Black sesame seed crackers recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups (260 g) flour of your choice, or a combination of 2–3 different kinds, if you like, chilled (yes, chilled!)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup (140 g) non-hydrogenated margarine, chilled
• 1 tablespoon brown rice syrup
• ¼ cup (50 ml) ice-cold plain soy milk or water, or as needed

• black sesame seeds (or other seeds like sesame, caraway or cumin, or dried herbs such as oregano or basil etc.)
• coarse sea salt
• pastry wheel or cookie cutters

1. Put the flour, salt and baking powder in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the margarine and pulse 6–8 times until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the syrup and pulse again. Gradually add the ice-cold milk or water one tablespoon at a time, pulsing until the mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready. If the dough doesn’t hold together, add a tiny bit more liquid and pulse again.
2. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Knead it just enough to form a ball. Shape it into a disc, wrap it in clingfilm/plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 5–10 minutes before rolling it out.
3. Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F) Gas 4.
4. Place the dough on a sheet of lightly floured baking parchment and roll it out until 1 mm/1/32 inch thick. Use a pastry wheel to cut it into sticks, or stamp out shapes with a cookie cutter. Space the crackers out evenly and slide the baking paper onto a baking sheet.
5. For the topping, lightly brush each cracker with water and sprinkle the black sesame seeds over the top. Salt lightly.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until the dough puffs up a little and turns golden. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.