Sweet Potato Rosemary Crackers (Daring Bakers' Challenge)

A lot of the blogs that I am currently following participate in a monthly challenge called the Daring Bakers' Challenge. At the beginning of every month a new host issues a baking challenge -- anything from pretzels to doughnuts to tortelettes -- and we post our completed challenges on the 27th of the same month.

Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie was our February 2013 Daring Bakers' host and she challenges us to use our creativity in making our own Crisp Flatbreads and Crackers! :)

My hubby was especially excited about this challenge since he complains that I make too many sweet goods and not enough savory and I thought that this would be a good challenge to expand my baking skills.

I had seen a lot of postings on foodgawker for sweet potato crackers and thought that this would be a great opportunity to give them a try. I started with a basic recipe that I found on the North Carolina Sweet Potato website. I have always loved rosemary and pepper crackers so I decided to add in some fresh rosemary to enhance the sweet potato flavor.

These crackers were not only quick and easy to make, they were also delicious! I had planned on keeping them for the week to have as a snack but I ended up eating the majority of them straight off the baking sheet. 

The great thing about these crackers -- besides being super healthy! -- is that you can substitute the ingredients added to the base recipe in order to change the flavor of the cracker. I think next time I will try adding some nori and topping the crackers with black sesame seeds for an Asian flare. 

Overall, I think my first Daring Bakers' Challenge was a success and forced me to bake something that was a little outside of my comfort zone. I am already looking forward to next months challenge!

Live. Love. Bake.

Sweet Potato Rosemary Crackers

Adapted from North Carolina's Sweet Potato Cracker recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

3 Tb. olive oil (plus a little for brushing)

1 cup sweet potato puree (about 1 medium sweet potato)

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped

Sea salt (for the top)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Put the sweet potato on a baking sheet and roast it in the oven for about 50 minutes. It should be soft when poked with a fork. Remove the skin from the potato and puree it in a blender until smooth.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
3. Put the olive oil in your stand mixer. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper/ Transfer to the stand mixer. Add the rosemary. Using the paddle attachment, mix the oil into the dry ingredients until it becomes crumbly and sand-like in texture.
4. Switch to the dough hook. Add the sweet potato puree to the mix and stir until the dough turns into one big clump. (Note: At this point the dough kind of smells and tastes like PlayDough. Do not be alarmed, the smell and flavor will go away with baking)
5. Using your hands, roll the dough into a ball. Divide into 4 pieces. Wrap each piece in a wax paper or plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. Lightly flour a smooth work space. Keep the flour nearby to add more flour if the dough gets sticky. Roll each piece out very thin.Th thinner and more evenly the dough is rolled out, the better. This will ensure that the crackers are crisp and not chewy.
7. Brush the top of the dough lightly with olive oil and sprinkle a little sea salt evenly on top.
8. Cut the dough into any shape you want using a pastry cutter, knife or small cookie cutter. Two-square-inch is a pretty good size to ensure crunchiness. Use a fork to poke holes in the top of each cracker to prevent it from getting poofy while baking. Place crackers on prepared baking sheet. You can place them pretty close since they won't spread too much.
9. Bake on the center rack about 9 minutes, until the bottoms are slightly brown. Turn the crackers over and bake another 6 minutes or so until crispy. Baking times will vary greatly depending on your oven, the size of your crackers and the thickness. So make sure that you keep an eye on them. You want the crackers to be crispy not chewy and not too brown.
10. Cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container for up to one week (if they last that long!).