I was watching The Great British Baking Show recently and wondering why on earth do the American cooking competitions never have the “ordinary” items like they do on this show? It’s most fascinating to watch! The challenges are hard, but the items they have to produce are actually quite mundane. Such as crackers. Have you seen a Top Chef or Master Chef challenged with making their own crackers?

So, I decided I needed to try to make my own crackers. I also happened to have recently received a pound of rice flour from a friend who bought it, had not idea what to do with it, and decided I would probably be better off with it.

Hence today’s experiment! Cheddar Chia Crackers made with rice flour.

You’ll need to hover around the oven for this one, depending how thin you roll your dough, the crackers may take more or less time for each batch. You want them to be golden brown.

Makes approximately two dozen crackers. Picture shown served with fig jam.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 1/2 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbl chia seeds
• 1 cup water

Procedure:

1. Soak the chia seeds in the water for at least 15 minutes on the counter or up to 24 hours in the fridge.
2. Combine rice, cheese, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and lightly mix.
3. Add chia seeds and the water and mix with your hands to combine into a dough ball.
4. Place the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap, use a rolling pin to get a thin and even surface. Move dough to the fridge for 20 min.
5. Heat oven to 400 degrees and grease a baking sheet.
6. Cut dough with a cookie cutter…don’t be too creative on the design, something fairly symmetrical is best!
7. Place crackers on the baking sheet with a little space between and bake for 10-20 minutes depending on thickness.
8. Combine remaining dough, roll flat again, cut, bake, repeat till all the dough is used; chill as needed to keep dough firm.
9. Cool until room temperature before serving, store in an airtight container for up to one week.