Do you remember seeing those artisan sesame crackers sold in clear containers at your local grocery store? They are shaped like long wedges or triangles, have sesame seeds on top and look so appetizing. I love them, but at $3.99 a box which contains 10-12 crackers they may as well be made of gold. This recipe will make sesame crackers that are very similar, but much fresher and better tasting.
I tried, and tried, and tried, but they never tasted like those store-bought ones. Not that store-bought is anything most of us would admire, but these particular sesame crackers are awesome. They are thin and have a dense, crispy but not crumbly texture. I tried a large number of recipes I could find online and in recipe books, did some experimentation of my own and finally gave up without much success.
The long sought-after sesame cracker recipe
Then, recently, I was looking for some information in The Professional Pastry Chef book when a recipe called ‘Sesame Crackers’ caught my attention. I read through the description, looked over the ingredient list and it struck me that it may be it, the sesame cracker recipe I had been so desperately trying to find. These were yeasted crackers, yet dense. Ah! I think that must be the secret to the taste I was looking for.
This recipe was given to the author of the book by a baker at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. When he first saw these crackers at dinner, the author of the book was impressed by how precise and evenly they were rolled out. He later found out that the cracker dough is rolled out on a sheeter.
Naturally, a sheeter at home is an overkill, so we must find another way. A pasta roller is a perfect substitute. You can try rolling out the dough by hand, but I’ve never been successful at achieving even thickness, which resulted in uneven baking. Not to mention that it’s quite a laborious task to roll them out by hand.
I had been using a hand pasta roller for years, until I recently took the plunge and bought a pasta roller attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer as a Christmas present to myself. What a difference a motor and a much higher clearance above the table makes! This presented me with a perfect opportunity to try out the new sesame cracker recipe.
The results and some tips
So, the crackers turned out absolutely terrific. A little less sweet than I like. I will double the amount of honey the next time I make them (reflected in the recipe below). How did they compare to store-bought? Pretty close, but better tasting for sure. The freshness makes a huge difference. You will never have that with the store-bought sesame crackers.
The whole sesame cracker making process turned out to be stupidly easy and the recipe hard to mess up. The only thing that puzzled me was how was setting on my pasta roller attachment to use for the final thickness. The author suggests rolling the dough out to 2 mm thick, which corresponds to #1 setting on the roller. That’s way too thick.
I tried rolling out all the way to #7. #7 started crushing sesame seeds. #6 gave me the thinnest dough, without tearing or crushing sesame seeds. #6 setting on this roller corresponds to about 1/3 mm. I loved the thickness on this setting. The crackers come out about as thick as a corn chip. It’s a little thinner than the store-bought but that’s how I like them.
The downside of rolling the dough thinner is, naturally, you get to do a l-o-o-o-o-o-t of rolling, and a l-o-o-o-o-o-t of baking. The bright side is that you will end up with a l-o-o-o-o-o-t of crackers. If I were to buy an equivalent amount at the local store I would go broke.
The thickness will also determine how long the crackers need to bake. Rolled out to #6, it takes about 14-15 minutes at 375F to get nice golden brown color. About 13 minutes at #7, and about 20 minutes at #5.
I cut the original recipe in half as the output was too high, about 100 very large crackers at #6 roller thickness and lots of batches of baking. You may even want to cut the batch size further in half.
If you like these crackers, you will love my crispy, crunchy Oat Flour Cookies. Give them a try!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (7 g; see notes)
- 1 3/4 cups warm water (420 ml, 105° to 115°F)
- 1 Tbsp diastatic malt or honey (15 ml)
- 1/2 oz kosher salt (15 g)
- 2 ½ Tbsp Asian sesame oil (40 ml)
- 6 oz whole wheat flour (170 g)
- 20 oz bread flour (568 g)
- 1/2 lb sesame seeds (228 g; a mixture of black and white)
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, dissolve the yeast and the honey in the warm water. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, until the yeast activates and a foam cap forms.
- Mix in the salt and the sesame oil. Using the dough hook attachment, incorporate the whole wheat flour and all but a handful of the bread flour. Knead until a smooth, elastic dough develops. Keep adding more flour if necessary. Incorporate the sesame seeds. Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover and place in a warm place for 1 hour to proof.
- Cut the dough into 4-6 pieces. Flatten each piece with your hands or a roller to about ¼ - inch thick. Cover the dough pieces with a piece of plastic wrap and let relax for 15 minutes. Roll each piece out to #6 setting on the KitchenAid pasta roller attachment, which is about 1/64 inch or about 0.5 mm thick (see notes).
