Makes about 30 (3") crackers (serves 8 as a snack)
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup semolina flour
- ¼ cup finely-grated Parmesan cheese + extra for topping
- 1 tbsp whole fennel seeds
- 1½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into ½” cubes & chilled
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
Special Equipment
- stand mixer with paddle attachment
- plastic wrap
- rolling pin
- parchment paper
- baking sheet
- pizza cutter
- cheese grater
How-to
Mix & Chill Dough
- Combine flour, semolina, Parmesan, salt, pepper, fennel seeds and cubed butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until the mixture looks like coarse sand and there are no large chunks of butter left
- Pour in the buttermilk and mix on low until the dough forms a ball
- Scrape all the dough out and wrap the dough in plastic, pressing it into a flat rectangle about 1” thick. Chill the dough for at least 3 hours or overnight
Roll & Bake
- Preheat oven to 350º
- Work with ½ of the dough at a time, keeping the other ½ refrigerated to keep cold
- Liberally flour your work surface, and top of dough. Roll each half into a rectangle that is about ⅛" thick. Add more flour as needed to prevent sticking; try to keep dough rectangular shape of baking sheet as you roll
- Move the cracker dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet by rolling the dough over the rolling pin and unrolling it onto the pan
- Using a fork, dock the dough by pricking little holes all over. Using a pizza wheel or a knife, cut the dough into 3” squares. Grate Parmesan cheese on top
- Follow same procedure for the remaining refrigerated dough
- Bake crackers for 20-24 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking time for even browning. Let cool on pan. Crackers will store for up to 3 days in an airtight container
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