Easy & Delicious "Crackits"

When I was at David's place this weekend, I got a hankering for some baking, so I improvised a little to make crackers. They turned out rather thicker and a bit softer than most crackers I know, though. So, rather than mislead you with a name, I introduce: CRACKITS! (Crackuits just looks silly.)

ALLISON'S CRACKITS
with whatever spice you find nice!

=Ingredients=
2-3 c flour
1/2 t salt
1.5 t baking powder
1 stick butter, in small cubes
1 t - 1 T spice of choice (use less for stronger-tasting spices, use more if fresh spice)
~1 c water, milk or cream

=Instructions=
Condensed version: Combine dries and mix. Cut butter up small and add to dries; cut in butter thoroughly. Add liquid and incorporate; form a dough ball. Roll dough thin, cut into crackers & bake until cooked to preference.

MIX DRIES:
Put the flour in a big mixing bowl; add salt and baking powder and mix to incorporate. Add your spice and mix to blend -- I added 1 t dried basil leaf the first time and it turned out GREAT, really fragrant. The second time I used 2 T onion powder and it tasted exactly like Chickin in a Biscuit! I imagine curry would work well, too.

CUT BUTTER
Unwrap a stick of butter and keep it on the wrapper. With a sharp knife, halve the butter lengthwise. Place the halves wide-side-down and halve again lengthwise. Now you have four thin strips lying side by side. Cut them all widthwise into little cubes.

CUT BUTTER INTO FLOUR
"Sprinkle" the butter cubes into the flour mixture. Then, with both hands, squish together the flour and butter bit by bit. I would do this while watching a movie or chatting with someone.
Your hands should not get too greasy -- keep bringing flour to the buttery bits and pinching with your fingers; avoid butter-butter contact. The point is to cut each butter cube evenly into the flour. I don't like using knives because I find it awkward. You could also use a food processor but I don't have one and I am biased against them. :)
It's ready when the mix forms a pretty solid mass when you grab some and squeeze it in your hand.

ADD LIQUIDS
After you have cut the butter into the flour, form a little well in the mixture. Add about 1 c milk, cream or water and mix -- it should not be too wet like cookie or pancake batter, but you should be able to form a non-sticky dough ball.

FORMING THE CRACKITS
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Tear the dough ball in half. Flour a clean counter top and roll each ball very thin (like 3mm). Cut a grid into the dough sheet so it makes rough rectangles (no need to trim the sides and reroll; just leave 'em homemade-looking). (If you want, you could sprinkle some seeds on and press down a little -- think sesame, fennel, poppy, caraway seeds. Nutritious!)

BAKE
The oven should be preheated now. Place crackits 1 cm apart on two baking sheets and stick 'em in the oven for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, check them -- if they're pale on top, remove both sheets and flip the crackits over using chopsticks or your careful fingers. Bake them another 10 minutes.
Basically, just bake them until they are what color you want -- golden brown, light brown, medium brown, slightly burnt. The longer you bake them, the crispier they'll be.
To save energy, you could turn the oven off slightly before they're done and let the residual heat finish cooking them.

Cool 5-10 minutes, throw 'em in a bowl and serve!

NOTES:
-You could store them in an air-tight container after cooling, but I have NEVER had them last that long.
-Watch out for your fat intake if that's your style -- I would estimate it's 1 T butter every four crackers or so. But do remember that butter is perfectly fine in moderation!