Traditionally my favorite thing to do for my birthday is to go out for a crab feast. When my parents still lived in Maryland I’d go over to their house, we’d cover the table in newspaper and dump the crabs, corn, and French fries on the table and go to town. Pair that with a cold beer and it was perfect summer evening celebration.
And, I’m sure I could’ve figured out a way to do that here in London. I’m sure I could have found a place that sells crabs. Or I could have found a fish monger to sell me crabs and I could’ve made them at home. But I didn’t do any of that, instead I decided to try to pack the flavors of a crab feast into one bite. One delicious bite of a cracker.
I got the idea a few weeks ago when I was shopping with my friend Sarah at Waitrose. Sometimes on Wednesdays she and I go to Waitrose so she can buy a sandwich before dance class and so I can buy ingredients for dinner. The thing is, Waitrose has such beautiful displays, foods and packaging that sometimes we wander around just looking at all the pretty stuff on offer. So she was looking at coffee and I was looking at crackers when I saw a box called Miller’s Ale Beer Crackers. Needless to say, I bought it.
But, the box got my creative juices flowing. A beer cracker? What would be good with that… cheese, Old Bay, crab… everything I love in one delicious bite. Yes. This cracker recipe doesn’t actually include any crab, but I think that’s ok – in fact maybe even preferred. I prefer it that way because you can use these crackers with crab dip. And really that’s the best option, because crackers either need to be topped with cheese or dipped in something. Also, crab dip is the best.
However, I did shape some of the dough like crabs using a tiny crab shaped cookie cutter I bought on Etsy. They look like a tiny crab army on the baking sheet and the finished product made both Ryan and me chuckle. For me personally, the crab shape is even more perfect because sometimes my birthday’s star sign is a Cancer (sometimes it’s a Gemini – it’s on the cusp) and crabs are the Cancer symbol. I also made some circles since those were better for topping with slices of cheese. Any shape you use they will hold their shape, but the dough will puff up a bit.
Adapted from Evil Shenanigans
Messy level: A really simple recipe because you only need one bowl for the preparation. It’s only messy when you roll it out because your counter will get floured and a bit sticky.
- 8 tablespoons/113 grams butter
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ tablespoon Old Bay
- 1 cup finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese (use small holes on a box grater)
- 3 tablespoons cold beer, plus more if needed (I used Sam Adams Boston Lager)
- Take the butter out of the fridge and cut it into cubes. Put the butter in a bowl and pop it back in the refrigerator. Leave it there until you're ready to use it. [Note: You want the butter cold, if you cut it right before using it your hands will have warmed it up]
- In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, and Old Bay.
- Add the shredded cheese to the flour mixture. Mix until the cheese is well coated
- Add the cubed butter to the mixture. Using two knives (or a pastry blender) to cut the butter into the flour. Cut the butter up until the mix sand.
- Pour in the 3 tablespoons of beer. Use your hands to mix everything together until you have a ball of dough and no dry flour bits remain. If it seems too dry add more beer just a teaspoon at a time.
- Once you have a smooth ball of dough flatten it into a rectangle. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or up to overnight.
- When you're ready to bake, take the dough out of the fridge about 10 minutes before to soften it a bit.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Lightly flour your work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is about an ⅛" thick.
- Using the cookie cutters of your choice cut out your crackers.
- Place the crackers about 1" apart on the prepared backing sheet. Poke each cracker with a fork at least once. If you can be decorative about it go ahead.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until puffed and the edges are just lightly darker than the rest of the cracker.
- Let cool then serve with slices of cheese or your favorite dip.
