Homemade Wheat Thins - 2nd try

I really want these crackers to work and so I tried another recipe.  I really like the taste of these.  They have that sweet nutty flavor of store bought wheat thins, but the texture is wrong.  I don't think it's totally the recipe though.  Sad sad day, my wheat grinder fell of the counter (I was moving it and it's REALLY heavy). Anyway now the flour is very coarse.  Trial 3 is going to have to be some combination of the two recipes.
This dough was much harder to work with,  and the resulting crackers were really flaky and kind of crunchy.  Not a bad texture, just not wheat thins.  The kids liked this one much better than the first.

Wheat Thins again . . .

2nd try

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
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

Cut the butter into flour, sugar, salt, paprika mixture.  Stir in water vanilla mixture.   Roll out really thin (1/8 of an in).  I took the easy way out and rolled the dough right on a greased cookie sheet.  Using a pizza cutter cut out your crackers.  Poke with a fork several times on each cracker for a more authentic look.  Bake at 400 F for 5-10 minutes.  But really watch it they burn easily.  Remove the crackers from the pan while they are still hot.  As they cool the stick to the pan and crumble when you remove them.

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1st try at homemade wheat thins

Wheat Thins

I've been wanting to try to make Wheat Thin crackers for awhile now and the fates finally aligned to make that happen today.

I used a simple recipe from a Bee Prepared A Provident Living Resource but found the identical recipe on several Internet sites.

Store bought Wheat Thins

Homemade "Wheat Thin" Crackers

Homemade Wheat Crackers

1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c. white flour
1/3 c. oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1 c. water


In large mixing bowl, combine the flours.  In a blender (I used the Magic bullet) blend the oil, water and salt.  Add liquid mixture to dry, mixing well but as little as possible. Roll out very thin on an un-oiled cookie sheet - not more than 1/8" thick. I found it worked best to just use a glass to roll it out.  This recipe covered most of two 10 x 13 cookie sheets.
Score with a knife or pizza cutter (but don't cut all the way through the dough).  Prick each cracker several times with a fork.Sprinkle lightly with salt or onion salt, if desired.

Bake at 350F until crisp and light brown, about 25minutes. When cool,
separate into individual crackers.






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I've been sitting here snacking on these crackers and some Wheat Thins from the store.  They are definitely NOT the same cracker.  That said the homemade ones aren't bad.  The texture (from the whole wheat flour, is a bit flakier, more like a graham cracker) and they are not as crisp.  The color is more brown.  The first difference I noticed though was the taste, the store bought crackers are sweeter.  I found that I didn't want to eat the homemade ones without something to dip them in or a piece of cheese on top.

I love how easy this recipe was to make, but I think I'd like to try a recipe with a bit of sugar or maybe even honey.  A lot of the on-line recipes had paprika too.  Another difference between this recipe and other on-line ones is oil vs. butter.  I think using oil probably makes it easier to make, but I'm betting the butter makes a better tasting cracker.  I'll have to get back to you on that.   (The next time I'm in the mood to grind whole wheat flour).

Graham Crackers and Whole Wheat Bread

Ever since we had that opportunity to buy wheat I've had wheat on the brain.  I've wanted to share some more "cooking with wheat" ideas.  Today I finally had the chance and I tried out two recipes.  Actually tried out one and made one I've made before.

Part Wheat Bread and Graham Crackers

The Graham Crackers were a new experience and actually turned out quite yummy.  Here's the recipe.

2cups whole wheat flour (I used hard red wheat because that is what I found first)
1 cup oat flour (I ground rolled oats in my wheat grinder, another first for me)
2/3 cups + 2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup butter
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp milk

Sift flours, sugar and soda.  Melt butter with honey and milk and stir into dry ingredients.  Chill for at least 1/2 an hour.  Roll out to about 1/4 in thick.  I rolled it between two silicon pads, it's crumbly and sticky.  The first batch I cut into squares and then they melted together on the pan.  The second batch I just rolled out big rectangles and put them on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes.  Cut while they were still hot before they get too crunchy.   They are good plain but delicious in an ice cream sandwich.

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The dough is kind of crumbly and stick, but it tastes good!

Rolling out between two papers or silicon pads really helps

As I'm not going for pinterest pretty here, I found just rolling a big rectangle and cutting while it's hot easier than making individual crackers.

Poking with a fork might have made them more "graham crackery" looking

This was delicious, crispy crackers and ice cream.

Part Whole Wheat Bread

2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp.yeast
1 Tbsp. dough enhancer
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp oil
4 cups wheat flour
2 cups white flour

Heat your oven to 160 degrees and then turn it off.
Mix all ingredients together, knead (or mix) until the dough is elastic, around 5 minutes.  Divide into 2 loaves and put in greased bread pans.  Raise in warm oven for 25 minutes.  Bake for 30 minutes at 350 F.

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Add honey butter for the perfect snack

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