- Lay the rolled out dough on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut the dough sheets into crackers of the desired size and shape. Large triangles or wedges work particularly well. Bake immediately (do not let them rise, or the crackers will be thick instead of thin and crisp) at 375°F (190°C) until deep golden brown (see notes). Rolled out to #6 they need 14-15 minutes of baking.
- Store in airtight containers.
GB says
Can I reverse the amounts of the flour types?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
I haven't tried but it should work. Let me know how they turn out.
Lena says
How long can they be stored in an airtight container?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
A few weeks easily and up to a couple of months. Ours usually don't even last that long. I make a batch of baba ghanoush and they are gone in a few days 🙂
Lucy says
Do you think it would work sourdough starter instead of the yeast?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Don't know, I've never tested this recipe with a sourdough starter.
jordan says
Really enjoyed these crackers. Fantastic. Thank you!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
You are welcome. Enjoy!
Emmanuel says
Wow
Looks like brilliant recipe...thabk you so much
I wonder if u can give up on the yeast?
What's the purpose of them if we want to achieve flat crackers?
Thanks again❤️
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
You are very welcome. I totally get your questions and wondered myself at some point. It turns out that leavening is very important for crackers as it helps with expanding dough, developing browning color and flavor, and affecting the cell size, shape and uniformity of the cracker grain. It's not going to be the same without yest. Happy baking!
Katarina says
Hotove krekry vyzeraju vynikajuco,ale recept sa mi zda zlozity a dlhy,ale viem si predstavit ich chut aj z foto a predsa ich skusim,a to koliesko na krajanie pizze som doposial nepovazovala za potrebne,ale chcem ho na pokrajanie prave tychto krasnych krekrov...dakujem
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Good lukck and happy baking!
Derek says
Great recipe! Thank you very much! I ended up rolling on settings 1, 2, 4, 6. With the rolled dough on the parchment paper, on the counter, I found that using a pizza cutter wheel to score/cut the dough worked well. Then slide the pan/sheet under the paper. During baking the crackers will separate themselves or easily break on the score lines. My first batch I over browned and the sesame flavor was very muted. Thereafter I baked to just starting to tan and the sesame flavor really came forth nicely. With the dough on the paper, I ground rosemary salt on the top. The salt adhered nicely during baking providing a nice texture and sparkle. I'm really looking forward to trying other seasonings/variations now that I have a good process established. Thank you again!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Glad to hear it, Derek. One of my favorite 'dessert' toppings is turbinado sugar. Delicous. Agree on the scoring with a pizza cutter, it makes breaking much cleaner and easier. Enjoy!
Deb says
These are very yummy crackers and everyone asks for the recipe. I make them at least once a month. Thank you for sharing!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
You are welcome! Enjoy!
Barbara says
Thank you very much for this recipe, i'ii try it because i like sesame oil end seesds.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Enjoy!
Chantel says
This recipe looks great. Can I replace bread flour with all purpose flour?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Yes, you can, it will work fine.
Kathy Maultsby says
I haven't made these yet, but this is exactly the right recipe for me to try out using the pasta roller attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer. I bought it (the attachment) at the beginning of the pandemic and have yet to use it. I love your explanation of the development of the recipe. It makes me feel very confident that I can make these and have them come out looking and tasting great.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Kathy, I am sure you will like these crackers, I am a huge fan of them. We've made numerous batches and they go very fast every time. One of my favorite variations is using a copycat of Trader Joe's “Everything but the Bagel” seasoning mix. I don't like the original mix as it has so much salt in it that the crackers become inedible for me. My mix has everything except the salt and it works great. Happy baking!
Nimrod Tzori says
Excellent. Just Excellent
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Thanks for the feedback. Enjoy!
Karla says
Provati ! Meravigliosi con le salse e anche mangiati da soli .grazie per aver condiviso la ricetta.
Peggy says
Hi! Wanting to make these and wondering if there is a substitution for the sesame oil? Would olive oil work? Thank you
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Peggy, sesame oil here is flavoring so, yes, other oils like olive will work too but won't give you that sesame flavor.
Lyla says
It's great
Jeannette says
Thanks, excelent recipe!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
You are very welcome, enjoy!
Kathy says
I have not made this recipe yet, but wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your detailed comments about what worked and what didn't! Your writing style is great. I bought a pasta roller for my Kitchenaid mixer at the beginning of the pandemic. Still haven't used it, but as soon as the weather here is cool enough to do a lot of baking, I will be trying them. Thanks again!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Thank you for the kind words, Kathy. Happy baking!
jana says
Sesame crackers: wow, it looks amazing. and it must taste divine!
wish to make a keto / low carb version of them...
