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Nori's seaweed cracker

Time1 hour 30 minutes
YieldsMakes 8 large crackers
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I’m ready to start a home-baked cracker revolution to match the bread revolution of the last 15 years. I’ve spent nearly two decades trying to convince folks to bake their own bread and, most recently, asked the nearly impossible: make 100% whole grain breads at home. It’s been a noble, uphill battle.

But I’ve encountered far less resistance in urging people to make their own whole grain crackers -- toasty, nutty, crisp, crackly crackers.

Why the receptivity? It’s probably because crackers are far easier and faster to make than breads. But I also think a deeper reason is that they are so versatile, so easily substituted for chips and other snacks. Whole grain crackers, at least the ones I’ve been teaching adults and kids to make (kids love making crackers, by the way -- a great family activity), are the perfect, guilt-free treat.

They get their satisfying, toasty, nut-like flavor from the deep roasting of the grains’ proteins and oils during the baking process. Crackers, properly made, have a long, loyal finish, with lingering, earthy flavors.

What I call four-seed snapper crackers are my all-time favorite cracker, made with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds and whole wheat flour. The sunflower, pumpkin and flax seeds are finely ground, but the sesame seeds are left whole. Just a touch of honey or agave syrup adds the slightest sweetness.

A thin wheat cracker is made with 100% whole wheat flour -- not to be confused with enriched wheat flour, which is a tricky way of saying white flour.

Both are excellent for entertaining because, in addition to being easy to make, they’re impressive: homemade crackers to go with your cheese plate or other appetizers.

Crackers can be naturally leavened with yeast, like Armenian lavash, chemically leavened with baking powder or baking soda like many commercial cracker products, or totally unleavened, like matzo or Triscuits. They are usually crisp and flaky but don’t have to be. They can be buttery, or lean and mean, like saltines and other variations of “water crackers.” Whole grain crackers, regardless of the leavening method, have another major factor going for them: fiber, lots and lots of fiber.

The fiber in flour comes from the bran, the thin pericarp membrane surrounding the bulky endosperm of all grain, whether wheat, rye, oats, barley or even nongrain seeds such as sunflower, sesame and pumpkin. The fiber adds more substance and chew to crackers, but more important, it fills us up, decreases food cravings and has many other documented health benefits. It’s good stuff. Of course, in white flour there is no bran -- that’s why it’s white -- and that’s why it doesn’t do any of the good things that whole grain flour does.

Some quick tips when making crackers:

I have been teaching how to make the four-seed snapper crackers in baking classes all over the country and in kids cracker workshops. They have less oil than the thin wheat crackers that I also love to bake yet are extremely (and, yes, simultaneously) tender and crisp because the seeds contribute their own natural oils.

Both of these crackers are easy to make at home, even for those who have never baked a loaf of bread in their life. The thin wheat cracker is my own knockoff of the iconic Kraft Nabisco Wheat Thin -- only better (I’m being boastful -- I love those classic Wheat Thins and all their new flavors but love making my own even more). The four-seed snapper cracker is unlike any cracker you can buy anywhere, totally original, which is to say that the big cracker companies have not yet written the final word on how to do a cracker -- there are, I am confident, new frontiers yet to explore.

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1

In a medium bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the yeast, 1 cup of water and the sugar. Set aside in a warm place to proof for 5 to 10 minutes.

2

Stir 1 tablespoon olive oil in with the yeast mixture. Using your hands, or in a stand mixer with the hook attachment, stir in the flour and salt and knead until smooth, about 5 to 10 minutes.

3

Place the dough in a clean, oiled bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. (The dough can be refrigerated overnight at this point before proceeding with the recipe.) Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

4

Place a baking stone or an upside-down cookie sheet in the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees.

5

Turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface. Flatten slightly and cut into eight pieces. While working with one piece, cover the remaining pieces so that they don’t dry out.

6

Roll the dough out, one piece at a time, as thin as an index card (about 10 inches in diameter), flipping and flouring the dough as needed to prevent sticking. The dough doesn’t have to be in any specific shape, but will cook most evenly if rolled into even rounds or rectangles.

7

With a fork, poke holes into each piece of dough every few inches and set each rolled sheet aside, loosely covered, as you work. When ready to bake, brush one side of the dough with a light coating of olive oil. Sprinkle the nori, shichimi powder and sesame seeds each on one-third of each piece of dough in stripes.

8

Bake each piece of dough, topping side up, on the hot stone or cookie sheet. Do not flip. If the dough bubbles up, poke each sheet with more holes. Bake about 10 minutes, depending on the oven and cooking surface, until each cracker is golden and crisp. Cool, then break into irregular shapes for serving.

Dough recipe adapted from Breadbar. Preparation and toppings by chef Noriyuki Sugie.