Gluten-free crackers

This week at Renaissance camp was food week.  All the lessons I taught were somehow related to food.  The lesson I taught on Wednesday was about bread; specifically, the science behind bread.  You may wonder what in the world I am doing talking about bread when the title of this particular blog states crackers.  Well, alas, one of the students had a gluten allergy.  After trying for an hour or so to figure out a way to make him gluten-free bread, I decided to try to find a simpler recipe.  Crackers seemed to fit the bill.  So, here you go! 

Gluten-free Crackers



Note:
Crackers are ridiculously easy to make, and once you produce your first batch you'll have little trouble figuring out how to create your favorites. Sprinkle them with salt, sesame seeds, or poppy seeds; work a tiny bit of garlic or herbs into the dough; or substitute whole wheat or rye flour for some or all of the white flour.


Yield: about 4 servings


Ingredients:
1 cup (about 4 1/2 ounces) gluten-free all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
About 1/4 cup water, plus more as need


Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.


2. Place the flour, salt, and butter together in a large bowl or in the container of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Blend with a fork or pulse, until the flour and butter are combined. Add about 1/4 cup of water and blend, then continue to add water until the mixture holds together but is not sticky.


3. Roll out on a lightly floured surface until 1/4 inch thick, or even less. Don't worry about over handling-add flour as needed, and keep rolling. Score lightly with a sharp knife or razor if you want to break these into nice squares or rectangles later on. Bake on a lightly floured baking sheet, or directly on baking stones, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool on a rack; serve warm or at room temperature , or store in a tin.

I am quite proud of the way these came out.  I used Bob's Mill gluten-free All purpose baking flour and it worked fine.  The dough definitely had a different consistency than regular AP flour.  It was actually easier to roll out.  Since these crackers didn't have to rise, I didn't have to worry about the lack-of-gluten rising problem.  If you want to make these just normal crackers, just use regular AP flour.  The one problem that I have always had with this recipe is that the outside parts of the crackers turn brown and crisp but the inside is undercooked (not crisp). What it occurred for me to do (after the fact) was to just cut the dough into cracker shapes ahead of time.  Well, even the softer middle parts were still quite good!  I think my student liked it, too!

Gluten-free crackers.  You can see how the outside gets crisp
but the inside is still slightly underdone