Parmesan & Thyme Crackers

It's 7:10am on a Saturday. Ew. Omar decided at 5:30 this morning that jumping on my head and biting my cheek every 26 seconds was not only a productive start to his day, but something I would thoroughly enjoy. So here I am, coffee in hand, blogging at 7:00am on a Saturday.

I decided to give Ina another chance. These home-made crackers were just too pretty not to make. They turned out ok. I have learned to read the comments posted about Ina Garten's recipes because so far every recipe has needed a tweak or two. It's not that the recipes are bad, or wrong. It's just that the instructions miss important little tips that end up ruining what you are trying to make.

This recipe called for 1 stick of unsalted butter, creamed with a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. It probably should state that the butter absolutely needs to be room temperature. And I probably should have read through the recipe more carefully and realized that the butter is the only liquid in the dough, so of course it would need to be close to liquidy.

 I also need to realize that my hand mixer with it's regular beater attachments is absolutely not the same thing as a stand mixer (The KitchenAid Stand Mixer Fund is now at $15.00!! Keep clicking!!).

I was left with this dry, course meal that wouldn't hold together. So I added milk, et voilà, dough! It was super fun to roll and slice though I probably should have read the instruction better (this is becoming a pattern) and realized that the dough was too short and thick.

So, they turned out. They were a bit big, a bit thick (err on the side of thin), and a bit rich, but they are good. And they certainly make for an impressive hors d'œuvre (who makes there own crackers? seriously?). Alright Ina, I'll admit that we are both at fault.

Now there's a certain, troublesome little kitten I have to wake up.

Parmesan & Thyme Crackers
by Ina Garten, from The Food Network

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 ounces grated Parmesan
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix until creamy. Add the Parmesan, flour, salt, thyme and pepper and combine.

Dump the dough on a lightly floured board and roll into a 13-inch long log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes to harden.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the log crosswise into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices. Place the slices on a sheet pan and bake for 22 minutes.