Love and Olive Oil
Homemade Everything Crackers

Homemade Everything Crackers

Ultra thin and crispy crackers topped with a homemade everything bagel seasoning blend that’ll have your tastebuds demanding more.

Homemade crackers are the ultimate snack, and these ultra-crispy, everything bagel-inspired delights are no exception. Top them with a smear of cream cheese and a dollop of pepper jelly or a slice of smoked salmon for a truly delectable combination!

Broken pieces of Homemade Everything Crackers with small bowl of everything spice.

With this year’s bread baking boom it’s no surprise that my most popular recipe of the year was these homemade sourdough crackers. I regularly get tagged in Instagram posts and stories when folks make the crackers, using all manner of creative seasoning combinations. (Also, can I just say that seeing folks making my recipes is by far the best part of this job, it makes me smile every time!!)

I’ve been wanting to do a non-sourdough version of these crackers for some time now. If you think about it, sourdough starter is just equal parts flour and water, so converting the recipe is just a matter of some simple math.

You’ll definitely notice a difference in flavor if you compared the sourdough vs non-sourdough crackers directly. The sourdough ones taste distinctly like wheat thins to me (weird, but true), regular crackers rely more on the seasoning and mix-ins for flavor. Still, they’re no less delicious.

Stack of unbroken Everything crackers on a wire rack

These homemade crackers are ridiculously simple, made with little more than flour, water, and olive oil (I also added a bit of honey to give them that subtle bagel-like sweetness, barley malt syrup would be lovely as well). After a brief respite, they are then rolled super thin (pasta roller FTW), topped with a generous layer of everything bagel seasoning, and baked to crispy perfection.

If you did want to use some leftover sourdough discard, simply replace and equal amount of flour and water with your 100% hydration starter (for example, if you have 100g of starter, replace 50g of flour and 50g of water). And yes, a digital scale makes all this math so much easier (in case you’re stymied by the weird flour measurements in the recipe, just use a scale please).

You can ultimately season the crackers with whatever spices you like (I used herbs de provence in the original recipe, za’atar is also a popular option a lot of folks rave about). Here I oped to go for everything, mixing up my own everything bagel blend.

Plate with Homemade Everything Crackers, bowl of pepper jelly, one cracker topped with cream cheese and pepper jelly

I experimented with mixing the everything seasoning into the crackers, however I had some issues using the pasta roller in that the larger pieces of dried onion would catch on the rollers and tear the dough.

If you plan to roll these by hand, by all means mix the seasoning into the dough.

However, I ultimately liked the punchier flavor that resulted from having the seasoning on top of the cracker where it comes in direct contact with your tastebuds, much like an everything bagel, in a sense.

The one issue with putting the seasoning on top is getting it to stick, which I ultimately achieved by brushing the crackers with egg white before pressing on the everything blend. Unlike plain water, which is enough to get salt to stick but not much else, the egg white will keep the seasoning stuck reasonably well to the top of the cracker. You’ll still lose a little bit when you break them apart, but not nearly as much as just using water alone.

Closeup showing texture of Homemade Everything Crackers Plate with Homemade Everything Crackers, bowl of pepper jelly, one cracker topped with cream cheese and pepper jelly

While you can use a jar of store-bought everything bagel seasoning, I opted to mix up my own, adding both caraway (for that rye bagel flavor), and nigella seeds for a more well-rounded and interesting flavor (I bought all my spices in bulk from World Spice).

That said, as long as you’ve got dried garlic and onion, white and black sesame seeds, and plenty of sea salt, you’re going to end up with something that tastes like an everything bagel. Poppyseeds are nice but not really noticeable in small quantities, if we’re being honest (lol). I like the extra-ness of the caraway and nigella, but again, you totally have permission to skip them.

Overhead, broken up cracker pieces with bowl of Everything seasoning blend Two crackers on a parchment-lined baking sheet prior to baking

While you can certainly roll out the cracker dough and cut it into squares or other precise shapes, I honestly love the rustic nature of the irregular broken pieces.

