Spicy or mild or both – these crackers are great with your favorite dip and a nice glass of mulled white wine or apple cider. An alternative twist to sweet holiday baking.

Inspired by Adam Ried – The Boston Globen – Nov. 2010

Ingredients:

Makes about 5 dozen

• 100 grams / ¾ cup of finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 100 grams / ¾ cup of mature alpine cheese or gruyere
• 220 grams / 1 ¾ cups of flour
• 3 TBSP chopped fresh sage leaves, alternatively 1 TBSP of very finely chopped rosemary
• 85 grams / 6 TBSP unsalted butter (I use lactose-free), cut into pieces
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 80 ml / 1/3 cup of milk (I use lactose-free milk)
• 3 slices of pickled jalapeno peppers finely chopped – optional, only for spicy
• 1 tsp red pepper berries – optional, only for spicy
• 1 tsp chili flakes – optional, only for spicy
• 1 tsp caraway seeds – optional, only if you like them

Putting it all together:

• Pulse the flour, fresh ground black pepper and chopped sage in a food processor.
• Add the butter pieces and pulse to chop and mix the butter until the mixture is like sand.
• Now add the cheeses and pulse until just combined.
• Add the milk with the motor running pouring it through the tube into the dough. Process as briefly as possible so as not to over-process.
• Cut 2 slices of wax paper of about 30 cm / 12 inches of length and lay them on the counter.
• Scoop half of the dough onto the wax paper and squeeze it into a log of about 15 cm. / 6 in. length and 5 cm. / 2 in. width. Wrap in the wax paper and place in the fridge to harden for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
• If you would like to make spicy crackers, add the finely chopped jalapeno slices and ½ tsp of crush red pepper berries. Now form a log in the same way as with the first log, wrap it and also place it in the fridge.

Baking:

• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius / 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Cover 1-2 baking sheets (depending on the size of your oven) with baking parchment paper or a non-stick mat.
• Using one log of dough at a time and leaving the other one in the fridge, slice the log into approx. 0.5 cm / ¼ inch slices and place them on the baking sheet with enough space between the slices as they will expand while baking.
• Optional: decorate if desired by sprinkling some crackers with caraway seeds, red pepper berries or chili flakes.
• Bake in the oven for approx. 14 minutes rotating the baking sheets after 7 minutes. The crackers should be golden but no too dark.
• Remove from the oven and transfer the crackers to a wire rack to cool completely. These taste better when they are cold and crisp – so make them the day before.