Cracker (food)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Cracker" food – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

A cracker is a flat, dry

Crackers can be eaten on their own, but can also accompany other food items such as cheese or meat slices, fruits,

The characteristic holes found in many crackers are called "docking" holes. The holes are poked in the dough to stop overly large air pockets from forming in the cracker while baking.

In American English, the name "cracker" usually refers to savory or salty flat biscuits, whereas the term "cookie" is used for sweet items. Crackers are also generally made differently: crackers are made by layering dough, while cookies, besides the addition of sugar, usually use a chemical leavening agent, may contain eggs, and in other ways are made more like a cake.^[5] In British English, crackers are sometimes called water biscuits.^[6][7]

Crackers come in many shapes and sizes, such as round, rectangular, triangular, or irregular. Crackers sometimes have cheese or spices as ingredients, or even chicken stock.

Cheese crackers are prepared using cheese as a main ingredient. Commercial examples include Cheez-It, Cheese Nips and Goldfish.

• 
  Arare, small Japanese rice crackers
• 
  Bagel chips
• 
  Cheez-It crackers made by Kellogg
• 
  Goldfish crackers
• 
  Graham crackers which are lightly sweet rather than savory
• 
  A bowl of oyster crackers
• 
  Ritz Crackers
• 
  Saltine crackers
• 
  Japanese Senbei rice cracker
• 
  Triscuit shredded wheat crackers
• 
  Trio of Water biscuits: Left: Supermarket own brand, Right: Excelsior from Jamaica, Top: Carr's Table Cracker
• 
  Beaten biscuits are a relative of crackers