Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Polenta/Semolina Crackers Recipe

Polenta/Semolina Crackers

Or you can call these homemade nachos or corn chips. When compared to the store bought nachos, these are much crisper and have very low fat. And they are very simple to make.


Notes:
- I have tried this recipe using a mixture semolina and polenta, as well as only polenta. The crackers are crispier when only polenta is used. Semolina and polenta are quite different. Semolina is made from wheat and polenta is made from corn. Polenta is gluten free. There are two types of polenta - fine and course ground 
- I haven't indicated the exact amount of water to use. Just add a small amount at a time. In case you add too much by mistake add more polenta/semolina. It will be fine. The dough is quite forgiving
- you don't need to grease the baking tray. The dough will stick but once its baked and turns crispy it will 'unstick'
- if you want to cut into shapes you have to do this before baking. It will be almost impossible to cut after baking since it is really crispy. Alternatively you can bake without cutting and just break pieces.
Watch them during baking as they can quite easily burn. And watch them very closely after its baked and cooled, they will disappear quickly without leaving a trace



Sissi from With a Glass has tested this recipe and has additional tips. You can see the post here.  

Polenta/Semolina Crackers

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 cup fine ground polenta or semolina or mixture of both (I used half and half)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon oil
Salt to taste
Water
Flavourings such as chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, cumin etc

Directions
1. Sift together flour and baking powder, add polenta/semolina and mix well
2. Make a small well in the middle, add oil and enough water to form the dough. Start with about 50ml water and keep adding a little bit more at a time until the dough is formed. The dough should not be too sticky and dry, it should be workable
3. Place balls of dough straight only a baking tray and roll out until very thin. Cut into shapes using a pizza slicer or any other device. You don't need to grease the baking tray
4. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius/390 degrees Fahrenheit until the crackers starts to turn light brown, about 10 minutes. 

11 comments:

  1. these look really crispy! and they're baked! awesome! :D
    Hope you don't mind. Its difficult reading your posts coz the writing is in light grey. If you could change it to a darker color, it'll be easy for us readers! :)
    -
    Kavi | Edible Entertainment

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  2. I like this take on the nacho chip - I usually just bake up homemade tortillas, but this seems so much easier (less steps).

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  3. Super! I'm gonna be making this soon. This year seems to be starting out on a whole lot of munchies for me. This will go so well with Ajvar (made some more for Christmas) ... yum!

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  4. My husband eats nachos with nothing or at most with some hot sauce with the idea exciting kiss Simmy

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  5. I love this recipe and I love your photos. It sounds much easier than I thought!
    I have a question: what is the difference between semolina and polenta? Is polenta simply coarser?
    Do you cut these cute triangles when it's still warm or when it's cooled down? (Sorry for the questions, but I really intend to make these soon!)

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  6. Kavi: thank you for your comments

    Cher: thank you. I have never tried making tortillas at home

    ping: A crispy start to the year, thats great:) I was trying to find ajvar in the Xmas photo but I guess you only selected photos of a few dishes only. This chips go well with dip as well (sour cream + flavour for example)

    Simona: that sounds interesting

    Sissi: Semolina is made from wheat and polenta is made from corn. Polenta is gluten free. There are two types of polenta - fine and course ground. I used fine ground. I will mention this in the recipe, thanks for bringing to my attention. Also you have to cut before baking, impossible to cut after baking.

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  7. This is definitely on my to-do list, since I've ran out of sugar (no more sweets!), but have a plethora of semolina...

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  8. Thank you so much! My question may sound a bit stupid, but in Switzerland both are called "semoule" and then they add what kind of grain was used (semoule de blé, semoule de maïs), hence my question. I have always thought polenta was only the dish... Thanks for the cutting tip (that is what I suspected).

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  9. Aha, now I understand. So it seems:
    semoule de blé = semolina (from wheat)
    semoule de maïs = cornmeal/polenta (from corn)

    In my mind cornmeal and polenta is the same thing, hopefully it is, maybe it isn't. People sometimes use different words that causes confusion (eg pizza is sometimes called pie is US).

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  10. I have just popped in to say a huge thank you. These crackers are awesome! Especially with guacamole. I have kept some to make photos tomorrow... I hope I will resist the temptation. Thank you for this excellent recipe!

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  11. Sissi: so glad to hear they turned out awesome. I know what you mean about saving some for next day- I have made these many times and never succeeded, it always disappears on the same day!

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