Barefoot Contessa's Parmesan Black Pepper Crackers -Ina Garten

Step 1

Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix until creamy. (**I think this is where personal preference and maybe even altitude will effect the outcome of these crackers. I started out with 1 stick of butter, then blended all the other ingredients together. The "dough" was too crumbly and looked like a struesel topping that you would put on top of muffins or a coffee cake. The one stick of butter is what Ina calls for in her recipe. I think this is a typo. I added another 1/2 stick of butter to the flour mixture, and then beat it with the paddle attachment on my mixer. This is when the "dough" balled up and looked right. So, I think this recipe needs between 1 stick and 1 1/2 sticks. You might even get by with 1 1/4 sticks.).

Step 2

Add the Parmesan, flour, salt, thyme and pepper and combine.

Step 3

Dump the dough on a lightly floured board and roll into a 13-inch long log.

Step 4

Wrap the log in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes to harden.

Step 5

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 6

Cut the log crosswise into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices.

Step 7

Place the slices on a sheet pan and bake for 22-25 minutes.

Step 8

**Cook time does not include freezing the dough for between 15-30 minutes (mine were hard enough to easily cut at 15 minutes).