biscotti-style crackers

I've tried to make homemade crackers a few times over the years, always with disappointing results. They seem to turn out too hard and crunchy, not tender and crispy like commercial crackers. I'd written crackers off as one of those foods that are Not for the Home Cook.

But then I saw this recipe for Nut and Seed Biscotti on Heidi Swanson's terrific, invaluable blog, 101 Cookbooks. (This blog is a treasure trove of wonderful recipes, and I cannot fawn over it enough.) She describes them as "biscotti-style crackers," and I had to try them. I may not be able to make decent crackers, but I'm all over biscotti.

These are just what I've been looking for in a homemade cracker—elegant, beautiful, and perfect for serving to guests. The blog recommends topping these with goat cheese, and I second this. However, the biscotti are pretty sweet, so they might not be good with certain cheeses, or with toppings like hummus, baba ganouj, white bean dip, etc. I'd like to try them again made with very little or no sugar, and maybe with some added herbs. Also, they taste rather eggy to me (I don't eat many eggs, and I often do the vegan baking thing, so egginess stands out to my palate). It would be interesting to make a vegan version and see what there are like without the eggy taste, but I have a feeling it might be tricky. The biscotti don't have any leavening other than egg, so I'm wary. I screwed up a Fresh Ginger Cake recently by trying to veganize it. I may leave well enough alone; the biscotti are really lovely exactly as they are. (N.b., if you substitute soy yogurt for egg and applesauce for part of the oil in the Fresh Ginger Cake, you will get a gloppy mess. However, I have successfully veganized that cake, which is delicious, by using either Ener-G egg replacer or flax meal plus water instead of eggs, I can't remember which.)

My biscotti have almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and sunflower seeds.