I’m psyched to be hosting Finer Things Friday for Amy at The Finer Things in Life as she is at the Blissdom blogging conference, of which I am insanely jealous. But I digress. If it’s your first time here, welcome to Kitchen Stewardship! I’ve been teasing my readers about my homemade cracker recipe for weeks now, and I’m finally dishing it out. Definitely a finer thing. 
Think about crackers you enjoy eating. What do they have in common?
They be thin. They be salty.
The key to great crackers is to make them thin and don’t spare the salt!
Why Homemade Crackers?
It seems that more than anything else, people want healthy alternatives to packaged snack foods. It’s the toughest category to find a healthy upgrade for, in my opinion, because you need things that can hang out in a diaper bag or a desk drawer for days or weeks. Cheese and yogurt just don’t fit the bill!
Packaged crackers are notoriously unhealthy, between the often used trans fats, the even more often used polyunsaturated oils, the high salt content and the white flour. In whole grain crackers, you have the problem of extruded grains (Triscuits) which may damage the fats under high heat and pressure, or the phytates issue with unsoaked whole grains.
This recipe will satisfy even the pickiest cracker eater, if that picky cracker eater would go near Wheat Thins. It also is a true “real food” recipe with some slight modifications. It’s THE perfect cracker recipe to start with. Believe me, I started with some that were a little too “healthy” or too “tasteless and bland” perhaps.
Homemade “Wheat Thins” Style Crackers
Adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook
Ingredients
1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ Tbs sugar (or honey)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp paprika
4 Tbs butter
¼ cup water
¼ tsp vanilla
salt for topping
Method:
Mix ‘em: Combine the flour, sugar, salt and paprika in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and mix it in thoroughly, using your fingers, a pastry blender, a mixer or a food processor. Combine the water and vanilla, and add to the flour mixture, mixing until smooth. (Note: If you use honey, just mix it in with the water.)
Prep ‘em: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper. For crackers, I would HIGHLY recommend using a baking stone (I love my Pampered Chef Rectangular Stone
Roll ‘em: Divide the dough into 4 pieces; keep the other pieces covered while you work with one at a time. Lightly flour your work surface and your rolling pin and roll the piece of dough into a large rectangle, which should be at least 12 inches square when trimmed. Keep your pin and the surface of your dough evenly floured. Flip the dough frequently to keep it from sticking, but too much flour will make it difficult to roll. Keep rolling until the dough is as thin as you can get it without tearing, at least 1/16 inch thick. Trim the dough to even the edges and use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut the piece into squares approximately 1 1/2 inches wide. I skip the trimming and just deal with weird shaped crackers. Those go to the toddler right away!
Bake ‘em: Transfer the squares to a prepared baking sheet; you can crowd them together, as they don’t expand while baking. See, I get to skip this step, which seriously cuts down the time and failure stress of making homemade crackers! Sprinkle the squares lightly with salt, if desired. Oh, yes – do it! Just use real sea salt with all its minerals intact! Sometimes I also poke the crackers with a fork to make them look even more like the “real” thing. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Save the scraps under plastic wrap and reroll them all at once just one time.
Bake the crackers, one sheet at a time, until crisp and browned, 5 to 10 minutes. If some of the thinner crackers on the edges brown too quickly, remove them and return the remaining crackers to the oven to finish baking. These crackers bake quickly, so watch them closely – even 30 seconds can turn them from golden brown to toast!
Are they done? You want them to be almost crispy, but not totally breakable to deem them “done”, because they will crisp up a bit as they cool. You’ll learn after a tray or two the difference between “too soft” “done” and “oops”. They’re still tasty when they’re soft, just not so cracker-y. Remove the crackers from the oven and cool on the pan or on a plate; they cool quickly. These crackers will stay crisp for many days, but are best stored in airtight containers.
Soaked Variation
I’ll talk more about soaking grains as February wears on (welcome to Grains Month at Kitchen Stewardship!), but for now, if you feel you want to soak these crackers, it hardly changes the taste or texture, if at all. I figure I might as well! (What is soaking grains?)
To soak these crackers, you just make the dough as directed above except add 1 tsp. to up to the entire 1/4 cup of whey. Allow to sit at room temperature 12-24 hours. Salt may inhibit the soaking process, so you can add the salt right before rolling out if you choose. Simple!
Just a note: I’ve been making Sarah’s sourdough crackers even more often lately to keep my sourdough starter going strong. We weren’t sure we liked them the first time I made them, but I’ve since decided they must be good when the neighbor girl and her friend demolished half my stash last time they babysat!
Finer Things Friday: Link up here!
