Jar-Ready Ranch Oyster Crackers with From-Scratch Ranch Seasoning

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The bowl snack that disappears fastest, rebuilt without a seasoning packet. A homemade blend of buttermilk powder, dried dill, chives and toasted garlic goes into warm butter and oil, then gets tossed with oyster crackers and dried low and slow so every cracker turns shatter-crisp and tangy instead of greasy. Makes about 10 cups — enough to fill two big jars and still snack straight off the sheet pan.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp buttermilk powder
• 1 tbsp dried chives
• 2 tsp dried dill
• 2 tsp dried parsley
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp citric acid or 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest (optional, for tang)

• 12 oz oyster crackers (about 10 cups, two 6-oz bags)
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 250°F (120°C) and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Position a rack in the center.
2. Make the seasoning: combine the buttermilk powder, dried chives, dill, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, mustard powder, cayenne and citric acid (or lemon zest) in a small bowl. Whisk with a fork for 30 seconds, breaking up any clumps of buttermilk powder against the side of the bowl until the blend is uniform and sandy.
3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, 1 to 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and stir in the oil and Worcestershire sauce. Whisk in the ranch seasoning; it will look like a loose, speckled paste. Let it sit 2 minutes so the buttermilk powder and dried herbs hydrate and bloom in the warm fat.
4. Put the oyster crackers in your largest bowl. Drizzle about half the seasoned butter over them and fold gently with a flexible spatula, scooping from the bottom, for about 30 seconds. Drizzle on the rest and fold another minute, until every cracker is dull and evenly flecked. Scrape the bowl for any settled seasoning and fold it back in.
5. Spread the crackers on the prepared sheet pan in a single, even layer. Bake at 250°F for 45 minutes total, stirring and re-spreading every 15 minutes so the ones at the edges don't over-toast. They are done when they smell nutty and toasted, look matte and dry rather than glossy, and a cooled cracker snaps cleanly.
6. Slide the pan onto a rack and cool completely, 25 to 30 minutes, without stirring. The crackers crisp as they cool — tasting them hot will make you think they're still soft.
7. Taste one cooled cracker and, if you want a sharper ranch hit, dust the pan with an extra 1/2 teaspoon of any leftover seasoning and toss. Transfer to airtight jars.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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