Beer and Onion Crackers

These wonderful, sweet yet complex crackers are the perfect base for all of your favorite savory toppings!


My husband and I just stumbled onto New Hampshire's newest craft brewery, Throwback Brewery in North Hampton, NH.

After sampling all a few of their many offerings we settled on the Hopstruck Red IPA and brought home the coolest growler I have ever seen!   This particular IPA has a lot of malty notes that I thought would lend itself perfectly to this cracker I had been envisioning.  



Beer Onion Crackers

Ingredients:

1 cup Onions, chopped
1 cup Beer ( any beer you choose will work but a Scottish Ale, IPA or Brown Ale will work the best)
1 Tb. Butter
2 cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tb Sugar
3 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp. Freshly ground Black Pepper
1/3 cup Oil

1. Saute the chopped onion in butter and 1 tsp. of salt over medium heat until onions start to pick up some color.

     2. Pour 1/2 cup of the beer into the onion mixture and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the beer is mostly gone. The mixture will cook down to about a 1/2 cup.



    3. In a larger size bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, pepper and baking powder.  Stir to combine

    4.  In a separate bowl combine the remaining  beer, oil and cooked onion mixture.  Stir to combine.

    5.  Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and combine with a fork until it forms a ball.  Mixture should be on the wet side but able to handle to kneed.  Kneed right in the bowl for five minutes.



6. Wrap the top of the bowl in plastic wrap and put into the fridge for 30 minutes.  This will help the flavors come out. 

7.  Divide ball into two and set oven to 375 degrees.

You have two options for shaping and baking. 

Option 1:

Flatten one ball and roll out onto a lightly floured surface into the thinnest rectangle you can roll without tearing.  May need to let sit at room temperature for a few minutes if it keeps bouncing back.

Transfer to a sheet pan that is lightly oiled or has a sheet of parchment on it.  (Think pie dough and fold in half, then in half again to get it to the sheet pan)


Then cut into cracker shapes and sprinkle lightly with salt.








Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crispy.

Option 2:  (The biscotti method)

Roll the divided blob into a log and put onto lightly greased or a parchment covered sheet pan and bake (still 375 degrees) for 25 minutes.



Let the log cool enough so that you can touch it, then slice thinly on the bias. 

Layout the slices back on the sheet pan and cook for 10 minutes.  Take out the pan, flip the crackers and cook for 5 more minutes.  



These are best if you let them cool completely before eating. After they are cool they store well in an air tight container. Boursin cheese makes an excellent partner to this rich complex cracker.