A few weeks ago, I was walking back to my office after lunch when I ran into a colleague who was also returning to work, after a visit to Cowgirl Creamery. My friend explained that she was addicted to a homemade version of Raincoast Crisps, and that she was buying cheese to go along with the crackers. Tom and I have purchased Raincoast Crisps from Whole Foods before, and they are as delicious as they are expensive. It seemed implausible that it would be possible to make a comparable homemade version, but I was willing to give it a shot.
The recipe my friend used was developed by Julie Van Rosendaal of DinnerWithJulie.com. It is surprisingly easy. You just stir together flour, baking soda, and salt, add buttermilk, brown sugar, and honey, and then mix in raisins, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, ground flax, and chopped rosemary. You pour the batter into loaf pans and bake. Once the loaves are cool, you slice them thin and toast the crackers in the oven until they are dark, dry, and crisp (analogous to the method for making biscotti).
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I made this recipe exactly as written, except that I used two teaspoons of dried rosemary instead of one tablespoon of fresh. Also, I just let my loaves cool to room temperature before slicing then and I didn't bother putting them into the freezer. It was still very easy to cut the loaves into very thin slices; I got 85 crackers from my two loaves.
These crackers are insanely good. The raw batter has a lot of air bubbles in it, and this creates a lacy texture in the finished cracker; if you hold a cracker up to the light, you can see through parts of it. The crackers are very crisp, hearty, and in my mind, unquestionably as good as real Raincoast Crisps. The rosemary adds a lovely herbaceous flavor without being too dominating, and my favorite part was the uberchewy golden raisins. It's basically impossible to distinguish the individual flavors of the pecans, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds, but all of the components add up to something truly extraordinary. While these crackers are wonderful accompaniments to cheese, they are incredibly tasty on their own. Tom and I both count ourselves as addicts to these little delights -- hence the conclusion that these homemade crisps put the "crack" into crackers. Do yourself a flavor and give these a try; I promise you won't regret it!
Recipe: "Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps," from Dinner with Julie.
The recipe my friend used was developed by Julie Van Rosendaal of DinnerWithJulie.com. It is surprisingly easy. You just stir together flour, baking soda, and salt, add buttermilk, brown sugar, and honey, and then mix in raisins, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, ground flax, and chopped rosemary. You pour the batter into loaf pans and bake. Once the loaves are cool, you slice them thin and toast the crackers in the oven until they are dark, dry, and crisp (analogous to the method for making biscotti).
.JPG)
These crackers are insanely good. The raw batter has a lot of air bubbles in it, and this creates a lacy texture in the finished cracker; if you hold a cracker up to the light, you can see through parts of it. The crackers are very crisp, hearty, and in my mind, unquestionably as good as real Raincoast Crisps. The rosemary adds a lovely herbaceous flavor without being too dominating, and my favorite part was the uberchewy golden raisins. It's basically impossible to distinguish the individual flavors of the pecans, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds, but all of the components add up to something truly extraordinary. While these crackers are wonderful accompaniments to cheese, they are incredibly tasty on their own. Tom and I both count ourselves as addicts to these little delights -- hence the conclusion that these homemade crisps put the "crack" into crackers. Do yourself a flavor and give these a try; I promise you won't regret it!
Recipe: "Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps," from Dinner with Julie.
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