Flaxseed and Cracked Pepper Crackers

Two weeks*.

*someone please tell me I’m not jinxing myself

I can do anything for two more weeks, right? Keep secrets, work around the clock, do the equivalent of fifteen** jobs…

And in two weeks, I will finally be able to tell you what is going on.  Share with you what I’ve been wanting to share for a couple of months.  But until then, I’ll stuff my mouth with a handful of crackers if you ask.  Because secrets and sort-of lies are not my thing.  And if the stress of working around the clock with a huge amount of pressure to get things done and get them done well isn’t enough, the stress of being deceitful in any way is weighing on me in an unmeasurable way.

**slight exaggeration

So about these crackers!  If I had known how easy it would be to make crackers from scratch, I’d have started doing that long ago!  These crackers are full of whole grains and devoid of any preservatives or unreadable ingredients you get from your typical store-bought box.  So even if you eat handful after handful to silence yourself, you are in a pretty good place.

I got this recipe from the brand new Joy the Baker cookbook! I’ll be sharing a few more recipes over the next several weeks as I participate in a group of bloggers who have the opportunity to review Joy’s book.  Given that Joy’s blog was one of the first food blogs I ever read, to say I was excited about this is an understatement.

Flaxseed and Cracked Pepper Crackers
Source: Joy the Baker Cookbook
Makes 4 dozen crackers

Ingredients:
1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons golden flaxseed, separated or 1/4 cup + 1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour plus additional for rolling out dough
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used low fat)

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees; line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside
In a small food processor or blender, grind three tablespoons of flax seed for one minute to produce 1/4 cup of ground flaxseed meal
In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, flaxseed, flaxseed meal, baking soda, salt and pepper
Use a fork or your fingers to work butter into dry ingredients until you have small clumps of “dough”; not all dry ingredients will be binded together
Form a well in the center of the mix and pour buttermilk into the well; use a fork to combine until all of the dough is moist but shaggy
Roll the dough on a lightly floured work surface working half of the dough at a time; roll out with a rolling pin until dough is ~1/8 inch thick
Use a 1 1/2 inch round cookie cutter to shape crackers or cut with a pizza knife into 1 1/2 inch squares
Bake 15-18 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges and allow to cool
Store crackers in an airtight container up to four days
Notes: 
This is not your typical crunchy cracker.  I tried cooking them a little longer after the fact to get some crunch and ended up burning them (guess 15 extra minutes without checking on them was a bit too long).
I made smaller crackers (<1 1/2 inches x 1 inch each) and ended up with double the number of crackers.

To win a free copy of Joy’s cookbook visit girlichef!

This post is part of the Joy the Baker Cookbook Spotlight and Cook-Off sponsored by Hyperion and hosted at girlichef.  I received a free copy of the Joy the Baker Cookbook but all opinions expressed are my own.