Smoky Chili Crackers

I was browsing through my King Arthur flour cookbook for something to make and came across these crackers. From start to finish these took about 30 minutes, so they are very quick and easy to make. The only change I made to the original recipe was to use butter instead of shortening.



The tomato paste turned these crackers a nice hue of orange, they almost look like cheese crackers. I bet some grated cheese would be a great addition to these. At first bite you can't really taste the spices in these crackers, they are more of an aftertaste. I think next time I would add a little more Tabasco and possibly some chili powder. These crackers would go great with a nice big bowl of chili or even some taco soup.


Smoky Chili Crackers
Source: The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion, The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook

-makes 6 dozen crackers -

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 3/8 ounces) yellow or white cornmeal
2 tablespoons tomato powder, or 1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder, or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/4 cup (1 5/8 ounces) shortening (I used butter)
Scant 1/2 cup (3 3/4 ounces) water

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, tomato powder (if you are using tomato paste do not add it just yet), dry milk, cumin, baking soda, salt, sugar, and chipotle powder or Tabasco sauce. Cut in the shortening (and tomato paste, if you are using it), then add enough water to make a workable dough Gather the dough into a ball and divide it into two pieces.

Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut it into 1 1/2" squares and bake the crackers for 20 minutes. Remove them from the oven and cool on the pan. Store in an airtight container.