Whole Wheat Crackers Recipes

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.

WHOLE-WHEAT-AND-SESAME CRACKERS

Steps:

• In a bowl, whisk together flour, sesame seeds, sugar, and coarse salt. Work butter into flour mixture until crumbly. Stir in cream with a fork until dough forms. Shape into a 2-inch-wide log. Wrap in plastic; freeze 1 hour or up to 3 months.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut log into 1/8-inch-thick rounds; arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with sesame seeds and sea salt. Bake, rotating sheets once, until edges are golden, 14 to 16 minutes. Let crackers cool on a wire rack.

WHOLE WHEAT CRACKERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Sift flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl.
• Add brown sugar and butter and cut into flour with pastry blender or 2 knives.
• Add milk gradually, tossing with fork to moisten evenly. Add a few drops more milk if mix seems dry. It should not stick to the bowl or your hands.
• Divide dough into 4 pieces and press each into a ball and flatten slightly.
• Place each cake of dough between 2 pieces of wax paper and roll with rolling pin to about 3/16 inch thickness.
• Peel off top piece of wax paper and flip dough over onto ungreased cookie or pizza sheet.
• Cut into squares or any shape you like. A pizza cutter is good for this.
• Prick all over with a fork, then bake at 375 degrees until lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes Watch closely because crackers brown quickly. If the crackers on the outside brown before the center, remove the outer crackers and continue to bake the rest.
• VARIATIONS: For variety, you can add herbs to the dough, or sprinkle crackers with poppy, caraway or sesame seeds before baking.

WHOLE WHEAT SEEDED CRACKERS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, seeds, and salt together in a bowl. Stir in oil and 6 to 8 tablespoons water and knead until dough forms a ball. Divide dough into quarters and pat each one into a rectangle. Roll into a 10-by-4 1/2-inch rectangle 1/8-inch thick.
• In a small bowl, mix honey with 3 teaspoon water and brush over crackers. Prick crackers several times with a fork and sprinkle with desired toppings. Bake, rotating once, until crackers are golden brown and crisp, 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool completely.

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.

HOMEMADE WHOLE GRAIN CRACKERS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the racks positioned in the middle and upper third. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Mix together the flour, sesame seeds and salt in a mixing bowl, in the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. If using a mixing bowl, add the oil and cut in with a fork. If using a stand mixer, mix at medium speed. In a food processor, pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Add the water, and mix with your hands, or at medium speed in a mixer or in the food processor, until you can gather the dough into a ball.
• Lightly dust your work surface and roll out the dough, or roll out between pieces of parchment, plastic or wax paper. Cut into desired shapes -- squares, diamonds or cookie-cutter shapes -- and place on the baking sheet, close together but not touching.
• Bake 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned, switching the sheet trays front to back and top to middle halfway through. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool on racks.