Plain Crackers

It would be wholly unfair to say that this recipes came exclusively from the Southern Living Annual, but to say it was inspired by it is completely true. On my first round of making crackers I learned that thinner is better. The thinner crackers had more crunch to them like a potato chip or Wheat Thin. The second thing I learned is that rolling the crackers evenly is important lest you wind up with burned edges like I did. And the third thing I learned is to watch the time and temperature of the oven. On my first batch I did not preheat the oven and kept the crackers in for twelve minutes with only the thin edges toasted. On the second batch I had a tray closer to the heating element and preheated the oven. I wound up with burned crackers. The last batch didn't taste quite as good.

Plain Salted Crackers

Inspired by the Fennel-Rye Crackers in Southern Living 1987 Annual Recipes, Pg 2
1-1/4 cup bread flour
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
1/3 cup butter
3ish tablespoons cold water

After rolling and cutting the dough, I brushed the dough with water and sprinkled canning salt on it. This really helped the salt to stick. I tried to salt the dough without brushing with water and to me it wasn't salty enough.

I changed up the original recipe a bit as I did not have all-purpose flour, rye flour, or dry mustard. I really hope to try the original SL recipe one day. I just need to add rye flour and fennel to my arsenal of baking supplies which apparently has gotten a little low.