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Homemade Whole Wheat Crackers

Due to my recent cracker making success, I decided to try my hand at making savory crackers. After much searching, and realising that there are not a lot of simple cracker recipes to be had, I came across this one by Mark Bittman. How can a man who wrote a book titled How to Cook Everything be wrong? Of course, I didn’t want some boring, plain flour crackers, so I made a few modifications.
These were simple to throw together, and had a good feel and texture. They weren’t quite as nice and flakey as store bought crackers, but that is probably because my butter wasn’t really chilled. They tasted good, though. The only real problem was that not all of my crackers were crisp all the way through. Most of them were cut in roughly one inch squares, but the slightly larger ones seemed to retain some softness in the center. Even the large ones firmed up as they cooled, but I think that I will be more careful about cutting them equally in the future.
I’ll definately make this recipe again. I like the seasonings I used (I have used them to make crackers in the past), but I think they would do very well with variations, like sesame seeds, black pepper, even brushed with vinegar and salt.

Whole Wheat Crackers

1 cup wheat flour

1 tbsp wheat bran

1 tsp corn meal

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp honey

2 tbsp butter, chilled

1/4 cup water, plus 1-2 tbsp, if needed

Sprinkle with salt, black pepper, cumin and paprika before baking

Combine all ingredients except water in a food processor and process until well combined. Add water and continue to process until mixture startes to come together into a dough.

Between two sheets of parchment or wax paper, roll out the dough into a rectangle of about 1/4 inch thickness. Refrigerate the dough for about 1/2 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out to approximately 1/8 inch or less. Sprinkle dough with salt and/or toppings of your choice. Use a pizza cutter to slice into 1 inch squares, discarding excess dough. Score each cracker with a fork or several pricks of a toothpick. Transfer crackers to a parchment lined baking sheet and space out slightly.

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes, until edges are brown.

Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

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13 Comments
  • Ana
    April 25, 2005

    Nic, these crackers look really good. I just might try them. At least with these we can control the amount of fibre and other good things.
    I really would like to do so many things, especially crackers, cookies, etc., so that I have them at home and do not need to rely on store bought that have all the hidrogenated fat…but halas! With renovation, taking care of the house and the blogs I end up letting some things go by the wayside. Darn!!!

  • Nic
    April 25, 2005

    Ana – On the positive side, think of all the fun you’ll have baking once your schedule opens up. A veritable baking extravaganza – and a good celebration for finishing the renovation.

  • Margarida V
    April 25, 2005

    hi

    loved the blog.
    i too love cooking and have been planning to take a course.
    will visit you blog all the time to see the recipes.
    if you want visit mine, and leave comments.:)

  • Tea
    April 25, 2005

    I must say, those crackers look so professional! Glad to hear they taste as good as they look! ^-^

  • Nic
    April 26, 2005

    Margarida – Glad to hear that you’re enjoying my recipes!

    Tea – To get the even slices, it’s best to use a pizza cutter rather than fuss with a knife. Thanks so much for the compliment!

  • Niki
    April 26, 2005

    Hey, they look fab! There are a couple of savoury cracker recipes in Nigella’s Domestic Goddess, incidentally. I’d recommend cooking from the British version with the ingredients by weight rather than volume if you want real accuracy in the recipe, though.

  • Nic
    April 26, 2005

    Oh yeah, Niki. I do try to cook by weight when I can (and I should do it more!), but often I’ll stick with the original units that a recipe came in/started in. I’ll have to check on Nigella’s recipes, though, thanks!

  • Jessica
    April 26, 2005

    Yum! I’d prefer these over the hydrogenated fat kind. Any idea how long these keep? (Pity about baking at home: things have a short shelf life!)

  • Nic
    April 26, 2005

    Jessica – I have to admit that (since this makes a fairly small batch) all my crackers were gone within two days. My graham crackers kept for about a week in a ziploc bag, even considering that I opened it many times. I suspect that the crackers would keep for at least several days.

  • Alice
    April 28, 2005

    Yum, homemade crackers! I’ve always wanted to make some. I especially want to make homemade animal crackers…I’m betting you’ll beat me to it, though. I like that these yield a smallish batch…I hope to get a chance to make them soon.

  • Pepper
    October 28, 2006

    Just wanted to drop you a line and tell you that I made these, and they were very good. Will definitely make again. I left off the extra salt, pepper, and cumin at the end and didn’t have quite a full cup of whole wheat flour so I had to use about one third of a cup of white flour.

  • […] original crackers several times, but I wanted to try a thinner, crispy cracker this time. I found this simple and easy recipe from Baking Bites and gave it a try with much success. Try these with a yummy white bean dip… it’s good […]

  • […] (Recipe adapted from Baking Bites) […]

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