These Homemade Gourmet Crackers are a revelation. A copycat of the gourmet fruit and nut crackers sold at the stores to serve with cheese that I love but are pricey! These are simple to make, keeps for weeks, cost 80% less than store bought and taste so much better, you’ll be amazed (I was!).
Spectacular with cheeses and spreads, and for gifting!
Stop press!!! Big news – DOZER HAS A BUTTON!!
↑↑↑ For all Dozer lovers out there who just want to skip straight to Dozer and see what cheeky antics he’s up to today, just click on the Dozer button and it will take you straight down to him, then you can come back and read the post!!!
Oh – there is a button to jump to the Recipe too, which I’ve had for a while now, and I also added a button to jump straight down to the Video.
A button for everyone – whatever you’re after! Dozer, recipe video or just the recipe!
OK, enough about the Dozer button. Onto today’s recipe – Homemade Gourmet Crackers!! I am super excited about this one because I’ve had some great feedback from my official taste testing team (aka my mother’s golf friends who descend upon the beach shack for a post-golf lunch and provide very constructive feedback on my recipes).
These crackers are so great, I really wish I had a fantastic story to go with them. But actually, I don’t. Quite simply, gourmet crackers are all the rage nowadays but I just can’t bring myself to pay the rather obscene prices for them. Fellow Aussies may have noticed a certain brand of gourmet crackers prominently placed near the cheese and spreads section of supermarkets like Woolworths and Coles. Crackers that look just like these homemade ones – except they are round – and they cost $6 for 15 pieces. $6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been known to drop a small fortune on designer shoes a handful of times in my life. However, I cannot bring myself to pay $6 for one packet of gourmet crackers, especially when 1 packet would never suffice for my gatherings, I’d have to get 3 or 4. Can you imagine paying $24 just for the crackers for a cheese board??
Oh wait, I just realised I totally lied. I did buy one packet – for taste testing purposes, to copy them. 😉 I’d been eyeing them off for months, wanting to do a huge cheese board with these gourmet crackers. Then finally the penny dropped – get a packet and copy them.
So that’s what I did.
These are very simple to make. It’s just like mixing up a muffin batter, except it’s baked in a loaf tin. Freeze (to make it super easy to slice thinly), slice, then bake again. It’s like making biscotti (ooooh, haven’t done that yet!!). It’s highly customisable, and brilliant for making ahead because the baked crackers stay crisp for at least 1 month OR you can keep the loaf in the freezer for weeks and weeks, then bake when you want them.
My taste testers agreed 100% that there is no contest when comparing these Homemade Gourmet Crackers to the store bought ones. With homemade, you can actually truly taste the ingredients – the spices, the cranberries, the sunflower seeds. The store bought one has far less flavour. When you taste them one after the other, which we all did, the difference is so “in your face”, it’s quite extraordinary.
If you’re planning a cheeseboard these upcoming holidays, I truly hope you consider these. Your family and friends will be blown away. They really are so simple, customisable, and make ahead – my taste testers were eating crackers I’d made 4 weeks earlier!
Oh – and they cost about 20% of the gourmet crackers that I copied. 🙂 I have a little gathering with friends this weekend, and I’m wondering how many times I will point to the crackers on the cheese board and proudly say “I made those”. I’ll ask my friends to keep count! – Nagi x
More cookie / cracker copycats
Other recipes I’ve created in the past for the same reason as these Byron Bay cookie copycat recipe (ie because I love ’em but they’re expensive!)
Byron Bay Cookies Copycat White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies – big, thick, buttery cookies loaded with white chocolate and macadamia nuts. Crisp with a tender melt-in-your-mouth texture, just like Byron Bay Cookies!
Muesli Cookies (Breakfast Cookies / Granola Cookies) – copycat of the thick, chunky, chewy muesli cookies sold in cafes across Australia. A healthy breakfast option because it’s like a bowl of oatmeal in cookie form – refined sugar free, low fat, gluten free, keeps you full for ages but it tastes like a sweet cookie!
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Homemade Gourmet Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 cup / 250 ml milk (any fat % cow’s milk)
- ¼ cup / 50g brown sugar , packed
- ¼ cup plain unsweetened yoghurt (I used Greek)
- ½ cup / 75g plain flour (all purpose)
- ½ cup / 75g whole wheat / wholemeal flour
- ½ cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit of choice)
- 1 tsp baking soda / bi-carb (or 3 tsp baking powder)
- ½ cup rolled oats (or 1/3 cup more nuts of choice)
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds (or other seeds or nuts of choice)
Spices:
- ½ tsp ground turmeric (can omit)
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg (or All Spice or 1/8 tsp cloves)
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary (or ½ tsp more thyme)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (all oven types). Grease and line a small loaf tin with baking paper (mine is 21 x 11 x 7 cm / 8.5 x 4.5 x 3”) (Note 1).
- Whisk the milk, sugar and yoghurt in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, add plain flour, wholemeal flour and cranberries. Stir – use fingers to break up cranberries if required.
- Add remaining ingredients, including Spices, plus the milk mixture. It should be a thick batter, like muffin batter (note: batter in video looks slightly thicker because it was standing for a couple of minutes, doesn’t affect outcome).
