Light and crispy gluten free crackers that taste just like Nabisco's famous Ritz, but safe for your gluten free diet. Serve with cheese, or just have a quick snack!
1cup(140g)all purpose gluten free flour blend(I like Better Batter here; please click thru for appropriate blends), plus more for sprinkling
½teaspoonxanthan gumomit if your blend already contains it
1 ½teaspoonsbaking powder
½teaspoonsugar
½teaspoonsmoked Spanish paprika
¼teaspoonkosher saltplus more for sprinkling
4tablespoons(56g)unsalted butterchilled
1tablespoon(14g)vegetable oil
¼cup(2fluid ounces)cold water, with ice(ice does not count in the volume measurement), plus more as needed
2tablespoons(28g)unsalted buttermelted
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, sugar, paprika and salt, and whisk to combine well.
Using a standard size grater, grate the cold butter into the large bowl of dry ingredients, stopping occasionally to flour the butter to keep it separated. Toss to coat the butter in the dry ingredients.
Add the vegetable oil, and stir to combine. Add about 1/4 cup of the ice water, and stir to combine. Add more water by the half-teaspoonful as necessary to bring the dough together.
Press the dough into a disk, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for about 10 minutes or until firm.
Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface.
Sprinkle lightly with more flour on both sides of the dough and roll out until a bit more than 1/8-inch thick, moving and turning the dough, and sprinkling with extra flour as necessary to keep it from sticking.
Using a scalloped-edge 1 3/4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out shapes.
Place the shapes about 1-inch apart from one another on the prepared baking sheets. With a toothpick, poke four to six holes toward the center of each cracker to help them rise.
Gather and reroll the scraps to cut out crackers until you’ve used up the dough.
Place the baking sheets, one at a time, in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the crackers are just beginning to brown, about 7 minutes.
Remove from the oven, brush the crackers with the melted butter and sprinkle with extra salt.
Allow to cool on the baking sheet. They will crisp as they cool.
The crackers can be stored in a sealed glass container at room temperature and should maintain their texture that way.
Notes
Recipe originally posted, in a slightly different form, on the blog in 2011. New photos, video, and text in 2017. Adapted from Gluten Free Nabisco Ritz Crackers, Original recipe on page 188 of Gluten Free Classic Snacks. Lead photo by Jennifer May from Classic Snacks. All photos and video new.