Parmesan Cheese Crackers

I subscribe to a lot of food blogs. I just can't get enough of what people are doing, what they're using, so many cool things going on every day. So, when I saw a post for Natasha's Pac Man Crackers on Tastorama, I knew I had to make some.

She used Cheddar. Very high on my list of loves. But, I didn't have any and didn't feel like dealing with afternoon traffic just to get some. I did, however, have some Parmesan. Oh yes ... some savory crackers were going to get made.

I must apologize for the pictures here. I wasn't paying much attention to the picture taking while making these delicious crackers ... and, sadly, it shows. Still, I like to show step-by-step, so ... here we go:


Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 250 grams grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 4 tablespoons water

Procedure

So, so easy. Preheat your oven to 400F (200C).

Put everything into your mixer. Mix on medium until everything is nicely combined. Put the bowl in your fridge for 20 minutes.


Once chilled, roll out. I rolled out directly onto the parchment I was going to cook on. This worked well given the amount of oil in the dough. Then, I just used a wavy cutter to pre-cut the crackers before cooking.

Cook for 18-22 minutes, depending upon the consistency you like. We tried some that were on the softer side and some on the crunchier side. Both sets were fantastic.

Definitely move to a cooling rack nearly immediately after removing from the oven to help prevent overcook on the bottoms.

Test Results

Primary Test Group: Amazing! Delicious! Make more soon!

Random Test Group: I took it as a good sign when one of the members was clearly trying to keep the bag to himself and not share.

Potential Improvements

I'd love to try this with Parmiggiano-Reggiano. Unfortunately, that is not available here and costs far, far more than the simple bagged Parmesan. Still, I start to almost drool thinking about the flavor!

The rolling-out process was a little awkward. The dough doesn't like to roll out much. I was thinking about trying to roll it out in a pastry machine next time to get a nice, thin, uniform cracker. My only concern is that this might be working the dough too much.


Potential Variations

Tons of variations possible with this recipe. Cheeses, spices, etc. A chili-cheese version with Cheddar, Jack, and chili powder could be very good.

Conclusions

Definite winner! I loved these. The only problem is the expense of the cheese (the two bags of Parmesan cost P410, or about $9.32). So, they're not a daily snack item. Once-in-a-while, oh yeah. Most definitely.