Corn Crackers with Brie and Apple Butter

For my Thanksgiving dinner appetizer, I like to shoot for something memorable and fun. Two years ago, I served "pumpkin three ways": pumpkin hummus, toasted pumpkin seeds and a pumpkin pie martini.

This year, since I've had a lot fun with the Just Tomatoes freeze-dried corn (see corn cookies and corn bread), I decided to try my hand at corn crackers. I substituted half the corn meal in the recipe I found with ground freeze-dried corn. Just grind the just tomatoes corn in the food processor until it's a fine powder.

I served the crackers with brie and apple butter. All three together are quite tasty. A spicy jalapeño jelly would be good with these crackers too.

Corn Crackers
Adapted from Take a Megabite

1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 cup ground freeze-dried corn

1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. fresh-ground pepper
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup boiling water
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. grated parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients through baking powder. Pour boiling water over this mixture and stir to combine. Add egg, butter and parmesan and stir until the butter has melted.

3. Spread batter in a thin even layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Bake for about 25-35 minutes until firm throughout and darkening on the edges (note: I wanted mine crispy, so I baked them quite a bit longer, about 45 to 50 minutes total. If you do this, watch them carefully to prevent burning. Even then, some were still more chewy than crunchy, but they tasted good).

4. Allow to cool and then break into cracker-size pieces. Serve on a platter with apple butter and brie.