a new twist this year … Three Doughs, Twelve Crackers (+ three base doughs)

It’s that time of year again, my friends. Time to bake cookies until ingredient lists invade your dreams and you mumble recipes in your sleep. Or is it? For the last three years I’ve tried to ease the burden of cooking, baking and gifting by using a favorite trick of mine – take one basic butter cookie dough, add various ingredients and turn it into a bunch of different types of cookies. Great, right? You turn out amazing cookie platters, no one is the wiser and you maintain a semblance of sanity. Twelve varieties each year has yielded 36 different cookies, of all flavors, colors, and textures from just one basic dough. This year, I find myself burnt out on cookies, even a year later. I’m just not feeling it and any new ideas I came up with were not sparking joy. I’m taped out this year. Instead I came up with something that excited me, something similar but different. Why not savory?  What if I came up with 12 savory crackers from one dough?

So that’s what we’re going to do this year. Mixing it up a little by taking the same favorite idea and making it savory with cheese, herbs and spices to hit the start of the meal rather than the end. I tweaked it a little though; instead of twelve crackers from one dough, I have three base doughs with four variations for each. The same type of cracker twelve times wasn’t doing it for me but 3 x 4 certainly did. I like variety.

The first is a cheese cracker base, a sort of pie dough, rolled thin and cut to any shape you like. The second is a slice-and-bake savory shortbread with all types of interesting flavors. The last one is a thin, crisp olive oil based dough seasoned a few different ways for a completely different texture and experience. This one can be rolled thin with a pin but if you have a pasta machine, it’s a good time to dust it off. All three doughs can be made ahead and frozen, flavored or not, for some easy holiday snacks.

All three base recipes are below, if you want to get a jump on things, and every other day I’ll post a new recipe turning those three bases into twelve different crackers. We’ll start with the neutral base for the cheese crackers, do four cheese variations (cheddar, blue, parmesan and goat!) and various complimentary flavor additions. Next up will be the four shortbreads then finally, the four olive oil crackers. Each base dough is divided into four even pieces and flavored differently but if you’d like to make smaller batches, the recipes reduce just fine. Buckle up!

And if you’d like to do cookies, thirty-six of those one dough recipes are waiting for you too in the archives, just click the links below:
Base Cookie Dough
Almond Raspberry Strips
Apricot Rosemary Shortbread
Banana Walnut Bars
Blueberry Lime Buttons
Bourbon Glazed Fruitcake Buttons
Brown Sugar Wafers with Lemon Lavender Glaze
Candied Ginger Spice Buttons
Cardamom Rose Coins
Chocolate Cocoa Nib Wafers
Chocolate Drops
Chocolate Hazelnut Buttons
Cinnamon Sugar Pinwheels
Classic Molasses Cookies
Coconut Lime Sticks
Cranberry Pistachio Coins
Cream Cheese Wreaths
Dark Mocha Sandwich Cookies
Date Swirls
Espresso Crinkles
Jam Streusel Tarts
Jam Thumbprints
Lemon Cornmeal Biscotti
Lemon Poppyseed Buttons
Maple Black Walnut Cookies
Mexican Chocolate Crinkles
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Orange Sandwich Cookies
Orange Sesame Crisps
PB&J Sandwich Cookies
Pecan Tassies
Pecan Triangles
Peppermint Brownie Bars
Peppermint Candy Canes
Raspberry Linzer Squares
Rum Butter Bars
Russian Tea Cakes

STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: SNACK MASTER. You’ve got the cookies down, why not master some savory snacks? They are great on their own but really shine when part of a larger appetizer spread, a perfect additional to a charcuterie/cheese board and are just lovely with a glass of wine.

CHEESE CRACKER BASE DOUGH
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
24 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into ¼” cubes (3 sticks/12 ounces)
2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
6 Tablespoons whole milk

1. Toss the flour, butter and salt together in the bowl of a standing mixer.
2. With the paddle attachment on low, add the milk and mix just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix; you want to see small chunks of butter.
3. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (use a scale if you have one), wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Dough must be slightly chilled to flavor so if not using right away, refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months.

SAVOURY SHORTBREAD BASE DOUGH
5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup sugar
2 large egg yolks

1. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
2. In the bowl of standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add egg yolks and mix to combine, scraping sides and bottom of the bowl.
4. On medium-low, mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.
5. Turn out mixture on to a lightly floured surface and pat dough to bring it together.
6. Divide the base dough into 4 equal pieces. Dough must be room temperature to flavor so if not using right away, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months.

OLIVE OIL CRACKER BASE DOUGH
4 cups unbleached, all-purposed flour (500g)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup water
3 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and spices.
2. Add water, and olive oil.
3. Mix with a fork first and your hands then, to form a soft dough. It needs to have a firm consistency, but add more water if too dry, a few drops at a time.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 1 hour.
5. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (use a scale if you have one), wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Dough must be room temperature to flavor so if not using right away, refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months.