Carrageenan Free Classic Saltine Crackers
Crackers seem like the simplest thing in the world until you start reading the ingredient panels on store-bought boxes and realize how many additives sneak in — including carrageenan, which shows up in some commercial dairy and shortening blends. Making them from scratch with just flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cold fat, and water puts you completely in control of what goes into every bite. The technique here is all about rolling the dough as thin as humanly possible, nearly translucent, so the crackers bake up with that satisfying, papery snap you expect from a classic saltine. Docking each square all the way through to the parchment is the move that keeps them flat and gives them their signature dotted look. A light brush of melted butter and a scatter of flaky sea salt before they hit the oven adds just enough richness and crunch on top. They come out of the oven pale golden at the edges and firm up even more as they cool on the rack, so resist the urge to judge them too early. Pile them next to soup, load them with cheese, or eat them straight off the rack — they are genuinely better than anything in a sleeve.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp fine salt
- ½ tsp granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp vegetable shortening or unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
- ½ cup cold water
For brushing
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
For topping
- ½ tsp flaky sea salt or coarse salt
Instructions
- 1
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, fine salt, and sugar until evenly combined.
- 2
Add the cold shortening (or butter pieces) to the flour mixture and work it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse, slightly sandy crumbs with no large pieces remaining.
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