In case you need a kitchen project during this holiday week, why not make some homemade crackers?  Think of them as small, savory shortbread cookies; they’re perfect for serving turkey salad, leftover cheese or dips, or anything else spready in texture that you’ve constructed out of Thanksgiving leftovers.  A tiny bit of garlic powder gives the crackers a gentle zing, though the dough would adapt nicely to black pepper, cayenne, or other finely ground, dried spices.

This is another recipe from Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day. I was a bit suspicious, initially:  the butter & liquid content seemed too high to make a roll-out dough and avoid major sticking-to-the-counter problems.  Of course, I was wrong, and the whole recipe worked beautifully.

Buttery crackers

• 1-1/4 cups  all purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 T sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 10 T melted unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 6 T cold milk (or buttermilk)
• egg wash
• fine sea salt

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Place all ingredients except the egg wash & fine sea salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix with the paddle attachment for 1-2 minutes, until the dough is cohesive and well-blended.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll to 1/8 inch thick (flour as you roll, and turn the dough over once or twice to roll on the opposite side).  Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork, then cut out 2 to 3 inch circles with a floured biscuit cutter.  Transfer the cutouts to cookie sheets lined with parchment, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart.  Bake crackers for 16 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom after 8 minutes.  Cool directly on the pans.  If crackers aren’t sufficiently crisp, return to a hot oven for 5 minutes.