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Rich Butter Crackers

Source of Recipe

From "The America's Test Kitchen D.I.Y. Cookbook"


Recipe Introduction

"Ritz crackers are one of those retro-chic foods we all can't help but love. They've been around since the 1930s, a staple on generations of party platters. And we love them because they're so rich and buttery, right? Well, lo and behold, Ritz don't contain butter (they do, however, contain several ingredients we can't pronounce). Knowing that puts them in a whole other light, but they're awfully hard to give up. Starting with an all-butter pie dough recipe, we tweaked it until we had a rich, buttery cracker made only with familiar pantry ingredients—and, of course, plenty of butter."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 ½ cups (7 ½ ounces) all-purpose flour
â—¦ ½ cup (2 ounces) cake flour
â—¦ 2 ½ tablespoons sugar
â—¦ 1 ½ teaspoons salt
â—¦ 1 teaspoon baking powder
â—¦ 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into ½-inch pieces and chilled
â—¦ 4 tablespoons butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces and chilled, plus 4 tablespoons melted and cooled
â—¦ 1 large egg yolk, plus 1 large egg, lightly beaten
â—¦ 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water
â—¦ Kosher salt


Recipe

Process all-purpose flour, cake flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in food processor until combined, 3 to 5 seconds. Scatter shortening over top and process until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 10 seconds. Scatter chilled butter pieces over top and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 8 pulses. Continue to pulse, adding egg yolk and then water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough begins to form small curds that hold together when pinched with your fingers (the dough will be crumbly), about 10 pulses.

Turn dough crumbs onto lightly floured counter and gather into rectangular pile. Starting at farthest end, use heel of your hand to smear small amount of dough against counter. Continue to smear dough until all crumbs have been worked. Gather smeared crumbs together in another rectangular pile and repeat process. Divide dough in half. Place each piece of dough on sheet of plastic wrap and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each piece tightly in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with one piece of dough at a time, remove from refrigerator, and, on lightly floured counter, roll dough into â…›-inch-thick circle (about 12 inches in diameter). Using 2-inch scalloped biscuit cutter, cut dough into rounds and transfer to prepared sheet, spaced about ½ inch apart. Gently reroll scraps â…› inch thick, cut into rounds, and transfer to prepared sheet.

Using back end of wooden skewer, poke seven decorative holes in dough rounds. Brush tops of dough with beaten egg. Bake crackers, one sheet at a time, until deep golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking.

Brush two coats of melted butter over hot crackers immediately after removing from oven. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Let cool to room temperature before serving. Crackers can be stored at room temperature in airtight container for up to one week.

Makes about 50 crackers