Seeded Rye Crackers

with wheatgerm

Another recipe that I learned recently from our head baker, Chris Holister, was this seeded rye cracker. It’s delicious served with cheese, fruit and membrillo after dinner, or topped with a little smoked salmon or tuna and herbs as a canapé. The trick is to roll these out as thin as you can, for a superbly crisp texture. Provided you store these in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, they will keep for several weeks.

You can bake these crackers whole in large circles (pictured), or slice them before you put them in the oven, or simply break them into shards once baked, depending on the effect you want.

On our baking day, we used our wheatgerm, our organic medium rye flour, our No. 4 flour for the strong white, and our stoneground wholemeal flour. The strong white flour helps to provide the structure while allowing the flavour of the rye to come through, and the wholemeal flour and wheatgerm add a wholesome nuttiness and richness.

Makes 180g of crackers

You can find out more about our baking courses here.

INGREDIENTS

  • 17g rye sourdough starter
  • 57g water
  • 70g strong white flour
  • 12g wholemeal flour,
  • 34g rye flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 8g fresh wheatgerm
  • 2g sea salt
  • seeds to sprinkle (poppy, sesame, onion, sunflower, linseed, pumpkin)

METHOD

Weigh all your ingredients apart from the seeds for topping into a mixing bowl, combine, and bring together to form a dough. Turn the dough out on to the counter top and knead until the dough is smooth and the gluten has formed well, for roughly 6-10 minutes. The dough should be a little similar to pasta dough, in that it is smooth and relatively tight in nature.

Shape the dough into a disc, place it back in the mixing bowl and cover, and prove it in a warm and draft-free place for 1-2 hours (alternatively you can leave it overnight in the fridge). If you’re pushed for time you can roll the dough out straight away, but this gives it less time for the flavours to develop.

Divide the dough into two equal parts. Flour your work surface liberally with wholemeal or rye flour. Roll the dough out so that it is really thin using a rolling pin, and dust the top half as well as you go, to ensure it doesn’t stick. When the dough is roughly 1-2mm thick, use a pastry brush to lightly brush the surface with water.

Sprinkle with seeds, and if you like, you can add a very little more salt on top. Roll over the top with your rolling pin to make sure the seeds stick. Transfer the dough onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Slice it as required, or you can leave it whole.

Preheat your oven to 190℃. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden and crisp, keeping an eye on it towards the end to make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.