whole wheat crackers with sea salt

Happy holidays folks!

Has anyone ever been to the PA  Amish country and tried any of their cheeses or spreads? Well, my office was lucky enough to receive a HUGE basket of goodies from there. Let me tell you, if you can try any of their goods, please DO.  We’ve yet to open a cheese, mustard or fudge that we haven’t LOVED.  The first day we opened the basket I ran to the store and got us a bunch of french bread to eat it with.

Then I started to feel a lil more ambitious.  I’ve never made crackers before but we were in a time of NEED so I sucked it up and decided to give it a try- buying crackers and bread for 14 people gets expensive.   I turned to my trusty friend the internet to help me find an easy, non-intimidating recipe.  Anyone ever read the 101 cookbooks blog?  She’s got a fantastic database of healthy recipes! Any how, this is based on her Olive Oil Cracker Recipe.  I changed the flours and seasonings but used her recipe as a sort of base guide.

My ingredients are as follows:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat graham flour

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/2 tablespoons dried Italian Herbs

1 tablespoon large grain sea salt (for sprinkling on top of your crackers before they bake)

1 cup warm water (you may need a 1/4 cup more than this because of the wheat graham)

1/3 cup olive oil

The recipe called for a pasta machine and the use of a mixer.  I did it all by hand and it was quite easy so I’d say it isn’t worth dirtying all those extra dishes.

Mix the flours with the salts.

Then add in the olive oil and stir with a fork or your fingers until the dough forms pea-sized balls.

Add the water- a cup- and work until your mixture forms a dough the dough should not be too sticky or wet (have about a 1/4 of a cup on the side in case you should need more)

I formed my dough into 8 round balls so it would be easier to roll out with a rolling pin.

Let the dough rest for about 20 mins while my oven heated to 375 degrees.

Roll one of your dough balls out as thin as you can get it. Tip: I like to roll the dough on parchment paper then move the parchment straight unto a baking sheet and into the oven.

Poke the dough with a fork so you won’t get any bubbles then sprinkle with sea salt and into the oven

Bake for 7-8 minutes

Flip your dough then cook another 3 mins

I cooked in batches (two of the dough balls at a time)

Let your crackers fully cool on a cooling rack before trying to break them up or eating them (they get more crisp if they cool off)

Bring into work (or keep for yourself) and enjoy. I wish I could tell you how long they keep for but since I brought them into work, they lasted me less than 24 hours!  I’m honestly wondering why I’d ever purchase crackers again because these were so easy.

Hope you have the time to make them!

Teddy