Cookbooks are acquired when we feel this strong attraction towards them. When we really like the recipes we read, when we love a certain author, when we get them as gifts and in my case when I salvaged a huge pile of them from office. They were about to be sold as scrap. So I jump into a huge pile and pull out as many of them as I could. On a closer inspection back home a few turned out to be total disappointments but I did find a few gems as well. We provide you the recipe of the Two Seed Crackers.
Where can you find such recipes?
This recipe comes from a book that is a compilation of recipe and it is published by Bay Books, an imprint of Murdoch Books Pty Limited, Australia. It has no author and has no interesting stories or anecdote. Plain recipes developed by the Murdoch Books Test Kitchen and brilliant pictures to compliment. This is my first recipe from this book. Each recipe gives you a feeling. The ingredients used, the process followed, the complications or simplicities, it is like an adventure with a preview of what to expect.
Simple Ingredients
The two seed cracker is a simple recipe. Just 6 basic ingredients, always easily available in pantries made mouth-watering cookies. The process of putting together the cracker is rather simple and the baking time given in the recipe is near perfect. The complication for me occurred during the rolling process. The recipe talks about adding a little extra liquid to help bring the dough together. I think I added too much and then when it got sticky I added flour and things got a little out of hand. So I am not sure whether this is how the crackers are supposed to really turn out. I think they are meant to be flaky and less dense. However, this is a good cracker to serve with jam or salsa as the snack. A little more salt and pepper and they could pass off as tea time cookies.
Two Seed Crackers Preparation
Makes: 30 crackers.
Notes
- I will reduce the number of seeds to 1 tbsp. each. Each mouthful has too many seeds.
- This is not a recipe to make during Indian summers. Poppy seeds and sesame seeds are meant to heat the body and thus these are best made during the cold winters.
- I’ll try replacing a little flour with whole wheat flour to see how it turns out.
- The cookie dough should be a smooth ball. To crumbly or too watery won’t work. It will get stuck to the parchment paper while rolling.
Plain all-purpose flour 2 cups
Baking powder 1 tsp.
Poppy seeds 2 tbsp
Sesame seeds 2 tbsp
Butter 60 grams, chilled n chopped
Iced water 125 ml
- Pre-heat oven at 180ºC for 10 minutes.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.
- Add in the seeds and some pepper and stir.
- Add in the butter and work it into the flour with hands to get to a grainy texture.
- Add in the ice cold water and mix with a knife. Do not knead.
- Add a little more water to form a ball but be careful to add a tsp at a time.
- Once the softball is formed, roll half the dough between sheets of parchment paper to 2mm thickness. To be on the safe side sprinkle the parchment paper with just a little flour.
- Cut to small rounds and bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or till golden. Do not knead the leftover cookie dough after cutting, just gather it together gently, roll and cut.
