Parmesan Crackers

What do you do with a baguette, when it's done being a baguette? What do you do with a baguette unemployed? You turn it into Parmesan Crackers of course!

Super simple to bake up in 15 minutes.  You could season this parmesan crackers recipe any ol'way to your hearts desire.  They can easily be made ahead and stored in an airtight bag or container until your ready.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 baguette
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and flavored with 1 minced garlic clove
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese (3 oz.)

Heat oven to 400ºF degrees.

Slice baguette diagonally into 1/8 inch thick slices.  Lay the slices in one layer on a baking sheet and brush on melted flavored butter.  Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan.  Bake the toasts for 10 to 15 minutes, until they are browned and crisp.  Serve at room temperature.

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The original recipe I followed called for slicing 1/4 inch slices.  That was too thick for the crowd I served.  One-fourth inch made for a hard cracker.  I immediately wished I had sliced them to half the size.  So, that's what I advised in this recipe.

Here's all the fresh baguettes I baked up (using my Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book) and turned into Parmesan Crackers.

For last week's Main Street Farmer's Market cooking demonstration, I baked Parmesan Crackers for the happy locavores.  I had plenty of folks tell me that these were delicious.  Only those with, uh-hem, dentures graciously said the crackers were too hard.  Like I said, I wish I had made them thinner.  C'est la vie!