Cheesy Polenta Crackers



I think if you asked a certain 2 1/2 year old what she would need to live on a desert island you might get something like this:
1. Dummy (aka pacifier)
2. Bottle
3. Fairy dancing dresses
4. Maisy the Mouse DVD
5. Crackers

I'm pretty certain she'd remember Mummy and Daddy eventually ...

Anyway, this is why we always always always have crackers of many varieties in the cupboard. But I do my best to buy the ones with simple ingredients, or I make them myself, because the thought of putting MSG or weird preservatives into my baby girl horrifies me.

A couple months ago, I made olive oil crackers - and I just want to add a note here ... we found some weeks and weeks after they'd been made, and they were still good! I'm not saying that's going to happen everytime, but I was pretty happy because my little angel was starving and you know what that does to a toddler's mood ...

This is another great cracker recipe, with a little more nutritive value than the previous lot. Polenta, wholemeal flour, cheese, milk ... sounds almost like dinner!

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Cheesy Polenta Crackers

makes about 18-24 + another lot of dough for another time


Ingredients
1 c plain unbleached flour
1 c polenta (cornmeal)
1/3 - 1/2 c wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c grated parmesan or pecorino
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
2/3 c milk
1/2 tsp vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 180C, 375F, pop your tray or pizza stone in if you've got it.

2. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the oil and milk and vinegar and mix with a fork until it starts to clump together.

3. Tip the dough out onto a floured benchtop and knead just for half a minute or so until the dough starts to get smoothish. Put the dough back in the bowl and cover with a towel. Let it rest for 10-15 min.

4. Divide the dough into 1/2 and stick 1/2 in an airtight baggie in the freezer. Trust me, you'll appreciate having crackers ready to make at a later date!

5. On a floured surface, roll out the dough thinly - the thinner the better for your crackers. Use a cookie cutter to cut out rounds (or other shapes, or whatever you'd like).

6. Put the crackers onto the pizza stone or tray and bake them for 10-15 min until they're golden brown and crispy. Remove, cool on a rack, and store in an airtight container.


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How much did this cost me?

I used all organic ingredients to make my batch ... the flour and polenta cost about $1.20. The cheese cost me about $3 and the olive oil was about $1.10. The milk was $0.50. So, all in all I estimate this double batch of yummy biscuits cost me around $6. Heaps cheaper than at the shop!

Enjoy!
Amanda xx 

Comments

  1. This is a little off topic but I have also become more and more concerned about all the yukky stuff in everyday food and cosmetics and I'd like to convert my family (a toddler and meat-loving husband) over to a more organic way of life and eating and I kinda don't know where to begin. How did you start? And what are your fridge & pantry staples for cooking/baking? Maybe this could be a separate post?

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  2. Hiya, Sounds like a great idea! I'll see what I can put together ... but in the meantime, you're totally on the right track just by starting to notice the yukky stuff. My hubbie's a carnivore too and I've converted him to more infrequent but better quality meat - organic is great. Hmmm... I'll think on this one!

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  3. these look great Amanda! I've made a few batches of the olive oil crackers now. I added some sea salt to them last night just to give a bit more flavour.

    i love that i could make these today just with stuff in the fridge and pantry. i'm going to give these a go next week. my son is an avid reader of maisy, he walks around the house saying 'mais, mais, mais'! he would live on crackers too!

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  4. Great recipe! I having really been enjoying polenta recently and you can't go wrong with crackers!

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  5. i just made these. taste great. so simple too.

    my son (who is very very fussy) has just eaten 5 :-)

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  6. I can't have anything with vinegar, could you substitute lemon juice for the vinegar in this polenta cracker recipe, or could you just leave the vinegar out completely? Do you know what the reason for the vinegar is?

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  7. @Anonymous Absolutely! The vinegar enhances the flavour by slightly souring the milk (think ... buttermilk-ish). So lemon juice would be fine! You could also leave it out. :)

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Thanks for commenting! Amandaxx