Roben Ryberg - Cheese Crackers
Friday morning, the conference kicked off in full with a large breakfast buffet (I had a breakfast burrito on a teff wrap, and some fresh pineapple). One of the things we decided to do this year was include the vendors in the meals. So after you got your protein and fruit and such, you could wander through the vendors and get all sorts of yummy samples.
One of my favorites was Gluten Free Kneads. At breakfast, they had samples of their pizza crust with some ham and cheese (and maybe something else?) for a breakfast pizza, and had pizza available at lunch (and I know more than a few people who went to this table multiple times for the pizza).
I also made a few trips to see LynnRae Ries at the Gluten-Free Creations table. I may have gotten a little hopped-up on donuts… just a tad. 
I made it a point to not try anything I had already had before, because there was lots to try, and lots of good food from the hotel, and I was trying not to upset the baby. Plus, I had very little time with all my duties.
So… You’re waiting to hear more about these cheese crackers that I told you about last week, huh?
Roben spoke on Friday about Demystifying Gluten-Free Baking. She talked about the leavening properties of different flours, and postulated that perhaps we are often using too much flour in our gf baking.
What was I doing during Roben’s talk? Making cheese crackers, of course. (Pictures by Tara!)
One of the very few complaints that I have about the hotel was that they put my cracker dough in the freezer truck for GIG stuff instead of the refrigerator (noble - they didn’t want it to get lost). Unfortunately, that means I had to work very hard to get the dough rolled out. See that white toaster oven - that was my other problem. Roben had picked it up on her way down. While my red toaster oven (an Oster, in case you want to know) was cranking out the crackers in 9 minutes, Roben’s was barely cooking them in 20 (they never did crisp up). I think it was okay in the end, though. I heard lots of compliments about the crackers. (See the color of the dough? If you use a finely shredded cheese, “fancy”, then your dough will be more even colored. If you use a larger shred, “feather”, the you will have spots of cheese like in this picture.)
I also had the cutest helper, Kat, a nine year-old. She’s on the right in this picture.
Roben gave me permission to post the cheese cracker recipe. I hope you all enjoy it!!
From You Won’t Believe It’s Gluten-Free! by Roben Ryberg
Crackers, Cheese
- corn -
These poofy little crackers are rolled and cut. Miniature cookie cutters are available in cooking supply stores if you wish to mimic the tiny crackers loved by children.
Ingredients:
4 ounces cheddar cheese shredded
¼ cup softened butter
¾ cup cornstarch, 95 grams
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon milk
¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
Topping:
salt or other dried herbs or spices as desired (I love garlic salt on these!)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine all ingredients, except milk, in mixing bowl. Mix until mixture resembles a fine crumb. Add milk and beat well.
On lightly greased surface, pat or roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into ¾ inch squares or other small shape that you like. You can also cut into larger round or square cracker shapes if desired (just extend baking time). (You can use a pizza cutter to cut these out fast!)
Prick tops of crackers with fork and sprinkle lightly with salt or other dried herbs or spices as desired.
Bake until golden brown and crisp, approximately 10 minutes. Crackers will be light and crispy, although barely browning at the edges. The bottom of the cracker will have a bit more color.
Makes approximately 5 dozen small crackers.
