Last week's three day girl's getaway trip to southwestern Michigan was a much needed reprieve from all of the deafening political noise dominating every form of media for the past several months. From waking up and walking along the shore of Lake Michigan, to driving in landscapes rich with the deepest, most vibrant autumnal colors, to looking for treasures in antique stores, to enjoying some amazing food, to have some time to take photos of an iconic lighthouse, to staying up in the wee hours to watch the Cubs clinch the World Series, these busy from morning to night days were actually more relaxing than exhausting. More than likely this was due in large part to the graciousness of the friend who opened up her home to us and served as travel guide extraordinaire. Although I don't know whether to love or hate her for introducing me to Salt of the Earth, a restaurant in Fennville, Michigan, serving some of the most amazing food I have ever eaten. Seriously, the food is so unbelievably incredible it is almost worth making a five hour round trip drive just to have a dinner there. Or maybe, worth spending the night to squeeze in stops at Virtue Cider and Crane's Pie Pantry after spending the day photographing the lake and woodland landscapes. I can hardly wait to go back.
Having given all but one of these English Oat Crackers away (well I had to make sure they were good), I made them again when I returned home. I could say it was all in the spirit of making sure they were as good the second time around. But I would be lying. These crackers are as beautiful as they are addictive. One of the more lethal combinations in the food world.
There were a few changes I made to this recipe (I know, who am I to mess with perfection). But these changes were due more to not paying close attention to the recipe (I was multi-tasking the first time I made them). Instead of using a half-cup of lightly packed light brown sugar, my brown sugar was more on the semi-firm packed side. And instead of baking them at 375 degrees (F), I baked them at 350 degrees (F). More on what I think the difference in these two temperatures might be later on.
For some reason I had difficulty pressing down the cracker dough balls down by simply flouring the bottom of a drinking glass (the dough kept sticking to the glass, resulting in an unbakeable mess). Putting a small piece of parchment paper between the dough and glass worked perfectly when carefully peeling the paper away from the flattened cracker. And it wasn't necessary to add any more flour to the cracker.
Baking time for these English Oat Crackers ranged from 22-24 minutes. For the crispiest cracker, your baking time will be closer to 24 minutes.. However, the thickness of your cracker will also influence how long these crackers remain in the oven. My crackers may not have been flattened as much as Ina's. Mine were a little thicker. Personally, I liked the substantialness of them. The higher oven temperature (375 degrees F) would also contribute to the cracker's crispness. If you bake them at the higher temperature, begin checking them at 20 minutes.
Once removed from the oven, the crackers should be allowed to cool on the cookie sheet for at least five minutes before being transferred to a cooling rack.
They can be served either warm or at room temperature. If making them earlier in the day or day before, make certain they have completely cooled before being put in a tightly sealed container or placed in a tightly tied cellophane bag.
So now let's talk about the cheese. While there are many cheese pairing options to go along with these crackers, the French Triple Cream Cow's Milk cheese Delice de Bourgogne would be amongst my favorites. The combination of flavors is head-spinning.
If you were going to serve only one appetizer at a cocktail party or dinner party, then serve English Oat Crackers paired with a great cheese and some fruit. It's really all you need. And this is coming from someone who is finds it difficult to stop at making just one.
With the holiday entertaining season quickly approaching, consider making these English Oat Crackers your must-serve cracker. Additionally, they make for a great hostess gift. Just be sure to make some for yourself as it may be difficult to let them go.
English Oat Crackers (an ever so slight adaptation of Ina Garten's English Oat Cracker recipe from her newest cookbook 'Cooking for Jeffrey')
Makes approximately 22-24 three inch sized crackers.
Ingredients
3 cups (8 1/2 oz/240g) old-fashioned oats (recommend Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats)
1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar, semi-firmly packed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks (8 oz/226g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch dice (recommend Kerrygold's Unsalted Butter)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup lukewarm water
Sea salt or Fleur de sel (recommend Maldon Sea Salt)
Serve with fruit (sliced Honey Crisp apples and cheese)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Place oats, flour, brown sugar, and kosher salt into a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for approximately 15-25 seconds or until oats are coarsely ground.
3. Add butter and pulse 15-20 times until the butter is pea-sized.
4. Dissolve baking soda in lukewarm water. Stir to dissolve. Add to food processor. Pulse until mixture is even moistened and can be easily pressed into balls that will hold together (Note: If mixture is too wet, add a little more flour or if too dry, add a little more water.)
5. Using a 1 1/2" to 1 3/4" inch ice cream scoop, form balls. Evenly space on baking sheet.
6. Flour the bottom of a flat bottomed 3 inch drinking glass and flatten each cracker so it is somewhere between 1/8" and 1/4" thick (mine were closer to 1/4"). Note: If the ball of dough is sticking to the glass, cut a 4" square piece of parchment paper, place on dough ball, then press with glass. The parchment paper should release easily leaving you with a perfectly flattened cracker.)
7. Sprinkle with sea salt.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven. Allow crackers to cool on pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
9. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store completely cooled cookies in a tightly sealed container or tightly tied cellophane bag for several days.
Notes: (1) Instead of lightly packing the brown sugar, I packed mine semi-firm. This may or may not have added to the moisture of cracker dough. As a result I added an additional tablespoon of flour. (2) The drinking glass method of flattening the crackers didn't work as it did not easily release from the cracker. However, placing a piece of parchment paper on top of the cracker ball and then pressing with the glass worked perfectly. (3) Use Old-Fashioned NOT quick cooking oats. (4) The original recipe recommends the crackers bake at 375 (F) degrees for 20-25 minutes. My baking temperature was 350 (F) degrees with a baking time of 22-24 minutes. (5) Highly recommend serving these crackers with the French Delice de Bourgogne, a triple creme cow's milk cheese.