- Scrape/pour into tin. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Cool on rack, then wrap in cling wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours, up to 3 months. (Note 2)
- Unwrap loaf and allow to thaw partially so the outside is not rock hard frozen (around 20 minutes).
- Preheat oven to 120C/250F (all oven types). Place one shelf in the middle, and another shelf beneath it.
- Use a serrated bread knife to slice thinly – around 2 mm / 1/12” thick (see video). Place biscuits on 2 large baking trays, you can squeeze them in as they won’t expand or stick.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until they are a light brown, swapping trays halfway.
- Leave biscuits on tray to cool – they will harden so they snap when you break them. (Note 3)
- Store in an airtight container for 4 weeks (probably ok for longer, I’ve only done 4 weeks). Brilliant served with creamy cheeses like brie, camembert, but soft, creamy blue cheeses is the ultimate pairing!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
LIFE OF DOZER
Dozer smacking his lips over MY lunch today – a very spicy Asian Noodle Salad. No spicy salad for you Dozer! Too painful for you!
I have some dried blueberries, would they be a good substitute as I don’t have any dried cranberries
Absolutely – they would be great Karen! N x
Thanks so much for this recipe! I love these things, but the brand I buy, last time I looked, was almost $1 a cracker. Honestly, your recipe will give me so much more scope for “flavors” and save so much money. You’re a doll!
They are so much better than the expensive store ones!! N x
Wow thanks a lot
I can’t believe how delicious these are! I baked a double batch before Christmas to share with my family along with goat cheese. Boy! I’m never buying artisan crackers from Whole Foods again! I’m still eating crackers mid January a month later. Needless to say I definitely didn’t need a double batch.
I didn’t have any trouble with them staying dry, but I did keep them in a ziploc without air.
Shared this recipe with my cheese-obsessed friends over at Cheeselandia
(www.cheeselandia.com)
Thanks Nagi I love your recipes. I loved the flavour of these crackers, however the next day they were soft. They were stored in an airtight container. Can you please tell me what to do. Can you tell me where I went wrong. If I put them back in the oven to get hard again will they go soft the next day? Thanks
Lovely taste and crunchy once cooked from oven but mind went soft the next day even though I put them in a secure container. Pls help Nagi with how to fix this! Thanks
Hi Nagi,
I absolutely love cooking your recipes and commend you on how much information you provide.
I made these delicious crackers with diced figs and pistachio and alot more pepper. I noticed after a few days in an airtight container, they did start to get a bit chewy, so I just popped them back into a pre-heated 120C oven for 5~10 mins and they crisped up wonderfully.
Deanne
Thanks for that feedback Deanne! N x
my wife and me are addicted to your recipes, thanks for sharing these with us and god bless you.
I adjusted the receipe for Me. I used tigernut and cassava flours and replaced the cranberries for figs. and the sunflower seeds for flax. to accompany my cheese ball. I enjoyed the result and will make again.
So good! Made 2 batches in 3 days.. These look and taste like the ‘fancy’ crackers in stores. I would consider giving these as gifts or including them in a goodie tray they’re so delicious.
Hi, planning to make these crackers, so I put “wholemeal flour” on my shopping list, went to pick some up yest and realised oh, what type of wholemeal, is plain or self raising right? I assumed plain but…. A little help!
Hi Nancy – It takes plain wholemeal flour. I would always specify if it required self-raising! N x
Ok, and thanks so much for replying it’s much appreciated. Have a great night. N
Tasted delicious. Crisp when first cooked but soft the next day. Can any give tips to keep them crispy?
Can’t believe how easy these are to make! Another winning Nagi recipe for the books
These are amazing, thanks Nagi! I’ve made several batches now, reckon fig and pistachio almost rival your original cranberry recipe, YUM! I have to confess that the yield is never very good, I’m sure it has nothing to do with my tendency to steal some off the tray every time I check in the second baking…🤣
Who does that??! Not me? lol…N x
Just baked a batch of this and it was delicious! Recipe is so easy to follow! Thanks Nagi!
Just made these for the first time & they are delicious! Very addictive, can’t stop eating them! Definitely on the sweeter side & the cinnamon is the most dominant spice flavor. I used reduced sugar cranberries & could only find salted sunflower seeds & they turned out fantastic. Would love additional suggestions for toppings & a savory recipe version would be great..
Wondering if you could just eat this as a loaf? Looks yummy!
I’m becoming an avid followers – your taste in food mirrors mine so closely and so far, you’re recipes really work.
Really want to try these crackers, could fig and walnut work as substitutions?
Made a batch last night and stored in Tupperware overnight – found them quite soft this morning. All I can think of is they might have still been a bit warm or it’s the Brisbane humidity at work! I’ve popped them back in the oven with fingers crossed.
Do you think I could use all almond flour? I’d love to give these to some Keto friends. Thanks
I haven’t tested that Shirley, sorry! N x
Re pumpkin in can. Look in the tinned veggie aisle. Dogs love pumpkin and it is very good for them according to my groomer who also is a judge for dog shows. I freeze my tinned pumpkin in ice cube containers and give my doodle one a day.