Crispy Wheat Crackers Recipes

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.

SESAME CRACKERS - THIN AND CRISPY

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, dissolve the yeast and the honey in the warm water. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, until the yeast activates and a foam cap forms.
• Mix in the salt and the sesame oil. Using the dough hook attachment, incorporate the whole wheat flour and all but a handful of the bread flour. Knead until a smooth, elastic dough develops. Keep adding more flour if necessary. Incorporate the sesame seeds. Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover and place in a warm place for 1 hour to proof.
• Cut the dough into 4-6 pieces. Flatten each piece with your hands or a roller to about ¼ - inch thick. Cover the dough pieces with a piece of plastic wrap and let relax for 15 minutes. Roll each piece out to #6 setting on the KitchenAid pasta roller attachment, which is about 1/64 inch or about 0.5 mm thick (see notes).
• Lay the rolled out dough on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut the dough sheets into crackers of the desired size and shape. Large triangles or wedges work particularly well. Bake immediately (do not let them rise, or the crackers will be thick instead of thin and crisp) at 375°F (190°C) until deep golden brown (see notes). Rolled out to #6 they need 14-15 minutes of baking.
• Store in airtight containers.

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.

WHEAT CRISP CRACKERS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Mix flour, sugar, salt, and paprika together in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add butter and mix until small crumbs form. Slowly add water and mix until a semi-stiff dough forms. Divide dough in half.
• Roll on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch; cut into desired shapes and transfer to a baking sheet. Lightly prick each cracker a few times with a fork or toothpick. Sprinkle with additional salt. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and lightly bronzed in color, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cool and store or serve as desired.

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.