Kathy says
I make these about every three months and we love to have a Friday martini on the back deck with your delicious sesame crackers and a little bowl of tuna fish salad to scoop on to the crackers! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
You are so very welcome. Enjoy!
Beth says
I want to try Everything bagel seasoning mix.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Beth, I have to caution you that the everything bagel mix is quite salty, at least I find it quite salty so I've been making my own, it's very easy to do and you can control the amount of salt.
María Elena says
Me gustó, la receta especial para diabéticos me gustaría otras recetas para tener alternativa.
Gerald N says
Turned out great! Excellent recipe!
Tried a few things. Plain was good, butt needed a bit of "something". Tried adding parmesan to the flour and it was too salty. Tried just a little bit of Italian Dressing mix, had enough salt/sugar without being overpowering.
Also added a bit more sesame oil as I love that taste.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Happy to hear that, Gerald. Happy baking! My daughter made a batch with turbinado sugar sprinkled on top, and another with turbinado foldedn in.. both turned out really good, I loved it me having a sweet tooth.
janice says
When you say 86 calories for large pieces, what do you call large pieces? Do you know about how many grams make up the 86 calories. I have made threes times cause the family loves them. Thanks
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Janice, it's kind of hard to say exactly. One time I made a batch and counted about 50 crackers hence the calculation was based on that. If you want to sure, multiply the calories by 50, this is your whole batch. When you make your next batch, see how many crackers you get the way you cut them, then divide the total calories by the number of your crackers. Hope this helps. Happy baking!
Cari Bustillos says
Appreciate the recommendation. Will try it out.|
Faith says
Okay, had to come leave a review!!! My husband is a Ackmack Cracker Princess!!!! Literally I spend $$$$ on those EVERY WEEK(he onlyyyyyy likes those)! But we moved. So now not only $$$ but I have to drive an hour to get them! They’ve been out for two weeks now. So I finallyyyyy came looking for a recipe!!! I had looked for others but never thought I’d find anything as good!!!
The pic sold me.
Until today!
WOWWWWWW!!! Just pulled them out of the oven! For my first try I am thrilled to death! I’m going to try what another reviewer said about pulling out a frozen hunk, cause that will save my life!!!!
Thank you soooooo much for posting this!!! I’m so totally super impressed!!! I’ve made artisan bread for years! So this really to me is amazing!!! So simple too! Thank you, thank you!!! I can’t wait for him to come home and try them!!!!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
So happy to read about your success Faith. You are very welcome. Happy New Year!
Melinda says
Are you using regular sesame oil as opposed to toasted sesame oil?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
On the bottle it says pure sesame oil, it doesn't say toasted or anything like that. But it does smell like its toasted though. Very nice smell.
Hugh says
I've been really enjoying this recipe. Due to the large quantity that it makes, I've been making the dough, minus the seeds and freezing it, so I can pull out a blob, thaw it, add seeds and bake a batch in short order.
I've tried poppy seeds, sesame, and nigella. The latter tastes great, but it's a bit hard to get through without the roller crushing it, and the dough tearing.
I found cutting on the bench and then transferring individual crackers to baking paper hard, as the dough is quite sticky. Putting the rolled dough straight onto the paper, cutting it and then baking it is much easier. The crackers can be separated when it comes out of the oven.
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Glad you like the recipe, Hugh. Thanks for the tips.
Cam says
Love the recipe! Would just appreciate if the recipes could also be written in cups as it is hard to find exact conversions of for grams and oz 🙂
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Cups are imprecise and in some recipes variations lead to poor results. I suggest buying an inexpensive kitchen scale - one of the best investments I've ever made.
GUSTAVO says
Very good recipe!
Since I don't have a kneading machine, I use 2 sheets of plastic film and a kneading roll to extend the dough. Then blow the sheets directly onto the parchment paper, without using a baking dish. That way they settle faster.
Thanks for shared this!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
You are very welcome, Gustavo. Happy baking!
Sarah says
My black sesame seeds must've been chunky, because going down from 5 to 6 crushed them. I stuck with 5 for the other pieces of dough and my crackers turned out crisp, aromatic, and delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
You are very welcome, Sarah. Thanks for your feedback.
