Cracknells, Revisited

I was making Royal Frosting the other day, which requires egg whites and not the yolks.  I decided to take the opportunity to make cracknells again with those yolks.

To see the whole procedure, see the original post, "To make Cracknells".

This time I started with the yolks, 6 or 7, I hadn't quite remembered the amount.  This was about 1/2 of what I used to make cracknells the first time, so I chose to use 1/2 pound each of flour and sugar.

Considering the alternate recipes that used no yolks and all butter, I decided that was about right but if I needed to, I could put in more butter.

I also wanted to make a different flavor.  One of the alternate suggestions was caraway and rose water.  I LOVE caraway and I love rosewater, so why not both?

Here's the list:

1/2 lb flour
1/2 lb sugar
6 or 7 egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon rose water
1 teaspoon caraway seeds

glaze:
1 egg white and 1 tablespoon rose water, well mixed

Preheat the oven to warm, about 155 degrees F.

I mixed in the yolks and butter together into the mixed flour and sugar.  Then I mixed in the rose water and caraway seeds, and kneaded in enough extra flour to make the dough non-sticky.

The dough rolled out to about 1/4 inch depth on the floured silicone mat.  I cut the dough in rounds at about 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter.  That made a lot of them and they fit well in the pan.

I kept rolling the dough and cutting out shapes until I had used up all the dough.

Then I poked holes with a fork and brushed glaze well over each one.

They baked for four hours at that temperature; at the 2 hour mark I loosened them from the pan.  A few cracked but I pushed them together for the rest of the baking.

After the four hours, I turned off the oven and let them sit in the oven overnight.

The next day, I took them off the pans.

The Verdict

Oh my, yes, these are good!  The caraway was there but understated.  Slightly sweet and very crispy.  I could not taste the rose water at all.  And I was still glad I used a glaze.

Some were missing before I took the picture...

These things are addictive.  I want to just keep nibbling on them.  If any survive, I want to try them with cheese and wine as a dessert.  Just having one while drinking some wine was good!  Success again!

Try making them.  They are easy and tasty and different from a cracker and from a cookie.  A nice way to surprise your guests.