Special Holiday Treat for my Mommy!

I've been so busy lately and don't get to see my mom as much as I used to. So when I do get the chance, I like to bake something special for her to take home. She came up to visit for a holiday brunch and I decided to whip up a batch of her favorite Blue Cheese and Walnut Crackers. They're more like savory shortbread cookies and have such a yummy buttery texture. Needless to say my mom loved them!

We're LONG Overdue for Some Crackers!

For a while there I was making Crackers almost every week and I was reminded by Barefoot Contessa over the weekend that I haven't made them in a while. These Blue Cheese and Cranberry Crackers were inspired by her Blue Cheese and Walnut Crackers. The only difference is that I added dried cranberries to the dough and didn't roll it in walnuts. I really like the savory and sweet combination in these crackers and the red color added such a nice festive touch! Perfect treats for the holidays with a nice glass with wine. :)

Monthly Cracker Treat

My mom absolutely LOVES Ina's Parmesan Thyme Crackers so I try to make them about once a month. I swear, they get easier every time! The trick really is to add a few teaspoons of water until the mixture comes together. It's such a great recipe cuz you can keep the dough a few days in the fridge or a month in the freezer for last minute guests or just when the cracker craving hits!

My Mom's Favorite Crackers

I was telling my mom how much easier making crackers have gotten with practice and asked her if she had a favorite from the recent ones that I've made. She told me that she liked Ina's Parmesan Thyme Crackers the best but didn't really know why. At first I thought maybe she just really liked the combination of Parmesan and Thyme but then after comparing the recipes, I saw why they tasted better than all the other ones...BUTTER! Yes, Ina uses an entire stick of butter for her batch of crackers when the other recipes call for only half a stick. It might not seem like a huge addition for 30 crackers, but apparently those 4 lil tablespoons of butter made the best crackers ever! Now that I knew the secret, I just had to bake another batch! I switched it up a bit by using grated Asiago cheese and cashews that I grinded up in my mini food processor. Yummy and BUTTERY and I'm sure will be a new favorite for my mom!

Yummy Wonton Crackers!

I came across this recipe for Sesame Wonton Crackers and just so happened to have some wonton wrappers in the fridge. I totally trust anything that Martha Stewart makes so I knew they would be yummy! I love the combination of soy sauce and honey. I substituted white sesame seeds for the black cuz that was what I had on hand and they gave these crackers the perfect lil crunch! Yummy and easy and perfect snacks to take along for some weekend shopping!

Crackers Crackers Everywhere!

I came across Martha Stewart's recipe for Blue Cheese Pecan Crackers and they looked delicious! (Doesn't Martha just make EVERYTHING look so easy?) I had some Feta in the fridge so I thought I'd use that instead. It worked really well and using the food processor definitely did the trick! The dough was much easier to handle and my log actually looked round instead of the weird oblong shape. I kept it in the fridge for a day (just like Martha said to do) and they were really easy to slice and bake. Now that I've got the technique down, I'm totally gonna experiment with different cheese and herb combos!

Another Batch of Barefoot Contessa Crackers

My mom seems to love my homemade crackers (who wouldn't right?) so when I noticed she was running low on my last batch of Parmesan Almond Crackers, I knew it was time to make some more. I've made a recipe from Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) before and they turned out really well so I thought I'd try another one. These are her Parmesan Thyme Crackers and I cannot even explain how YUMMY they turned out! My only advice is to add some water toward the end of mixing cuz my dough didn't come together without it. I would add 1 tsp at a time until you see a mixture that you can handle or else you'll just end up with a crumbly mess that won't shape into anything. (I ended up needing 6 tsp total.) I also omitted the salt cuz the Parmesan is already pretty salty and I definitely didn't miss it. Now I just have to keep myself from eating all of these crackers before they get to my mom!

Taking Another CRACK @ It!

Ok that was pretty cheesy! (CRACK...cracker, get it?) ANYWAY, the last I attemped homemade crackers, they came out a bit too salty. (I think it must've been the Blue Cheese!) So this time, I thought I'd try some with a different (non-salty) type of cheese instead. I did some research and decided on this recipe for Parmesan Almond Crackers. I remembered how crumbly the dough was using the Stand Mixer and it was nearly impossible to roll it into a log! This recipe called for the Food Processor and it was a LOT easier to handle. I actually put my log into the freezer for about 20 minutes since I didn't wanna wait 3 hours and it worked just as well. I LOVE the strong Parmesan flavor these crackers had and the little bit of crunch from the almond was just perfect too!