Whether you call them soda crackers or saltines, you've got to admit that a crispy cracker is the best accompaniment to homemade soup ever created! Learn how to make your own!
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Homemade saltine crackers are SO buttery and crispy delicious
- They're super easy to make
- They take less than 30 minutes
- You can cut them into any shape you want
- If there's a zombie apocalypse and you can't leave the house you'll still be able to have crackers with your soup
- I've seen several recipes that call for a long list of ingredients, including yeast. Not this one!
Will trash Mark Bitman's crackers recipe. This is our new go-to recipe for saltines ~ Ed
🧾 Ingredients
I love being able to have a fresh supply of crackers in the house.
You'll also need a heavy cookie sheet, silpat or parchment, and cutters in any shape or size that you want your crackers to be.
🔪 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
Keep an eye on these as they bake. You don't want them to get too brown.
- Stir the flour and baking powder together along with any seasonings you'll be adding.
- Cut in the butter.
- Continue cutting in the butter until it looks pebbly.
- Add milk.
- Stir well to make a dough that holds together.
- Gently knead the dough.
- Roll out in a rectangle.
- Cut and prick with a toothpick or fork.
- Brush with egg and sprinkle with salt.
- Bake, let cool, and enjoy those homemade crackers!!
🥫 Storage
This saltine cracker recipe is my favorite of all the ones I've tried.
It's fabulous, and they last a long time, but they do require airtight storage or they'll lose their crispness. Zipper bags are o.k. but for the best storage get a good quality, air tight food grade storage container.
Store crackers in a dark, cool pantry. They may get soft and need to be crisped up a few minutes in the oven.
You can freeze the dough for up to 3 months but don't freeze the finished crackers - they'll get soggy.
💭 Tips for success
Expert tip: Throw away the scraps of dough after cutting - they will be tough if you re-roll them. Or, bake it for little, uniquely shaped snacks.
- Use all-purpose flour. Bread flour has too much protein for this saltine cracker recipe and the texture won't be right.
- Cut saltine crackers into uniform shapes so that they cook evenly. A cookie cutter is great for this.
- You don't have to prick the crackers as much as the store bought ones but a few well placed jabs with a fork or toothpick will help them bake crisp.
- A quick brush of egg white wash (egg white + ½ teaspoon of water beaten) will help salt and other toppings stick.
- The egg wash helps the cracker crisp in the oven and also hold the salt on. If you have an egg allergy try this: Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch and ⅓ cup water in a small pan and bring to a boil. Simmer until thick. Brush on the crackers in place of the egg.
- Leave a little room between each cracker when you bake to keep them crispy all over.
- Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet. There's enough butter in them to keep them from sticking once they've baked completely... or...
- Roll out and bake on parchment paper.
- Store in an airtight container. Homemade crackers can get soft easier than commercial crackers, so...
- Crisp them up in the oven for a few minutes if necessary.
- Once the crackers begin to brown watch them carefully!
- They are done when they are a golden brown on the edges and will crisp as they cool.
👩🏻🍳 Frequently asked questions
Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.
You poke holes in them before baking to keep the crackers from bubbling up - it keeps them crisp.
Preheat the oven to 400F and spread the crackers in a single layer on a heavy cookie sheet. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes, watching carefully.
There's really no difference. They are most often called saltines in the United States and soda crackers in the United Kingdom.
📚 Related recipes
- Stuffed Pepper Soup gives you all the flavor of classic stuffed peppers but in a hearty soup that you can make on top of the stove or in your slow cooker!
- Gramma's Potato Soup is an old fashioned favorite. Chunks of tender, buttery potato in a creamy, onion scented base will have the family waiting impatiently at the table, spoons in hand!
- Mom's Chili Soup is another great dish to serve with these crackers! Ground beef, beans, tomatoes - it's SO good!
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🫓 A little cracker history
Do you call them soda crackers or saltine crackers?
My mom called them soda crackers so I always thought it was a Midwest thing (she was born in Michigan) but I've read recently that they are saltine crackers in the United States and soda crackers in Great Britain.
Personally I don't care what they are called, hand me a stick of butter and a plateful of them and I'll be happy.
Serious comfort food for me!
Crackers have had a place in history since well before the Israelites headed out of Egypt with all of their earthly goods and a couple of matzahs.
There were variations on that theme for centuries but it was in 1801 that they finally got a name.
Josiah Bent of Massachusetts was baking biscuits one day when he got distracted. By the time he returned to his oven the biscuits were crispy.
Josiah did not want to admit he'd screwed up so he called them crackers because of the crackling sound they made. And that, my friends, is how crackers came to be — the result of one man's pride.
Of course, those crackers of long ago were nothing like their bland namesakes that line the store shelves today.
Once you get this recipe down you will never, I repeat never, want to go back. You can vary the flour, herbs, and other ingredients to create unique flavors.
