homemade cheez-it crackers.

i mostly followed From Away’s recipe which is based on the thin chef’s recipe which, in turn, is based on a recipe from Country Living. i also looked at A Cozy Kitchen’s recipe.  there are lots of other (mostly similar) variants around.

apparently, a lot of people want to make homemade cheez-its. who knew?

for the record: 1 c. flour | 4 tbsp frozen butter, cubed | 1/4 tsp salt | 1/4 tsp cayenne | 8 oz. shredded extra-sharp yellow cheddar cheese | 4-6 tbsp cold water | extra 2 pinches kosher salt

1. mix flour, butter, 3/4 tsp salt, cayenne, and cheese in food processor.
2. pulse until crumbly.
3. add water 1 tbsp a a time and pulse until dough comes together. (i used about 5 tbsp.)
4. wrap dough ball and chill in freezer for 30 min.
5. roll out dough to 1/4” thick, cut into crackers, dock the crackers and dust them with a pinch or two of kosher salt.
6. bake at 350°F for 25 minutes.

notes: i rolled the dough out directly on a silpat and used a plastic pizza knife to cut the crackers in place. the crackers took 32 minutes and probably should have cooked another 3 minutes. next time i will try to roll the dough a bit thinner and make slightly larger crackers—but i’ll need to watch the time more carefully.

garlic knots.  i definitely need to make these again. 

the recipe is loosely based on king arthur’s garlic knots but I don’t have their specialty ingredients.  i used about the same amount of dough but made only 12 knots instead of 16.  i couldn’t really imagine making them smaller.

dough:
1/4 cup milk, scalded :  3/4 cup water : 1 egg yolk : 2 tbsp oil :
13 oz all purpose flour (about 3 cups) : 1 1/4 tsp salt : 1 tbsp sugar :
4 tsp grated parmesan : 1/4 tsp garlic powder :
2 tsp instant yeast

glaze:
1.5 tbsp melted butter,
grated parmesan, garlic salt, and italian seasoning sprinkled to taste

1. make dough in bread machine
2. roll dough to ~ 8” x 12” rectangle
3. cut into 12 strips, round the strips, and tie them into knots – see the useful pictures of how to form the knots on king arthur’s blog
4. put the knots on a baking sheet, cover, and let rise
5. bake at 350 for about 18 minutes
6. brush with melted butter and sprinkle seasonings over top as desired

cinnamon rolls. i made these a few days ago and hope to make them again this week.

autumn

i keep thinking that my thumb is as big as my big toe and i keep being surprised when it isn’t. (i was struck by this again today when i found a cut on the bottom of my big toe.)

mossy rock in the water

all that remains

calm during the storm

lucy in the living room