Friday, June 29, 2012

Oatmeal Crackers


This post has been long overdue. I went to India for a short visit, so I couldn’t post this recipe sooner.
I wanted to make a healthy snack for hubby. So I researched and found a good recipe for oatmeal crackers in The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas.


These crackers are full of toasty oat flavour and hearty. I had to roll the dough real thin to give a crispy snap to the crackers. The dough, made of rye flour and rolled oats, is quite stiff. So I spent a lot of energy rolling out the dough very thin.


The actual recipe calls for 2 table spoons cane sugar, but I prefer to omit the sugar and adding salt instead, and sprinkling more on top of the crackers. I cut out the crackers in small rectangles, but you can also use a cookie cutter to cut out desired shapes. Stored in an air tight container, these crackers last for weeks.


So for your next tea time snack, give the cookies a break and try an oatmeal cracker for a healthier choice.

Oatmeal Crackers:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup - Rolled Oats
½ cup+ 2 tablespoons - whole milk, heated just to boiling
2 tablespoon - room-temperature unsalted butter
2 tablespoons - natural cane sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons - baking powder
1 teaspoons - crushed anise seed - optional
1/4 teaspoon - fine grain sea salt
½ cup+ 2 tablespoon - Dark rye flour
3/4 cups - All-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
more salt for sprinkling



Directions:
  • In a large bowl combine the rolled oats and boiling milk. Let stand until cool.
  • To speed this up I placed the bowl in the freezer for about 35 minutes.
  • When cool, stir in the butter, sugar, baking powder, anise seed, salt, and rye flour.
  • Stir in the all-purpose flour, a bit at a time, until a stiff dough forms.
  • Turn out onto a counter top and knead until the dough comes together and is uniform.
  • Heat the oven to 425F / 245C.
  • Divide the dough into 2-3 parts, just so you have a manageable amount to work with.
  • Now, you're going to want to roll the dough out very thin - 1/8th-inch.
  • This way your crackers will have snap. Have a look at the photo up above, and try to get it thinner than that.
  • If your dough is at all stubborn, just let it rest there for ten minutes or so, then try again.
  • Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheets, and sprinkle with a bit more salt - flaky salt if you have it. Use a fork to make a line of small holes on each cracker.
  • Bake for roughly 14 minutes.
  • When the cracker bottoms are deeply golden, roughly 9 minutes in, flip each cracker, and brown the flip side as well.
  • Use your best judgement and remove when well done.
  • Cool completely before storing in large air-tight jars.


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