Oyster Snack Crackers

First of all, I must share this disclaimer: this recipe does not involve baking! There, I said it. :)

Last week I was grocery shopping, and I'm not sure why but I randomly was drawn to oyster crackers! It's like my shopping cart just abruptly stopped when I came to them in the aisle...really. Then I had a very vivid memory of these flavored oyster crackers that my mom used to make. So I picked up a couple bags of oyster crackers with the anticipation of trying to re-create the recipe she used to make! I didn't actually attempt to do so, however, without calling my mom first, of course. :)

Essentially, the recipe just involves shaking up some oyster crackers in a large ziploc bag with some oil and seasoning/spices. That is all! I mean, the clean up couldn't really be any easier...there's not even one dish involved! Well, I suppose if you actually take the time to measure your spices, you might create a dirty dish...but I didn't do that today. I "eyeballed" everything!

The following describes the recipe as I made it today:

I put a 12 oz. bag of oyster crackers in a gallon-size ziplock bag. Next, I added one package of dry Italian seasoning (the kind you use to make salad dressing). I drizzled some extra virgin olive oil in the bag, roughly about two or three tablespoons at first. You could probably also use any vegetable or canola oil as well. I closed the bag tightly and did the ol' shake, shake, shake!

After a close inspection, I decided that the crackers needed both more oil and seasoning... So I added probably a couple more tablespoons of oil and some other random spices, including garlic powder, a bit of chili powder, and another Italian-flavored dry spice mix that I had (probably had rosemary, garlic, etc. in it). I did this a few more times...shook the bag and then added a bit more oil and spices. So, I couldn't actually tell you true measurements for this recipe...sorry!

My mom told me that she used to add a packet of dry dressing mix (Italian or Ranch) as well as a couple tablespoons of dill weed. I didn't have any dill weed, so I did not add that...but I remember that it was very yummy back in the day when my mom used it!

Anyway, although this is not a baking recipe, I hope it's still acceptable to include with my blog. :) It's an incredibly tasty and oh so easy recipe! And who doesn't love a snack like that?!

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Crackers

A couple years ago I tried my hand at making crackers and my attempt wasn't incredibly successful.... So, I thought I'd give it another shot! In my The Fannie Farmer Baking Book (a classic baking book that I love!), there are several recipes for all sorts of homemade crackers...graham crackers, white crackers, oatmeal crackers, walnut crackers, mexican crackers (which have a spicy kick to them!), etc. Since I had all of the ingredients on hand (which was only five things) for the whole wheat peanut butter crackers, I thought I'd try them for fun!

Above is a picture of four of the five ingredients; the fifth is water!

The following is the recipe, taken directly from the Fannie Farmer book:

-1/2 tsp. baking soda

-1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky)

-1 tsp. salt

-1/2 cup warm water

-about 2 cups whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350. Use ungreased cookie sheets. Combine the baking soda, peanut butter, salt, and warm water in a bowl, and stir vigorously until well blended. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of the flour and mix well. Add more flour if the dough is too tacky to manage; it should be rather stiff and coarse.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a thickness of about 1/16 inch. Trim the dough to fit your cookie sheet and, using your hands and a spatula, transfer the dough to the cookie sheet. With a knife, score the dough into rectangels 2 inches by 1.5 inches, not cutting all the way through (You can really make them whatever size you want! Mine were probably about 1-inch square).

Bake for 7 minutes on one side, turn the cracker sheet over and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes, or until the crackers feel firm and crisp. Remove from the oven and cool on racks. Break the crackers into individual crackers and serve.

All in all, I was happy with how the crackers turned out. I made the first batch exactly as the recipe instructed. The cool thing about homemade crackers is that no two are alike! They don't really come out to be perfect squares, but who cares? After the first batch, for fun I tried making them more like you'd make sugar cookies. I used the rim of a small glass to cut the crackers into rounds and then baked them each separately instead of in one big sheet. Another point to mention is that it is reeeeally tough to roll out the dough to be 1/16 of an inch! That is very thin... Mine were probably more like 1/10 or 1/12 of an inch maybe? I'm not entirely sure. I didn't actually measure. :) But, as a result, I did have to bake my crackers longer, probably about 10 minutes or so on each side rather than the 7 minutes that the recipe says.

I've eaten a few crackers each day this week for a mid-morning or afternoon snack. They pair quite well with a nice cup of tea or coffee! I have eaten them plain each time too (well, with the exception of the first night I made them - will explain shortly), but I think they might be tasty with a bit of jam on them or maybe nutella? Mmmmm. Or, maybe even a bit of peanut butter spread on them would be yummy! The night that I made them, I had the fun idea of making a mini ice cream sandwich with a couple of the round crackers...here's a picture of it. :)

Fun times with homemade peanut butter crackers! Oh, and the cookbook did not have any nutritional information listed, although my guess is these can't be too bad for you...the peanut butter and whole wheat flour are healthy ingredients so I'm going to go out on a limb and call these a healthy snack. :)

Nutty Cracker Delights

This recipe immediately reminds me of my mom. :) She used to make these nutty cracker delights quite often when we were younger...but often to give them away as a gift and not always for us! :-( I know why though; they are super easy, only require a few ingredients, and most everyone loves them! If you're looking for a treat that is both sweet and salty, look no further! (By the way, sorry to those of you who are allergic to nuts...) I decided to make them for the same reason my mom often did...to give them away this holiday season! :)

Here are the ingredients and instructions:

-approximately 42 Club crackers

-1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

-1/2 cup sugar

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 cup almonds (sliced or slivered - I prefer the look of slivered almonds, but this time I used sliced)

Line a 13 x 9 pan (or larger) with aluminum foil and place the crackers in a single layer on the foil. It helps to have a pan that has sides, so I would not recommend using a cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 350. In a medium saucepan, melt butter and sugar together over medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, and let boil for 2 minutes and then remove from heat. Add vanilla and stir thoroughly. Immediately pour the mixture (be careful - it's hot!) very quickly and evenly over the Club crackers, and then right away sprinkle with the almonds.

Bake at 350 for 10 - 12 minutes or so, until light golden brown. Soon after removing the pan from the oven, remove the crackers from the pan, cutting or breaking the crackers apart as needed (they tend to stick together!). Cool the crackers and store in an airtight container.

As you can see, for fun I also added festive red and green sprinkles to this batch.

I like the fact that these don't look perfect in any way! Each cracker ends up looking very different...but they all taste just the same...yummy! ;-)