Wheat Thins Home Made Food

WHEAT THINS FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper to fit baking sheet (or sheets if using two different sized sheets) and set aside.
• In a food processor, add the flour, sugar, wheat germ, flax seed, baking soda, salt Pulse a couple of times until well combined.
• Add the malt barley syrup and cold cubed butter and pulse a few times until dough becomes crumbly. While food processor is running, add the water very slowly , 1/4 cup to start and let it blend for about 15 seconds. If a ball of dough doesn't form, add just a tablespoon more at a time and let blend for 5-10 seconds. Stop once a dough ball forms.
• Remove dough from food processor and separate the dough in half. Add one half to one of the pre-cut parchment papers. Shape the dough into a rectangle and then roll it out with a rolling pin, keeping the shape as close to a rectangle as possible. Roll as thin as possible, about 1/16 or 1/8 of an inch. The dough may be a little sticky, use a little wheat flour on your rolling pin to keep it from sticking.
• Once dough is rolled out very thin, use pastry wheel to trim dough to even, straight edges. Use the trimmed dough to fill in other areas of dough to make rectangle on parchment paper. Roll flat and trimp. Repeat until dough is as close to an even rectangle as possible.
• Use pastry wheel to cut dough into 1 1/2 - 2 inch strips. Then again to create squares. Approxiately 8 colums and 8 rows. Pierce each square twice with a fork.
• Gently transfer parchment paper to baking sheet. Bake in baking sheets in oven for 7-10 minutes or until edges of crackers begin to brown.
• Let crackers completely cool and then store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

JOEV'S MULTI-GRAIN HONEY WHOLE WHEAT SANDWICH THINS

Steps:

• Combine the milk, butter, honey and 5.8 oz water in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat and stir until the butter melts and the honey dissolves. Remove and cool to lukewarm (under 110 deg F).
• In a small bowl, combine the cereal and 1/2 oz of the hot water. Mix and set aside to cool, then combine with the liquid from Step 1.
• Combine the dry ingredients in a mixer bowl, stirring thoroughly.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry.
• Using a dough hook, combine on a low speed (speed 2) and mix for 6 minutes. If the dough seems sticky, add flour until the dough releases from the bottom of the bowl.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and knead to shape in into a ball, then place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk about an hour.
• Divide the dough into 2 oz portions, shape into balls and let rest covered for 5 minutes.
• With a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a 5 in disk, taking care to keep an even thickness. Let the disks rest on the work surface for 2 to 3 minutes, to help them retain their shape (they will want to shrink).
• Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and dusted with cornmeal.
• Dock each disk with a docker or with a fork, then cover and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 deg F.
• Brush top of disks with warm milk and sprinkle with oatmeal flakes.
• Bake for 13 minutes or until they just start to get golden brown. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.
• When the disks have cooled completely, slice in half horizontally with a sharp bread knife. Place in a bread bag or freezer bag and freeze to maintain freshness. Thaw for 15 seconds in the microwave.

LOW-CARB WHEAT THINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Mix all ingredients together.
• Transfer dough a silicone mat on a cookie sheet.
• Cover with waxed paper and roll out with rolling pin, glass, or can. The dough should be quite thin and of an even thickness.
• Remove waxed paper and sprinkle with additional garlic salt, if desired.
• Score dough into squares using a pizza cutter (don't press, or you'll damage your silicone mat).
• Bake for 15 minutes and check to see if crackers have started to brown. If the edges have started browning, remove those crackers, then put cookie sheet back into the oven.
• Check crackers at 5 minute intervals, removing any that are thoroughly cooked.
• Let cool completely and store in airtight container.

WHEAT THINS STYLE CRACKERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl thoroughly combine both flours.
• In a separate bowl whisk together the oil, salt and water.
• Add liquid mixture to the dry mixture, mixing only enough to completely incorporate. Do not over mix!
• On a length of parchment paper that will fit your cookie sheet roll mixture to a rectangle no more than 1/8" thick - the thinner the better - as uniform as possible. Work fairly quickly but don't overwork. Dust rolling pin lightly with flour as needed to keep from sticking if necessary during the rolling process.
• Carefully slide parchment paper and contents onto cookie sheet.
• Gently score mixture with a sharp knife at the desired cracker size but do not cut through!
• Prick each cracker section two or three times with a fork to allow steam to escape.
• Sprinkle lightly with salt or other favorite cracker seasoning mix, if desired.
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until crackers are crisp and light brown.
• Cool completely. Separate into individual crackers.
• Store in air-tight containers in a cool, dry place.

CRACKED WHEAT THINS

Steps:

• Pour boiling water over Red River Cereal.
• Allow to soak for 30 minutes.
• Combine shortening and sugar.
• Add flour and salt.
• Add the soaked grain. You might need a bit more water to get the right consistency.
• Divide dough into four parts and roll each as thin as parchment.
• Slide dough onto ungreased cookie sheet and indent it in squares with a pastry wheel or knife.
• Prick dough all over with force to prevent bubbling.
• Bake 400F 10 minutes.
• Remove, and break biscuits where you have them scored.
• For variety can add poppy seed, onion flakes, garlic powder, cayenne or paprika.

THIN SANDWICH BUNS

Steps:

• In a bowl sprinkle the sugar over the warm water, then do the same with the yeast. Add the egg and oil and combine. In a separate container, use a fork or a whisk to stir together the flour, bran, wheat gluten, and salt. Add 1/2 of this mixture to the wet ingredients and blend. This is the sponge.
• Let rise 30 - 45 minutes.
• Add rest of flour mixture and knead for about 5 minutes. I use my stand mixer with the dough attachment. This dough will be sticky.
• Spray 2 cookie sheets with cooking spray. Divide dough into 16 equal portions. This is a wet dough so instead of adding any additional flour, I weigh the dough on a food scale and divide it by 16. Then I weigh out each portion and put 8 on each cookie sheet. Don't worry about how it looks now.
• Take a 4" biscuit cutter and place it over one of the dough portions. If you wet the inside of the cutter as well as your fingers you can spread the dough into a perfect circle by using your fingers to flatten it to the inside edge of the biscuit cutter. (These will be very thin but they will rise). Remove the cutter, re-wet the inside and use it to do the same thing to the remaining 15 buns.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Let the buns rise until double in bulk, about 30-45 minutes.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Don't overbake. Cool the buns and then cut them in half for sandwich buns.
• Edit Note: Since I first started making these I've made 2 changes. One is that I make them in muffin top pans sprayed with Pam. No cutting involved.
• The other thing is that I use oat fiber instead of the wheat bran. I ordered oat fiber online. It is NOT the same as oat bran and is in many things these days, so I decided to try it instead of wheat bran. It is very high fiber, few calories, and pleasant tasting. Just use in moderation. In this recipe I use only 1/4 cup. It is 5 calories and 26 grams of fiber for the 1/4 cup. Also, it is more mild tasting than the wheat bran.
• Each bun has 108 Calories; 1g Fat; 5g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 13mg Cholesterol; 124mg Sodium.