Cathy Katin-Grazzini
Cathy’s Kitchen Prescription LLC
www.cathyskitchenprescription.com
Anise Raisin Crisps
The problem with most commercial crackers and crisps is that they use refined flour lacking fiber and nutrients, and are loaded with oil and salt. Baking your own tasty whole grain crisps is easy, fast, and fun! Five ingredients is all it takes to make delicious, truly healthy light and crunchy bread crisps.
Made with steel-cut oatmeal and any whole grain flour you like.
Raisins and aniseed lend a hit of sweet, aromatic complexity. These crisps are delightful with both sweet or savory dishes and spreads. Shown in the photos with a garlicy white bean purée.
Hint: The trick to a light and crispy bread crisp is to roll them very thin. And to flatten them further, prevent blisters and bubbles while baking, and to imprint an appealing texture, consider using a kruskavel, a Swedish rolling pin with knobby spikes for the final pass over the dough. A docker or even fork tines would not be as pretty, but they would help prevent blisters as well.
Prep time 30 minutes to make oatmeal plus 15 minutes
Bake time 20 minutes
Makes about 25 to 35, depending on length and width
¾ cup cooked steel-cut oats from ¼ cup dry steel-cut oats and 1 cup water
1 cup 100% whole grain flour (such as buckwheat, barley, rye, whole wheat) plus more for dusting and rolling the dough
2 teaspoons aniseed
1/3 cup currants or raisins, chopped
Up to ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
To make the oatmeal, add the steel-cut oats and water to a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and stir periodically to prevent sticking and to encourage the oats to release their starch, about 20 minutes. When they are tender but chewy, cover, remove from the heat, and allow the oats to steep as you prepare the other ingredients. Steeping will further soften the porridge and rehydrate any oats that may have adhered to the bottom of the pan.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, aniseed, chopped raisins, and whole grain flour of your choice. Rub the flour into the currants or raisins to separate them. Mix in the cooked oats, using your hand to mix them in well. Add only as much almond milk as needed to create a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead for a minute or two make sure all the flour is absorbed and the dough is smooth and soft. Flour it on top and keep well covered in a covered bowl or in plastic wrap.
Preheat the oven the 375F with a rack on the middle shelf.
Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit a large rimless baking sheet. Cut the dough in half, keeping the one in reserve well covered. Lightly flour the parchment paper. The dough must not be sticky to avoid sticking and to not gum up the rolling pins. If needed, knead in a little more flour before rolling.
Roll the first piece of dough out directly on the floured parchment to between 1/16 and 1/8 inch in thickness. As you begin, roll the dough, dust it with flour, flip it over, continue rolling, and repeat. Sprinkle more flour if the dough sticks in any areas. Feel it with your hand over the surface to gauge whenever it is uniformly thin. For your final pass, roll it firmly with a kruskavel or a docker. If you lack those, prick it all over with the tines of a fork.
Use a pizza wheel or blunt butter knife to slice the dough into strips anywhere from 1 to 2 inches in width. Then cut them to the length(s) you would like for your crisps. Using a pastry brush, remove the surface flour from the raw crisps and the parchment. To facilitate crisping, carefully separate each crisp from its neighbor by at least ¼ inch. If your baking tray is sufficiently large, repeat the rolling and cutting with the remaining dough. If not, prepare them on another parchment-lined tray and bake them simultaneously on another oven rack if need be, or pop them in after the first batch is removed.
Bake for 20 minutes but check at 15. The crisps are done when they are lightly golden with slightly darker edges. Transfer to a cooling rack. Enjoy warm or at room temp. Store any leftover crisps in an airtight container. If over time they lose some crispness from absorbing ambient humidity, simply reheat in a 250F oven for 5 minutes to crisp them up again.
