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Nov 8, 2017

Rosemary Parmesan Crackers

These Rosemary Parmesan Crackers are so thin and crispy, and full of flavor. They are perfect for hostess gifts during the holidays, if you can bring yourself to give them away.

Rosemary Parmesan Crackers are so thin and crispy, and full of flavor. They are perfect for hostess gifts during the holidays, if you can bring yourself to give them away.

These Rosemary Parmesan Crackers are really hard to put down once you get started. This recipe makes about 4 dozen crackers, and I'm pretty sure I ate about half of them.

The crackers will stay fresh for up to a month when stored in an airtight container, which makes them perfect for make-ahead gifts.

You can place them in long cellophane gift bags and tie the bags closed with pretty ribbon and holiday gift tags. You could also pair them in a gift basket with a bottle of sparkling wine and a jar of briny olive tapenade.

Rosemary Parmesan Crackers are so thin and crispy, and full of flavor. They are perfect for hostess gifts during the holidays, if you can bring yourself to give them away.

To make these crackers, you will want the following tools:
  1. A fluted pastry wheel for cutting the cracker strips. The pastry wheels are inexpensive, and give these crackers their pretty ruffled edges. 
  2. Two large sheet pans, for baking. These are my favorites (I have six, I love them so much).
  3. A rolling pin. I used my marble one for it's extra weight, but any rolling pin will do. 
  4. A ruler, to measure your rolled out dough and to guide the pastry wheel. 
  5. A stand mixer with a dough hook. You can knead by hand, but this dough is pretty stiff. 

Rosemary Parmesan Crackers are so thin and crispy, and full of flavor. They are perfect for hostess gifts during the holidays, if you can bring yourself to give them away.

Working with this dough was really easy, and these were pretty fun to bake. You might have one end of a cracker come out a bit more golden than the other end, but, as long as you rolled these crackers out as thin as specified, they will be uniformly crisp.

Bread geek talk alert: Regarding the flour, I had some tipo "00" in my freezer, so I used it for these crackers. It's a finely milled high protein flour, often used for pizza. If you don't have any on hand (if you're a bread geek like me, get some), you can use either bread flour or King Arthur Flour unbleached all purpose. 

If you like making food gifts for Christmas, Ellen of Family Around the Table put together this event for sharing recipes and ideas for holiday food gifts. After the recipe, be sure to check out the links for Holiday Food Gifts, such as Mason jar mixes, sauces, spice mixes, candies, quick breads, munchies, herb oils, and other food gifts for teachers, neighbors, and hostesses.

Yield: 48 crackers

Rosemary Parmesan Crackers

ingredients:


  • 10 ounces (2 1/4 cups) tipo "00" flour, or unbleached all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons finely minced fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoons fine sea salt (taste your dough for flavor)
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the pans
  • 6 tablespoons packed freshly grated Parmesan cheese (not the kind in the green can)

instructions:


  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, rosemary, salt, and sugar. Add the water, and mix with the dough hook with low speed until the ingredients come together. Adjust the flour and water to create a stiff but cohesive dough. Increase to medium speed and mix for 5 minutes.
  2. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to let the gluten relax.
  3. With a rack in the center, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, or 350 degrees F with the convection turned on. Rub two baking sheets with a tablespoon of olive oil each. You can use a pastry brush, but I just use my hands.
  4. Divide the dough in half. Rewrap one half of the dough and set aside. Lightly flour a work surface, and flour the top of the dough. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to into an 8 inch by 24 inch rectangle. The dough should be very thin. Rub a tablespoon of olive oil over the dough, and then sprinkle with half of the Parmesan cheese.
  5. Using the ruler as a guide, cut the dough with the fluted pastry cutter crosswise into 8 inch strips. Add them to one of the baking sheets. Repeat with the rest of the dough on the second baking sheet.
  6. Bake the crackers, one sheet at a time, until golden and crispy, but not over baked, about 10 minutes, depending on your oven. If some of the crackers are ready sooner than the others, transfer them individually to a wire rack. When the crackers are ready, transfer to a wire rack. Repeat with the rest of the crackers. Let cool completely.
  7. To store, layer the crackers between sheets of wax paper in an air tight container, for up to one month.

notes

Recipe adapted from Gifts Cooks Love from Sur la Table.
Rosemary Parmesan Crackers are so thin and crispy, and full of flavor. They are perfect for hostess gifts during the holidays, if you can bring yourself to give them away.

Would you like to comment?

  1. I have never made crackers but want to try these! Perfect by themselves or for dipping. Thanks for joining the holiday food gifts event.

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  2. I love homemade crackers! Thanks for the reminder to do this!

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  3. Love the photos, love the recipe! It's perfect not just for gift-giving but as a make ahead app for the holiday season.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much!!

      And yes, they are great for make-ahead apps, although if they were sitting around here, they'd quickly disappear =)

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  4. These crackers are BEAUTIFUL! I have never made crackers before because I am intimidated but these sound fabulous and I just might have to give them a shot!

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    1. Thanks so much Amy. I'm pretty sure, with your skills, you could nail these!

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  5. Great sounding snack...I shall be kneading by hand, and when I read stiff dough, and allow to rest to for half an hour, I see you are giving the kneader a little rest too!!

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  6. Karen, I KNOW I have one of those fluted thingies somewhere... somewhere.... must search this weekend. Must.

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    Replies
    1. I know that feeling well! There's a bag of Vietnamese rice flour in my house somewhere..... I remember buying it.....

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    2. and the Swedish pearl sugar... that we both got for "pearl sugar emergencies"... ;-)

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  7. I've never made crackers before... These look beautiful! Double zero flour is a wonderful secret weapon. I use it in a lot of things and it really is amazing!

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    1. How cool! I need to explore it beyond pizza!

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  8. These are so great!I love these and think they would make a fantastic gift! They turned out so pretty!

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  9. Hi Karen, I really love your recipes and decided to try these this morning. Unfortunately I added the 2 tablespoons of oil to the dough. OOPS! Any suggestions to save it? I used 00 flour like you suggested. The dough is now goopy and sitting in the mixer. Oh, My. What can I do??

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    Replies
    1. Follow up, I used a paper towel to remove as much oil as I could and now the dough seems to be behaving better. I will keep you posted on the final result.

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    2. Oh phew! I’m sure you’ll be fine!!!

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    3. End result was ok, but not gift worthy. Getting them thin enough is a challenge. Some of mine were crispy, others chewy. I finally gave up and made twisted bread sticks and baked until golden brown. I’ll pass on crackers till I get better at challenges

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    4. Yes, getting them thin enough is definitely important. The breadstick option sounds tasty!

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    5. Hey Michelle, one way to get chewy cracker to crisp (I've been there when I first tried making crackers) is to place them back into a 250 degree oven to crisp them.

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  10. These look so delicious. I am a total sucker for crackers. I should try making these. They look so good.

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  11. Can I eat them all? Please??? Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck - Colleen

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  12. WHat a fun hostess gift! I'd love to receive these!

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  13. What a perfect gift, they look delicious and definitely pretty enough to give!

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  14. Looks so yummy! Thanks for linking up at Friday Frenzy Link Party! Pinned!!

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  15. Fantastic! These would be perfect as a snack at the office! Also amazing with a cheesy spread like hmm a red pepper spread (we love one we make with garlic, roasted peppers and cream cheese).
    KUDOS!!!

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  16. Perfect to go with my dad's annual cheese ball gift! perfect combo! thanks for sharing on our gifts from the kitchen link up for Celebrate 365 Blog Party

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  17. If you have a pasta roller, it is fantastic to roll out crackers. Can't wait to try these.

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