Day 2 … Blue Cheese and Fig Crackers

Today, for our second cracker of this bunch, I’ve got that classic fruit and cheese combination: a little blue cheese, a little fig. Now, I need to explain something before we get too far into this. These are subtle. There is not an overwhelming flavor of blue cheese in this cracker. It’s rather dainty, comes through on the back end and this makes it an excellent cracker to add to the cheese board/charcuterie platter to top with other delicious things. This is good news if you’re not a big fan of the blue. There’s just enough savoriness to make it interesting but isn’t overwhelming. If you’re a blue cheese fan expecting a big blue cheese hit, this may not do it for you but put a few fresh crumbles on top you’ve got one outstanding bite. So you do you.

Like the last recipe, treat this like a pie dough and mix gently. Remember, you want to see some little chunks of butter throughout. My blue cheese was standard workaday stuff but a really pungent one might come through better. Personally, I’d rather save that to eat on top of the cracker. For the figs, I used some really fresh golden brown dried figs but black mission work too, as would dates. Just make sure they’re soft and pliable. No hard, dried out rocks please. A little salt, a little pepper and you’re good to go.

To start: base cracker doughs
Day 1: Cheddar Old Bay Crackers

BLUE CHEESE & FIG CRACKERS
Makes about 6 dozen or so 2” sized crackers
For this one to be nice and crispy, they’ll bake up rather dark. Keep an eye on them during baking and make sure to rotate the sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking.

¼ cheese base cracker dough
3 ounces crumbled blue cheese (heaping ½ cup)
3 ounces dried figs, finely chopped (about 10 figs/2/3 cup chopped)
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1. Into the bowl of a standing mixer, break the cool but pliable base dough into several small pieces.
2. Add the cheese and mix on low until the cheese just starts to work in – maybe 30 seconds or so. Do not overmix.
3. Add the figs, pepper and salt and mix on low until just combined, about another 30 seconds or so. Do not overmix.
4. Between two sheets of lightly floured parchment paper or plastic wrap, roll 1/3 of the dough to about 1/8-1/16” thick. Repeat with the remaining dough. If the dough sticks to the pin, add a bit of flour or pop the sheet back into the fridge to chill.
5. Slide the dough sheets onto a sheet pan and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days, tightly wrapped.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
7. Remove one dough sheet from the fridge, remove the top sheet of parchment/plastic wrap and cut shapes with a 2“ cutter (or any cutter /shape you like).
8. Transfer shapes to a parchment lined sheet pan, ¼” apart.
9. Bake for 14-15 minutes until golden brown and firm, rotating the pans front-to-back and top-to-bottom halfway through baking. Keep an eye on them – they go from perfect to burnt in seconds.
10. Slide the parchment from the sheet pan and let the crackers cool on a wire rack.
11. Crackers will keep, tightly wrapped, for 5 days.
12. Do ahead: you have a bunch of options. Remember the holidays are stressful enough. Don’t add to it if you can help it.

• Base dough: refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months
• Flavored dough: refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months
• Rolled dough sheets: refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 1 month (the thinner sheets are a little tougher to wrap tightly and have a tendency to dry out faster.)
• Cut unbaked crackers: refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 2 months tightly wrapped. Bake directly from the freezer.

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