sweet potato crackers

Ingredients (makes the equivalent of about one box of crackers):

1-1/2 cups organic flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder (see note below)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons organic unsalted butter
1 medium organic sweet potato (1 cup of sweet potato puree)
1 teaspoon organic sugar
coarse salt

(NOTE: after reader feedback and re-testing I have lowered the baking powder amount from the the original recipe’s call for 2-1/2 tablespoons)

Supplies:

• KitchenAid Mixer
• Rolling pin with Rolling Pin Rings
• Large Cutting Board or this Pastry Board
• Heart Cookie Cutters or other mini cookie cutters
• Two Jelly Roll Pans (I prefer these to flat cookie sheets)
• Parchment Paper
• Airtight storage container
• Hand blender (these are the best for making purees)
• Wire rack
• Silicon ice cube tray and Ziploc freezer bags (if you are going to make puree to store for the next batch)

Cook sweet potato until softened. The original recipe suggests boiling it in water but I prefer to roast it in a 400 degree oven for about 45-50 minutes. It’s easy – all you do is place a potato on an aluminum-foil-lined jelly roll pan and that’s it. You can bake it while you’re making other food, and you can roast more than one potato and freeze the puree in silicon ice cube trays, store it in Ziploc freezer bags, and then just thaw it whenever you want to make some crackers (I learned this trick from making Elise’s baby food purees). Or you can cut the potato into pieces and steam it until softened.

So anyway, however you cook your sweet potato then let it cool, remove the skin and purée using a hand blender (these are the best for making purees) until it’s a smooth mixture. You will need 1 cup of sweet potato purée. Like I said, freeze the rest in silicon ice cube trays and then store it in Ziploc freezer bags until you need it.

Set the cooled sweet potato puree aside.

Place butter into the bottom of your KitchenAid Mixer. If you don’t have a KitchenAid Mixer, well …you should really get one, saves tons of time baking, but anyway go ahead and follow the original recipe instructions. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together into a large bowl. I don’t have a sifter so I use a colander.

Using the KitchenAid Mixer’s regular mixing attachment, mix the butter into the flour mixture until it becomes a coarse meal texture like this: 

Switch your KitchenAid Mixer’s regular mixing attachment to the dough hook attachment instead. Add the sweet potato puree and let it stir until it turns into one big clump like this. 

Roll it into a ball using your hands. Divide dough into 4 pieces. For easier rolling, wrap it in wax paper and chill for 1/2 hour. 

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and and roll each very thin. Seriously, as thin as you can roll it. If you can use rolling pin rings you’ll be in better shape than I was – you’ve got to make sure it’s all even so the crackers all bake evenly. 

Cut using small cookie cutters. Here I’m using heart cookie cutters but I’ve also used these great mini-cookie cutters. Place on a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

You can sprinkle with salt, sesame seeds and a little cayenne, if desired. I skip it for the kid crackers.

Bake in a preheated 350 F oven on an ungreased parchment paper-lined jelly roll pan or cookie sheet for 10 minutes until bottoms are slightly browned. 

Turn over and bake until they’re crispy. The original recipe says 3-4 minutes more but mine are always another 8-12 or so …maybe it’s my cheap-o oven.

Recepie taken from here