February 2013 Daring Bakers Challenge: Crisp Crackers and Flatbreads

It is funny how some months fly by so fast that I have to scramble to complete the month's Daring Bakers challenge. This month was the antithesis of those months. I completed this month's challenge on the 2nd or 3rd. The reason behind my speedy completion? There were actually two reasons. First, the recipes were pretty fast to complete. Second, the recipes didn't require ingredients that were hard to find ... because they were all in our kitchen. Can't complain about that!

This month, we were tasked with making crisp crackers and/or flatbread. Being the overachiever that I am, I decided to make one of each. I wound up making homemade graham crackers and crisp rosemary flatbread.

It is no secret that I adore the Smitten Kitchen food blog. That gal is a culinary god... you'll definitely agree once you see how small her kitchen is! I chose her graham cracker recipe and am so glad that I did. They turned out amazingly well. The shocker? No graham flour was used. I read the recipe 6-7 times before I believed it. These little yummy treats were flavorful, crunchy, and topped with cinnamon sugar. (Eric said they were too crispy and nuked them for a few seconds before eating them ... what can I say? I married a guy who likes stale graham crackers. I don't get it either!) ;)

Graham crackers

Next, I tackled the the Smitten Kitchen crisp rosemary flatbread recipe. I was less in love with the results of this adventure. The crisp flatbread turned out less crisp and more dense than I expected; imagine almost like a pita texture. I don't know if I did something wrong or simply didn't roll out the dough thin enough. Either way, I wouldn't call this flatbread crisp.

The other issue I had was I didn't have fresh rosemary on hand; instead I used dry. Not wanting to overpower the bread with rosemary, I went too cautious and under rosemary-ed the dough. Its flavor was a bit flat (no pun intended) and lacked the lovely punch of rosemary flavor I'd hoped for. I think I'll try this recipe again, but with thinner dough and fresh rosemary.

Crisp(ish) rosemary flatbread

Can't wait to see what is in store for March's challenge!!


Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie was our February 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to use our creativity in making our own Crisp Flatbreads and Crackers!