Savory Homemade Ritz Crackers

Yields about 50 crackers

Total Time2

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: crackers

Servings: 8

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour (130 grams)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons cold butter cut into small chunks (42 grams)
1 tablespoon olive oil
⅓ cup ice cold water (83 ml)
¼ cup melted butter (57 grams)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1 ½ teaspoons brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons Italian herb seasoning
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Pulse flour, salt, baking powder, and butter in a food processor until combined or mix by hand using a pastry cutter. Add olive oil and water and mix until a dough forms. Shape into a round disc about 1-inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour or until firm.
Lightly dust a clean work counter with flour and roll out dough until it's 1/16-inch thick. Cut out 2-inch round circles and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Reroll dough and repeat until all of the dough is used.
Use the flat bottom of a toothpick to prick 5 dots in the center of each cracker. Bake crackers for 6 minutes. Flip crackers over and bake for another 2-3 minutes or until puffed and light golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
Combine melted butter with Worcestershire, brown sugar, Italian herb seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Pour seasoning mix over crackers, tossing to thoroughly coat each cracker. Spread crackers on baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown, flipping them over halfway. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Notes

If your kitchen is particularly warm, chill the dough after rolling it out, freezing it for 10 minutes or until firm. This will make it easier when cutting out the crackers. After using the biscuit cutter to cut out the crackers, you can chill the dough again before removing the excess dough.

The crackers can be made the day before and finished the following day with the spices.

Keep an eye on the crackers because they can quickly go from light golden brown to dark brown during the first bake. Depending on your oven, they can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Make cracker dough

To make the cracker dough, all you need is flour, salt, baking powder, butter, olive oil, and water. Combine the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined.

If you don't have a food processor, you can also use a pastry cutter or your hands.

Add the olive oil and ice-cold water and pulse until a rough dough forms. Make sure not to overmix the dough, or the crackers can get tough. You want to mix just until combined. Remove the dough from the food processor and shape the dough into a round disc about 1 inch thick.

The dough will be fairly soft, so we want to chill it in the fridge for at least one hour or overnight.

Step 2: Shape the crackers

When the dough feels firm, remove it from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly dusted counter until it's 1/16-inch thick.

The crackers will puff up in the oven, so it's best to roll the dough about 1/16-inch thick or slightly thinner. If it's too thick, they'll taste more like biscuits than crackers. However, if you roll the dough too thin, it will be much harder to cut out the crackers and keep their shape.

To get that Ritz cracker look, use a fluted biscuit cutter to cut 2-inch circles. When my kitchen was warm, I struggled a bit removing the crackers from the excess dough. However, I did discover that chilling the dough in between steps helped significantly.

If your kitchen is warm when making these crackers, roll out the dough and pop it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Then, cut out the shapes using the biscuit cutter and remove the excess dough.

If the dough becomes too soft during this process, go ahead and pop it back in the freezer for another 10 minutes.

Place the crackers on a lined baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough. A bench scraper comes in handy for carefully lifting the crackers from the counter and laying them on the baking sheet.

To complete the Ritz cracker, use the bottom of a toothpick to poke 5 holes in the center. Then, bake the crackers at 425 degrees F for 6 minutes. Flip the crackers over and bake for another 2-3 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

We're going to bake the crackers for a second time, so we don't want them to get too dark.

Step 3: Bake for a second time

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F and make the savory buttery mix. Combine melted butter with Worcestershire, brown sugar, and all the spices. Then, pour the mixture over the cooled crackers. Gently toss to evenly coat every single Ritz cracker.

Spread them in an even layer and bake for a second time for 15-18 minutes or until beautifully browned, flipping them over halfway through.

Remove the savory homemade Ritz crackers from the oven and let them cool completely before devouring.

I'll admit that homemade crackers never taste exactly the same as store-bought ones. But that doesn't mean these aren't delicious! They're wonderfully buttery, just like Ritz crackers, and the seasoned coating makes them extra tasty. Wish me luck trying to restrain myself from eating the entire lot.

Make-ahead and storage

Make-ahead: The crackers can be made the day before and finished the following day with the spices.
Store: Store the homemade Ritz crackers in an airtight container in a dry, cool place, and they should last for 1 week.

Frequently asked questions

Why did my crackers come out slightly dry?

This can result from a couple of reasons. One, the dough was overmixed. Using a food processor can be a bit tricky because it's easy to overmix the dough. Next time, try mixing it by hand. Second, there was too much flour when rolling out the dough. Since the dough is soft, it can be tempting to heavily dust the work counter. However, instead, I advise you to place the dough in between two sheets of wax paper and roll it out until it's 1/16-inch thick. Even if the crackers taste slightly dry after the first bake, they should become tender after the second bake.

Can I change the seasonings for the crackers?

Absolutely, have fun with it! There are so many different options. Use an everything spice blend, ranch seasoning, or a spicy fajita blend.