Parmesan Herb Crackers

January 22, 2021

These fabulous little crackers are flaky, crispy, salty and full of parmesan goodness. You can cut them any size you want and they only take a few minutes to bring together and bake to perfection. Next time you are planning for a delicious snack or putting together a cheese board, consider whipping up a batch of these fabulous crackers. They are totally worth it!

Let’s get them started…

All you need is 2 cups of all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 heaping cup of grated parmesan, 1 cold stick of butter, 2/3 cup of whole milk and some toppings. These crackers are already full of parmesan flavor, BUT I do suggest having a little extra parmesan on hand to sprinkle over each cracker. Is there such a thing as too much parmesan? If there is, I’ve never heard of it, so sprinkle on…

In addition to the parmesan, add some finely chopped herbs. Any herb will work on these crackers, so just pick your favorites. I have a serious affinity for fresh dill, so that is what I use on my crackers, but rosemary, thyme, parsley, chives or basil work too. Plus, you can add a little fine sea salt if you like your crackers salty.

The first step is to cube up 1 stick of cold butter, place the cubes into a small bowl and set the bowl into your freezer while you gather the other ingredients. You don’t want the butter frozen, but it will only take a few minutes to gather the other ingredients and by that time, the butter will be nice and chilly.

Next, combine 2 cups of all purpose flour, 1 cup of grated parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper in a large bowl. Whisk until everything is fully combined and the parmesan is evenly spread throughout.

Add those chilly butter cubes into the flour and parmesan mixture and work it in until there are no large pieces remaining. This can be done several different ways. If you want to put everything into a stand mixer, you can use a paddle attachment and mix until the butter is broken down into very small pieces. I like to work my butter in with a pastry blender (photo above). I feel like I have the most control this way and don’t overwork the butter. You want the butter broken into small pieces, but you don’t want to work it so much that is begins to liquify and make the dough look wet. If you don’t have a pastry blender, you can create the same action with two stiff forks.

This is what you want your butter and dry ingredients to look like. The dry ingredients are still dry and the butter looks like little flecks spread throughout the bowl.

Now, begin to drizzle the milk into the dough, stirring as you do. You may need the whole 2/3 of a cup or you may only need around 1/2 cup. Only add enough milk to bring the dough together. As soon as it begins to come together, use your hands to press the dough into a ball. If there are any dry ingredients left in the bowl, be sure to include them as you press the dough. You don’t need to knead this dough, but you do need to squeeze it enough to bring it together into a solid ball.

Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and set them onto a sheet pf parchment paper.

Grab another sheet of parchment paper and start rolling out one portion of dough. If your dough is sticking to the rolling pin in any way, lightly dust it with flour (just a tiny bit) and continue rolling.

In regards to your rolling style, there are two options. You can form your dough into a rectangle and then carefully roll it out, maintaining the rectangular shape as you go or you can roll it out in a more… au natural way and then use your knife or dough cutter to cut out a pretty rectangle and pull away the excess and add that excess to the next portion of dough. The second option is much easier and substantially quicker, so that is what I go with. Once you trim it and pull away the excess, no one will ever know that it once was an oddly shaped oval of dough and I sure won’t tell…

Once the dough is less than 1/4 inch thick, cut out your cracker shapes. You can do little squares, big squares, long skinny rectangles, triangles or you could even use round cookie cutters and make round crackers. Anything goes when it comes to shaping your crackers!

Once they are cut out, leave them together and sprinkle on your toppings. Today, I am adding finely shredded parmesan, fresh dill and fine sea salt, but again, you can add whatever makes you happy. Experiment with different herbs (fresh or dried) and even other types of cheese. Have fun with it!

Once your crackers are cut out and topped, slide the sheet of parchment onto a flat baking sheet and place them into a 400 degree oven and baking for 15-25 minutes. I know that seems like a large window of time, but it will all depend on how thin you rolled your dough out. If you got it really paper thin, start checking around the 12 minute mark, but if you didn’t get it very thin, they make take into the 20’s to get browned and crispy.

Once your crackers are browned and crispy, slide the sheet of parchment paper (with the crackers on top) onto a cooling rack and let them cool off a bit. They will continue to get more crispy as the cool.

These crackers are flaky, crispy and have a wonderful cheesy, salty flavor that is enhanced by the herbs you added. Like I said earlier, I love dill and it really worked well with these crackers. Although dill is my recommendation, your favorite herb or even a combination of a few different herbs will work great!

Use your crackers to compliment a cheese or charcuterie board or just snack on them while watching your favorite TV shows. Store leftover crackers in an airtight container at room temperature. They are best on the same day that you bake them up, but will stay fairly crisp into day two if you keep them in a good airtight container, but I rarely have any crackers last longer than 12 hours.

They are really tasty! Make them, bake them and enjoy!

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