Toasted Sesame Seed Crackers

These toasted sesame seed crackers are the perfect little savory appetizer treat. 

 

These little coin-shaped crackers are the perfect little nibble with a glass of champagne or sparkling cider. 

These sesame rounds are super buttery, tender, and crumbly, just like your favorite shortbread or, if you're French, sablé! The only thing wrong with these little crackers is that you won't be able to stop nibbling on them. 

I served these alongside some candied pecans for an appetizer course, and everyone devoured them. They'd also be perfect alongside Cheddar Cheese and Pecan Crackers at a cocktail party. 

Ingredients and process for these toasted sesame crackers:

These crackers are easy to put together in the food processor. 

First, add some all purpose flour, salt, and coursely ground black pepper into a food processor and pulse. For the black pepper, I used some cracked tellicherry peppercorns, but any coursely ground black pepper will work beautifully. 

Next, add cold butter that has been cut into half inch cubes, and pulse until you have a crumbly mixture. 

After that, add a mixture of Dijon mustard and an egg yolk and pulse until the crumbly pieces are dampened. 

Finally, drop in some toasted sesame seeds and pulse a couple of times to blend. I used pre-toasted sesame seeds but you could also toast your own. 

Once you've pulsed everything together, you turn it out onto your work surface and mush it all together with the heel of you hand to incorporate the flour and butter. 

It will take a bit for everything to come together, but when it does, form the dough into a 12-inch cyllinder, wrap it up, and chill for at least four hours. 

Once it's chilled, slice the cyllinder into 1/4 inch coins and bake them for about 15 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet before storing in an airtight container. 

I lightly sprinkled the tops of these crackers with flaked sea salt (my favorite fleur de sel) as soon as they came out of the oven. You can also use kosher salt for this step. 

These toasted sesame seed crackers are delicious served on an appetizer tray with your favorite nuts, olives, grissini, and prosciutto wrapped mozarella or mini Greek salad skewers. 

More homemade cracker recipes:

Sprouted wheat crackers

Sourdough crackers with Gruyère and thyme

Rosemary Parmesan crackers

Mini cheese puff crackers

Parmesan and thyme crackers (another savory sablé)

Cheddar cayenne crackers

These crackers are my contribution to this month's Foodie Extravaganza, where we celebrate obscure foodie holidays. This time, we are instead celebrating our group founder Lauren's new baby with an honorary baby shower. Lauren no longer manages a food blog, but many of our members, including Stacy of Food Lust People Love, have stayed in touch. 

One of my favorite parts about sharing my food adventures has been meeting some pretty amazing people who also run food blogs. My favorite part has been getting a chance to meet them in real life, including Stacy and Wendy. I am fortunate to have them as my friends. 

Yes, you can meet the nicest people on the Internet! 

Be sure to check out everyone else's contributions to Lauren's baby shower. P.S. It's a girl! 

• Classic Carol Chicken Salad from Palatable Pastime
• Cobb Dip from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Coconut Filled Tartlets - East Indian from Sneha's Recipe
• Melon Prosciutto Chevre Salad with Mint Dressing from Food Lust People Love
• Pink and Blue Sandwich Cake Cookies from Our Good Life 
• Red Velvet Cupcakes from Passion Kneaded
• Toasted Sesame Seed Crackers from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Tortilla Taco Cups from Magical Ingredients

Toasted Sesame Seed Crackers

Yield: 36 crackers

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 15 MinInactive time: 4 HourTotal time: 4 H & 30 M

These toasted sesame seed crackers are the perfect little savory appetizer treat.

Ingredients

• 5 3/4 ounces (1 1/4 cups) all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 large egg yolk, cold
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, cold
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 1 to 2 teaspoons flaked sea salt for sprinkling, optional

Instructions

1. Add the flour, salt, and pepper to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse to combine.
2. Add the butter and pulse until you have a crumbly mixture.
3. Combine the egg yolk and mustard together with a fork and pour into the food processor. Pulse until the mixture forms damp crumbs but does not clump.
4. Add the sesame seeds and pulse 2 to 3 times.
5. Pour the mixture onto your work surface, and with the heels of your hands, press the ingredients together. Using a bench knife or dough scraper, fold the ingredients over each other and continue to press together.
6. Form the dough into a twelve inch long log, about 1 3/8 inches wide and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours, or overnight.
7. Line a baking sheet with parchment and heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
8. Using a very sharp knife, slice the log into 1/4 inch coins and place them 1/2 inch apart on the baking sheet and bake for 14 to 17 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges.
9. Cool completely on the pan on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for up to three days.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

45.64

Fat (grams)

3.10

Sat. Fat (grams)

1.72

Carbs (grams)

3.66

Fiber (grams)

0.22

Net carbs

3.44

Sugar (grams)

0.03

Protein (grams)

0.85

Sodium (milligrams)

172.06

Cholesterol (grams)

17.06

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2021/11/toasted-sesame-seed-crackers.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

crackers, sesame seeds

appetizers

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Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking Appetizers (2009)