Homemade Crackers

Today I decided to venture out and make some homemade crackers.  It's so hard to find healthy snack foods for our family.  Sure, I would love to be able to always give my children an apple or carrot sticks when they want a snack. But, many times they are pleading for some gold fish, crackers, etc.  After looking at the ingredient list for crackers such as wheat thins, etc., I just couldn't bring myself to buy another box and feed my family processed junk.  So, I came across a recipe today and thought I would give it a try...it looked easy enough!  This recipes originally comes from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking cookbook.

One of our sons seems to be having difficulty with some foods so we are experimenting with different flours, so I am giving spelt flour a try.  To see the benefits of spelt flour, see here.  I decided to stick closely to the recipe since this was my first time making them, but I may try substituting honey for the sugar next time.  I was glad to see it only called for such a small amount, though.  They have a subtle, sweet taste to them.  And, I'm wondering if coconut oil could be substituted for the butter???

After making these, I am so confused as to why the foods we buy have so many ingredients in them!  It would be one thing if the added ingredients were actually healthy, but they are not!  I would love to be able to buy healthy snacks, not spend a fortune, and know that I was not loading my children with food that was bad for them.  Until then...I guess I'll be researching more and more recipes so I can make stuff from home!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (I ended up using Spelt flour and it turned out great)!
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus extra for topping
1/4 teaspoon paprika
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup water (you might need to add a little more)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.

2. Add the flour, sugar, salt and paprika to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.  Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the bowl.  Using a pastry blender, mix the butter into the dry ingredients thoroughly.  Combine the water and vanilla in a small measuring cup or bowl.  Add to the butter/flour mixture and mix until a smooth dough forms. If the dough is still dry, add a little more water.

3. Divide the dough into 4 pieces.  Work with one piece at a time, keeping the others covered with a towel so they don't dry out.  Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin and roll the dough into a large rectangle.  Lift the dough and turn it as you roll to ensure it's not sticking.  You want to roll the dough as thin as possible, try to make sure it's 1/16-inch thick at most.  If you want all of your crackers to be perfect, trim the edges of the dough so you have a rectangle with even sides.  Use a pizza cutter to cut the rectangle into squares about 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide.

4. Transfer the dough squares to the prepared baking sheets. You can place them close together because they will not spread.  Sprinkle the squares lightly with salt.  Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the remaining 3 pieces of dough.  Save all of your scraps under the towel to keep the dough from drying out; reroll them all at once to create a final batch of crackers.

5. Bake the crackers, one sheet at a time, until crisp and browned, about 5-10 minutes.  Check the crackers at 5 minutes, and if some of the thinner ones are browning too quickly, remove them from the oven.  The crackers can burn quickly so you want to keep a close eye on them.  Remove crackers from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  Store the crackers in an airtight container.