easy to make; I’m pretty sure that these crackers are what the poor lady who sold the wheat thin to Nabisco for a few bucks (just guessing here) started out with.
Molly has been making these crackers for a while now, and every week or so she asks me if I have made them yet.
“I’m getting to it! I’m working on the oreo!” (more on that later)
She insists that these are the crackers that I am looking for- that I have to make them today!
Well, Molly, you were right. I’m sorry I waited so long. Don’t you do that too. Trust Molly, and trust me. These are the crackers you are looking for. Make them today!
Molly’s Crackers
(note: Molly makes this gluten free for herself as well as gluten filled for her sweetie. I’m giving you the gluten filled version here, but if anyone needs the gf version, I’m sure Molly will be happy to oblige.)
1 cup white flour
1 cup spelt flour (or whole wheat- just make it something other than white)
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup whole, uncooked millet
1/3 cup ground flax seed
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup olive oil
1/3-1/2 cup water, as needed
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
5 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped fine
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, millet, flax, sea salt, and garlic and rosemary, if using. Add the olive oil and combine with a fork. Then add the water slowly, mixing with your hands or a wooden spoon as you go. The dough should be soft but not sticky. When all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined, turn out on a floured surface. Press into a flat disk, then roll with a rolling pin until the dough is about ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle kosher salt and pepper over the dough, then with a butter knife, cut the dough into 2-inch squares. Any dough left over from the cutting can be re-rolled for more crackers. Transfer the squares to a parchment lined baking sheet with a metal spatula and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, switching the position of the racks midway through. The crackers are done when they are hard and beginning to brown. Transfer to a cooling rack. Crackers will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days, but you will never be able to make them last that long.
Makes about 60 crackers.
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Yes, Yes, GF version please! I'm intrigued about the oreo!
Hi,
The gluten free version is almost as easy. Just use 1 cup of white rice flour instead of the white flour, and 1 cup of brown rice flour instead of the Spelt flour. Also I brush each cracker with a little olive oil before I sprinkle on the salt and pepper because the spices wont stick with out it.
Just a note:
My lovely French boyfriend tried to make me some of these gf crackers the other weekend when I wasn't feeling so great, but he got really fed up when it came to the rolling part. I had to stage an intervention when I heard the profanities flying from the kitchen (luckily they were in French, which is always undeniably endearing) I let him take a breather, and took over.
For anyone used to gf cooking, it's really not bad. Just take your time, flour every surface, and don't get too attached to perfectly square little crackers. They taste awesome no matter what shape they are!
It also helps to roll them out in smaller batches (I break the dough into balls smaller than a baseball) and to cut them with a good sharp knife since the gluten free mix has a crumbly nature. Also a little extra olive oil in the mix can help make the dough more workable.
oops, forgot something. I usually add a pinch of xanthan gum to the batch and it seems to make it a bit more rollable.
Just a question – 5 cloves of garlic!!! Isn’t the garlic overpowering? I love garlic but this seems an awful lot. Thanks
Hi Vivian! Garlic cloves certainly vary in size and strength, but when I make the garlic version, I do use about 5 medium cloves and they’re garlicky, but delish! The baking tempers the garlic a bit, and I find it’s milder than I’d think. But if you want to reduce the garlic, definitely go for it.
Hi Alana,
Quick question about this recipe as it appears in the book. I made these from your book, but that version doesn’t include water. Was that intentional? Mine came out flaky and didn’t adhere, making crumbs rather than crackers. Is it something I did wrong perhaps?
Thanks for the help!
Hi Melissa! There actually is water in the book version as well. Unfortunately, the recipe style that my publisher follows doesn’t put water in the ingredients–it’s only in the instructions. (You’ll see it in step 1). I think it’s confusing, and I’m so sorry! BUT, this time around (with my second book that comes out later this year), I fought to include all water in the ingredients for this very reason. Again, I’m so sorry it was confusing, but try it again with the water! They should bind perfectly. Let me know if any other questions come up.
Ah! Indeed. I see it now. Looking back, I actually skipped the whole second part of step 1 due to a crying baby and nap time. 🙂 Thanks for the reply!