Barbara Anderson-Jones says
If the end result is thin and crispy then why add the yeast?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Enzymes in the yeast cause starch molecules in flour to break down into simple sugars, which are consumed by yeast, which flavors the dough. I think the leavening part, though not apparent, also plays a role in texture formation. Thin and crispy vs thin and dense/rock hard?
Sue says
These crackers are amazing and as you say - really easy to make. I used only half the amount of sesame seeds and topped the rolled out dough with “Everything but the Bagel” topping from Trader Joe’s. They are a hit served with hummus, guacamole, or salsa!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Thanks for the feedback, Sue. Great idea to use 'Everything but the bagel' seasoning. We love it! I have 2 jars sitting in my kitchen cupboard.;)
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Hi Sue,
My 10-year-old, Emily, made these for us last night with ‘Everything but the bagel’ seasoning. Wow! Those dried garlic and onion flakes in the seasoning made the crackers even better. These things have become dangerously addictive 😉 The only thing is the seasoning is quite salty so you have to go very light on it. We are looking to copycat it but without the salt, which would be added separately. Again, thanks for the great tip!!!!!
>
Arelys says
Harina de pan?
Alannah says
How long do these last for?
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Since these are dry, the will last 2-3 weeks or even longer. Keep in a tightly closed container so that they stay dry.
Bea says
Can I ask you a question about the diastatic malt powder? I have both that and honey. Which should I use and what does the diastatic powder do? I use it in my croissants but nothing else. I would love to know more about it before I make these. Thanks so much!
Victor @ Taste of Artisan says
Bea,
Diastatic malt contains the enzyme diastase, which converts starch into sugar. This sugar provides food for the yeast, helping the bread rise and it also adds
to the flavor of the finished product and improves browning.
Diastatic malt is perfect for baked product with very short fermentation periods, like these sesame crackers. It's typically not used in products with a long fermentation period as too much of the starch will be broken down.
Annie says
oh gee sounds so yummy but 86 cal a cracker......leaves me out
Victor says
A very big cracker;-) break them in small pieces and you will have a lot fewer calories per cracker;)
Marie says
oops, forgot to rate the recipe. 5 stars for sure!
Marie says
Made these today--delicious! I couldn't quite incorporate ALL the sesame seeds, but looked the same as yours. Planning to incorporate some additional spices next time as others have mentioned. Definitely a great base recipe!
Victor says
Good to heart that, Marie. Thank you for your feedback.
Mitch says
86 cal per serving . How many crackers are a serving ? .... based on the size crackers shown in the picture ?
Victor says
Yes, the yield is about 50 large crackers shown on the picture. The calories are calculated as the 1/50th of all the ingredients.
Mitch says
86 cal per serving you don’t say how much is serving . How many crackers are a serving ?
Ellynn says
Can i deep fry this cracker instead of baking in the oven? Im glad if you can help me in this one.
Victor says
I have never tried deep-frying this or any other cracker dough so I am afraid I can't offer much help. If I were to do it though, I would heat enough oil in large cast iron pan then fry one side at a time, until deep golden brown. I think that should work. In a deep fryer, you can fully immerse them for quicker frying, if you have one.
Penny says
Yummy yummy crackers. The type I was looking for. Nice and crispy, the way I like them. Next time I make them I will use less sesame seeds and add flax seeds, dried onion flakes and caraway seeds. I used my bread machine as another reviewer used. Excellent.
Shelley says
You call for whole wheat flour and bread flour can you define what you mean?
Victor says
The word "whole" refers to the fact that all of the grain (bran, germ, and endosperm) is used and nothing is lost in the process of making the flour. This is in contrast to white, refined flours, which contain only the endosperm. Because the whole flour contains the remains of all of the grain, it has a textured, brownish appearance. Bread flour is the type of flour that has a higher protein content, usually 12%+. Can be white or whole wheat. I use white.
Theresa Byrne says
I tried this recipe tonight and the crackers turned out really great. I took a bit of a short cut and put all the ingredients in my bread maker on the dough cycle and then rolled them out with my pasta machine. Thank you for the clear instructions. I will be making lots more of these.
Victor says
Glad you liked this recipe as much as I do, Theresa. If you like thin, crispy crackers this recipe is gold. They are ridiculously tasty and so inexpensive to make at home.
Gina says
Oh my! The crackers turned out great.. Took a bit of time to bake them but it was well worth it. These crackers were the best I'd ever tried. Will try with dried cranberries next time. Rolling the dough out with a pasta roller (I use the same one as you do) was a cake walk.
Victor says
Glad to hear that, Gina. I'd been looking for a very long time to find a recipe like this one.