Homemade Butter Crackers
from http://www.cupcakeproject.com/

This recipe was on several web sites. The original came from the Cupcake Project web site. She tried may different recipes before deciding on this one. This author thought the recipe "came pretty close to getting the Ritz cracker right." She used Jeffrey's recipe from What's 4 Dinner Solutions as a starting point.

On another web site the author thought they tasted like Club crackers. She said, "These homemade crackers are light, crisp, flaky, and buttery."

This recipe is made in a food processor. If you cut the recipe in half, you can fit it in a mini food processor

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2/3 cup water

Topping, brush on after they bake:
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Put the flour, baking powder, sugar, and 1/2 tsp of salt in the food processor. Using a food processor will ensure that everything is well combined but not over mixed. By not over mixing, you keep the crackers nice and flaky. You could use a stand mixer, but you risk over mixing the dough.

Pulse to combine.

Add cold butter a few small pats at a time, and pulse to combine.

Add vegetable oil. Pulse to combine.

Add water a little bit at a time. Pulse to combine after each addition. The dough should start to form a ball.

Roll dough out as thin as you can. Mine ended up being all different thicknesses. Don't sweat it. They are homemade! If you are really concerned, Jeffrey had luck using a pasta maker to make the dough all one thickness – great idea!

Use cookie cutters to cut the dough out. You can make them Ritz-shaped or any shape that you like.

Poke holes in the dough in the Ritz pattern or any pattern you like (smiley faces would be fun!). Keep in mind that the holes are not just decorative; they help the crackers to bake correctly – so be sure to poke some.

Bake the crackers on a parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheet for ten minutes or until the crackers just begin to brown.

While the crackers are baking, melt the remaining butter and mix in the remaining salt (Some people said that my crackers weren't salty enough. Add more or less salt to your taste.)

As soon as you remove the crackers from the oven, brush them with the salty butter.

Cool.