Crispy Whole Wheat Graham Crackers Food

CRISPY WHOLE WHEAT GRAHAM CRACKERS

Steps:

• Make the dough:
• Combine sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, golden syrup, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to moisten, then increase to medium and beat until somewhat light, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add whole wheat flour, and mix to form a soft dough.
• Scrape dough onto a work surface and knead gently to form a ball. Divide in half. Use immediately or wrap in plastic and refrigerate for up to 1 week; soften for 30 minutes at room temperature, then knead on a bare work surface until pliable and smooth.
• Roll and bake the dough:
• Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F. Generously flour a large sheet of parchment and place one portion of dough in the center. Pat into a 5-by-6-inch rectangle, sprinkle with flour, flip, and dust again. Working from the center out and adding more flour as needed, roll the dough until roughly 15-by-11 inches and very thin. Slide onto an aluminum baking sheet and brush away excess flour. Repeat with remaining dough.
• For grocery store look-alikes, score each sheet of dough into twelve 2 1/4-by-4 3/4-inch rectangles and dock with a bamboo skewer or the narrow end of a chopstick (a strictly cosmetic procedure). Otherwise, leave the dough uncut.
• Bake until crackers are tawny brown and firm, though your fingertip may leave a faint indentation, about 20 minutes. Immediately cut along the pre-scored lines with a knife, or cut into free-form shapes using a pizza wheel. Cool to room temperature directly on the baking sheets. Enjoy scrap pieces as a snack, or pulverize into crumbs. The grahams can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks at room temperature or frozen for up to 3 months.
• Mix it up!
• Chocolate: My mom used to sandwich chocolate graham crackers with peanut butter for an after-school snack, a combo I re-create by reducing the whole wheat flour to 10 ounces (21/4 cups), sifted with 1 ounce (1/3 cup) natural or Dutch-process cocoa powder. To retain their deep cocoa color, roll the dough in sifted cocoa powder. Serve with generous smears of peanut butter and a tall glass of milk.
• Cinnamon Sugar: We rarely had sugar-coated grahams in our pantry when I was a kid, but they were always at my best friend's house, and seemed all the more special for their rarity. For the dough, increase the cinnamon to ½ teaspoon. Before docking, dust each sheet of dough with a half batch of Cinnamon Sugar (page 44), or any Sugar Sprinkle (page 46). Otherwise, dock and bake as directed. After the crackers cool, gently tap each against the baking sheet to knock off any excess sugar.
• Coconut (vegan): Replace the butter with 5 1/2 ounces (3/4 cup) virgin coconut oil (solid but creamy-about 70°F) and add 1 teaspoon pure coconut extract along with the vanilla.
• Gingerbread: This variation has all the spicy complexity of a Christmas cookie, with the unique flavor and crunch of a classic graham. Make the dough with sorghum or unsulfured molasses (not blackstrap) and increase the cinnamon to 1 teaspoon. Along with the sugar, add 1 tablespoon orange zest, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves, and a few cracks of black pepper.
• Graham Cracker Crumb Crust: Combine 9 ounces (2 cups) finely ground graham cracker crumbs with 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) melted unsalted butter. Scatter into a 9-by-1 1/4-inch glass or ceramic pie plate and press into an even layer over the bottom and up the sides. Bake at 350°F until firm, about 18 minutes. Cool to room temperature for immediate use in your favorite recipe, or wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
• Gluten-Free: Replace the whole wheat flour with 6 ounces (11/4 cups) white rice flour, 4 ounces (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) oat flour, and 1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) kinako.

100% WHOLE WHEAT GRAHAM CRACKERS OR PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Melt butter in microwave or on stovetop.
• Mix together dry ingredients (first 6 ingredients).
• Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until the dough forms a ball. Add a little water if needed.
• Line two jelly roll pans with parchment paper or Silpat.
• Put half the dough on each pan and gently flatten out with a rolling pin, covering the pan (Depending on the size of your pan, you may not completely cover it. Just roll them out to desired thickness. These don't puff up much, so what you roll out is very nearly what you end up with.).
• Gently score the crackers into rectangles with a pizza or pasta cutter.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and just beginning to brown.
• Let cool on a wire rack.

HOMEMADE GRAHAM CRACKERS

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
• In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, honey, 2 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla extract.
• Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
• The dough will be fairly stiff, but additional milk can be added if necessary to form a soft but not sticky dough.
• Knead the dough until smooth.
• Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill until firm, at least one hour.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 300 F. Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough to 1/16 inch thickness onto a piece of parchment paper.
• Transfer on the parchment paper to a baking sheet. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Bake the sheets of dough for 10 minutes.
• Remove the pans from the oven and, using a pizza wheel or sharp knife, immediately score the sheets of dough into 3x2-inch rectangles.
• Prick with a fork and return to the oven and continue to bake for 18 to 20 minutes longer.
• Remove the sheets from the oven and cut the rectangles all the way through. Allow to cool to room temperature directly on the baking sheets. This will help them become as crisp as possible. The trimmings can be ground into graham cracker crumbs.
• Enjoy as you would your favorite store-bought graham crackers.

WHOLE WHEAT CRACKERS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• 2. Put the flour, oat bran and salt in a bowl. Mix.
• 3. Pour in the olive oil and water.
• 4. Mix until just blended.
• 5. Divide dough into two pieces for thinner crackers or leave it in one piece for thicker crackers. We like the thin ones.
• 6. Roll the dough directly onto a cookie sheet. I use the Pampered Chef pizza roller and it works great to just roll the dough right into the sheet. But if you don't have one of those you can put the dough between two sheets of wax or parchment paper and roll out as thin as possible. Then transfer to an ungreased cookie sheet.
• 7. Mark squares out with a knife to score your crackers. If you don't do this step before you bake it, you will not get nice squares once it's baked. The crackers bake up pretty crisp and will just break into odd shapes and crumbs. There have been times I've forgotten to score it and it's still perfectly edible, it just looks more like almond bark jagged shapes than square or rectangle shaped crackers.
• 8. Prick each cracker with a fork a few times.
• 9. Sprinkle with salt.
• 10. Bake for 15 - 25 minutes in the oven, or until your crackers are crisp and light brown. Baking time might be different depending on how thin your crackers are.
• 11. When cool remove from baking sheet, and separate into individual crackers.

WHEAT CRACKERS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Pour in the vegetable oil and water; mix until just blended.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough as thin as possible - no thicker than 1/8 inch. Place dough on an ungreased baking sheet, and mark squares out with a knife, but don't cut through. Prick each cracker with a fork a few times, and sprinkle with salt.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp and light brown. Baking time may be different depending on how thin your crackers are. When cool, remove from baking sheet, and separate into individual crackers.

GRAHAM CRACKERS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and brown sugar. Stir in the vanilla. Combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Cover and chill dough until firm.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into rectangles. Place 1/2 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp. Edges will be golden brown. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.