Rolling the dough out with a pasta maker makes the entire process ridiculously fast and easy, and you don’t have to think about making sure each piece of dough is even in thickness. For me, rolling the dough out to about #6 on my KitchenAid pasta attachment is just about perfect, resulting in thin and crispy crackers.

For everything-seasoned crackers especially, I do not recommend making them any thicker as that will require a longer bake time, and you’ll likely end up with burnt bitter garlic on top. Other kinds of seasoning can hold up to a longer bake time, but that pesky garlic is particularly problematic.

Bake your crackers until the edges start to turn golden brown, but the top is still slightly paler and the garlic isn’t overly dark. They’ll crisp up a bit more as they cool.

Overhead, Plate with Homemade Everything Crackers, bowl of pepper jelly, one cracker topped with cream cheese and pepper jelly Closeup edges of Homemade Everything Crackers on a wire rack

My favorite way to enjoy these everything crackers is to smear it with cream cheese or goat cheese and top it with a dollop of homemade pepper jelly, though treating it like my favorite lox bagel, complete with smoked salmon, tomatoes, and capers, would be a delightful option as well.

Homemade Everything Crackers

Homemade Everything Crackers

Homemade crackers are the ultimate snack, and these ultra-crispy, everything bagel-inspired delights are no exception. Top them with a smear of cream cheese and a dollop of pepper jelly or a slice of smoked salmon for a truly delectable combination!

Did you make this recipe?

Ingredients:

  • 100g (¾ cup + 1 tablespoon) all-purpose flour
  • 100g (¾ cup + 1 tablespoon) whole wheat flour
  • 30g (¼ cup) rye flour*
  • 100mL (6 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons) warm water
  • 3 tablespoons (42g) extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon honey (optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 batch everything seasoning blend

Everything seasoning blend:

  • 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
  • 2 teaspoons black sesame seeds
  • 4 teaspoons dried onion flakes
  • 1 tablespoon dried minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons flake sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon nigella seeds
  • 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
  • ½ teaspoon caraway seeds

Directions:

  1. In a bowl, combine flours, water, olive oil, honey, and salt. Mix to combine, kneading until the dough comes together in a smooth ball. If the dough is crumbly, add a bit more water to bring it together. Conversely, if it feels sticky, you can add more flour as needed.
  2. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
  3. In a bowl, combine all seeds and spices and mix until evenly incorporated (seasoning blend can be made ahead of time and stored in a jar or airtight container for a few months).
  4. Position oven racks in the upper 1/3 and lower 1/3 of oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.
  5. Cut dough in half; put one half back in the fridge while you roll out the other. Cut dough again into 4 smaller pieces.
  6. Roll out each piece into an oblong rectangle. You can do this with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, or using a pasta roller for super thin crackers. I like to roll my dough out to the #6 thickness setting (out of 8). If you are rolling by hand, just roll it as thin as you possibly can.
  7. Lay out two oblongs of dough side by side (not overlapping) on each baking sheet.
  8. Whisk egg white with a teaspoon of water until frothy. Brush a thin layer over top of crackers, then sprinkle with a generous layer of Everything seasoning. Press lightly or run over with a rolling pin to adhere.
  9. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until lightly golden brown and crispy, rotating the pans top to bottom and back to front part way through baking. Keep a close eye on them and don’t let them overcook; unlike other seasonings, the garlic is especially prone to bitterness if overbaked.
  10. Let cool, then transfer crackers to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough.
  11. Crackers will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

*While I used a mix of AP, whole wheat, and rye flours, you can use any blend you like so long as the total flour weight stays the same. For example, if you leave out the rye flour just add an additional 30g of whole wheat instead.

**To convert this recipe into sourdough crackers, replace 100g of flour and 100g of water with 200g of mature sourdough starter at 100% hydration.

All images and text © / Love & Olive Oil

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