📖 Recipe
Homemade Saltine Crackers
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ⅓ cup milk, you can substitute non dairy milk if you need to
- coarse salt, for sprinkling
- 1 egg white, OR egg yolk. The whites make them crisper.
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Blend the egg white with the water to make an egg wash. Set aside.
- Mix together the flour and baking powder.
- If you are adding seasonings mix those in with the dry ingredients.
- Cut butter into flour mixture until it forms coarse crumbs.
- Add the milk and knead gently to form a ball.
- Divide in 4 parts and roll out paper thin on a floured surface. The thinner they are the crisper they will be.
- Cut the dough into squares or desired shapes. (a pizza wheel works great for that!)
- Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and prick all over with a fork.
- Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with salt (or cracked pepper ..or..)
- Bake at 325 until golden brown..about 15- 20 minutes. (check after 10 minutes)
- Let cool before serving. They crisp as they cool.
Notes
- Use all-purpose flour.
- Throw away the scraps of dough after cutting - they will be tough if you re-roll them. Or, bake them for little snacks.
- Cut saltine crackers into uniform shapes so that they cook evenly.
- Egg is to help the cracker crisp in the oven and also hold the salt on. If you have an egg allergy try this: Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch and ⅓ cup water in a small pan and bring to a boil. Simmer until thick. Brush on the crackers in place of the egg.
- Leave a little room between each cracker when you bake to keep them crispy all over.
- Bake the crackers on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Store in an airtight container.
- Crisp them up in the oven for a few minutes if necessary.
- Once the crackers begin to brown watch them carefully!
Nutrition Facts
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First published February 2012. Last updated March 24, 2021 for better instructions and readability.
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Jennifer
I want to try making these crackers for a lady who is on a low sodium diet. I like the sodium content, but am concerned about the potassium. Where could I find out which ingredient has the most potassium in order to modify it? It needs to be lower.
Marye
I'm guessing it's the flour - you'd have to look up each ingredient individually...
Jsn
Is there anything else beside egg whites one could use to avoid an egg allergy.?
Marye Audet
You might try boiling cornstarch and water until it thickens and brushing a thin coating of that on before baking.
Ed
Made a double recipe of these Saturday. Excellent. Will trash Mark Bitman's crackers recipe. This is our new go-to recipe for saltines. Thanks.
Jan
I have question. In the article on the saltines/soda crackers you say they are made with baking soda but the recipe says baking powder. Which should actually be used?
Thanks.
Marye Audet
The recipe is correct. Saltine, or soda crackers used to be primarily baking soda but I found the crunch is better with baking powder.
Brenda
I happened upon your site this morning...looking for a saltine/soda cracker recipe. I must say I love you site and will be trying your recipe this evening...cannot wait! I was wondering do you have a newsletter so-to-speak that I could subscribe to? Oh, and I must be getting old...I have not heard the term soda crackers in years. I'll be returning often to see what is new. Thank you so much for all your efforts.
Marye Audet
I do have a newsletter Brenda... you can sign up for it here - https://eepurl.com/3xf8H
Deanne
I'm excited to stumble upon this recipe. I'm an American ex-pat living in the UK and I miss my saltines. They don't have them over here under either name (neither saltines nor soda crackers). I look forward to giving this recipe a go. My soups have been so lonely. LOL
Marye Audet
🙂 The only thing I'd be careful of is the humidity? The crackers soak up moisture pretty fast so definitely keep them in an airtight container - you might need to crisp them up in the oven.
Angela
I've never understood people that don't follow the RECIPE, change it up and THEN rate it... You're rating yourself at that point not the creator of said recipe. At any rate I am making these tonight FOLLOWING the ACTUAL recipe.... I shall return with mine ?
P.s I almost forgot, would parchment change how they bake? Ie... Not allow them to be as crispy? I was going to roll them directly on it for easy transfer to cookie sheet and don't want to mess up the crispiness by assuming it would be fine. Thank you in advance! ?
Marye Audet
Thanks Angela - LOL! Umm I've never tried on parchment but it should work fine.
Tiffany
How long would these last before they go bad (in a container or plastic baggie)?
Marye Audet
They've never lasted more than a day or two here before they're eaten. 🙂
Rachel
I don’t get the comments on here. These are fantastic, easy, and a staple in our household.
Thank you for sharing!
Marye Audet
Thanks so much, Rachel! I am glad you like them!
Cynthia
I should probably know this but when it says serves 36 does that mean 36 crackers? Or how many crackers per person? I am really not OCD just a bit confused on this terminology when reading cracker recipes. 😉
Marye Audet
It depends on how big you make them? If you get 36 crackers then it's 1 cracker per person. If you cut with a smaller cutter and get 72 crackers then it's 2 crackers per person.
Cynthia
Thanks for the quick response. I guess I wasn't clear but I get it now. A serving equals one cracker! Trying these tonight for a neighborhood soup night, will let you know how it goes. Thanks again!