French Crackers!

Is it possible to fall in love with a cracker in Paris? What if that cracker was made in Germany/fabrique en Allemagne? No matter. I experienced a coup de foudre/instant love my 1st day in Paris. These crackers are thick, crunchy, heavily seeded, bio, about 3" x 4" and deeply satisfying. I ran out to Carrefour and bought 4 packs to bring home. Unfortunately at time of departure, the Macarons kicked out the seeded crackers and that was that.

While watching The Good Wife on Sunday it hit me. A crunchy cracker is essential. The macarons were gone but wouldn't have done the job. I retrieved a remaining cracker and chomped.

Careful inspection of the ingredients (farine complète d’épeautre (55%), graines de tournesol (17%), graines de sésame (8%), farine d’épeautre (5%), flocons d’avoine, graines de lin (3%), sel de mer, levure, extrait de malt d’orge). led me to think, 'I can make these myself!'

After an internet research I clobbered together a makeshift recipe, using Pascale Weeks, who referenced LA Times Peter Reinhart + NYTimes Tiny Kitchen (there's a video here) for Spelt seeded crackers.

No one else seems to toast the seeds (sunflower, sesame, flax, oatmeal) but you get a richer, nuttier cracker. I combined 1/2 cup of the toasted seeds with a 1/2 cup of the spelt flour in the blender.

Plus no one else adds the seeds directly to the flour. Nevermind. I wanted seeds inside and on top.

 Dump your seeded flour mixture into the water and play (kneed into a kind of messy ball for about half a minute). If you ever made paste from flour and water as a kid you can do this.

Finally the fancy 'macaron' trays are coming in handy. Use the BACK side of the tray to roll out your ball of dough. Don't forget to throw flour on the tray and your rolling pin! All recipes say to poke holes in the rolled out dough. I forgot with the first batch and it didn't make any difference.

I used milk to spray on top of the crackers for so-called sheen and to get the seeds to stick but you could use water. I also 'rolled' on top of the seeds - they seem to wander. Cut into squares and into your 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.

Did I make a tremendous mess? YES. Was this dead easy? YES!

Don't forget to turn the tray after 10 minutes.

A comparative analysis of the Carrefour Bio crackers (1.78 euros) and my creations based on looks alone shows I need practice. But the taste was close considering I didn't use malt extract or leavening. I didn't use any sugar or fat some recipes call for and they taste fine. If you're in France it may be less messy to just go to Carrefour or Naturalia.

Does Bear give his 'Seal of Approval' on this baking venture? He does bien sur. Should Dr.Kracker be worried? Probably not.

BONJOUR BAKING CRACKERS!