Healthy, portable snacks with real fats and whole grains are definitely a finer thing around here. What Finer Things are you celebrating this week? Link up and let us know. Remember to link to your post and not your homepage; also, leave a link back here so others can join the fun. Note: the linky says “recipe” but of course any post about a finer thing applies!
Example
Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship My fav Recipe Mmmm. Tell us here how great your recipe is and a smidgen of information about it.———————————————
I’d love to see more of you! Sign up for a free email subscription or grab my reader feed. You can also follow me on Twitter.
If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.
Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money. If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.
More Make-it-from-Scratch Foods:
This recipe is entered in The Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter Thursday and Things I Love Thursday at The Diaper Diaries.
Hungry for more? Related posts:
I am definitely going to try this recipe! Thanks for sharing it!
It Feels Like Chaos´s last blog ..Adoption is certainly not labor-free!
[Reply to this comment]
i’m so excited to try these! my husband loves wheat thins, but we hate the packaging (and are trying to cut out processed foods.) thanks.
suzannah @ so much shouting/laughter´s last blog ..love in a time of cholera
[Reply to this comment]
Wow! Homemade crackers, I would have never thought of that. Yum! Thanks for hosting!
Liz
Liz@HoosierHomemade´s last blog ..I’m Off to Blissdom
[Reply to this comment]
Yum! Homemade crackers ARE a finer thing! I make a similar recipe and sometimes add in spices for whatever taste I’m going for (Mexican, Ranch, Italian, or just Garlic). I also once made the BEST sesame crackers just by adding sesame seeds to the Wheat Thins recipe. I don’t really keep up with the amounts, but I think about 1/2 C to the recipe above would be great. I’m not sure they would roll out quite as thin though, as the sesame seeds might make the thinner ones too breaky.
I was thinking, I usually use EVOO in my cracker recipe. Recently I’ve wondered if the heat they’re cooked at might damage the oil. Any thoughts on that?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Jassica,
I do! I wondered the same thing and was pretty sure it was safe, but Rachel at Titus 2 Homemaker just shared a reference quote last week to prove it: See the facts at this post on baking with flax: http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/06/09/how-to-use-and-store-flax-seeds-and-flax-oil/
The short answer: it’s safe!
Katie
[Reply to this comment]
I would love to try these for my family, I think my hubby will love them. Can I put them directly on my Pampered Chef baking stone, or should I still use parchment paper with it?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Rebecca,
Right on the stone! I better go make that clear in the post – thank you!
: ) Katie
[Reply to this comment]
Renee Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
Do they go on a heated stone or room temp stone?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
I just use the cold stone, then on the second batch, it’s fairly hot, so I move quickly!
[Reply to this comment]
I came over here because of Amy’s finer things post, but now I have saved your site into my favorites. I do wonder are these crackers good with soups and stuff? I am gonna try making these crackers this weekend.
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Tammy,
Katie
They are good with everything! I might leave out the sweetener for soups, though, as a more bland, salty cracker would seem more appropriate. Glad you’re here!
[Reply to this comment]
I have been thinking that I need to start making crackers, so this post is timely! Many thanks for the soaked grain version recipe, plus the sourdough recipe link. Also, thanks for the idea to use my pizza stone for baking them!
[Reply to this comment]
We will definitely try these out this weekend! Thanks for sharing!
Stacy´s last blog ..Thrifting!
[Reply to this comment]
I’m going to save this. I reeeeeeeally want to wean my husband off N-b-sco saltines to something healthier. He has a thing for crackers and maybe this will fit his bill. Thank you!
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Carla,
Katie
My hubs couldn’t eat soup w/o saltines either. My trick is to put the homemade ones easier to get to and keep “running out” of the others. Eventually, he catches on.
[Reply to this comment]
This is the 2nd recipe I’ve seen for homemade crackers today, and I haven’t even been looking! I think the Universe is trying to tell me I need to make some. I’ve always wanted to and now I can see that they aren’t as difficult as I thought. Would probably be good with pico de gallo too, which is the recipe I’ve posted for today.
Melodie´s last blog ..When Not Breastfeeding Breaks Your Heart A Little
[Reply to this comment]
Twitter: ModernAMama
// Feb 5, 2010 at 4:42 pm
I used to make homemade graham crackers. Before we had to go grain-free. DD loved them. I’m not much for soaking, I would just do them with sprouted flour.
I have this thing, I don’t mind doing prep work in advance but then I want my ingredients ready to cook NOW! Or eat NOW! lol.
[Reply to this comment]
Twitter: sarahsmusings
// Feb 5, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Thanks for the link! I’ve actually just been thinking that I need to make another batch of my sourdough cheese crackers . . . mmmm! Yours look fantastic too!
Best,
Sarah
PS – The idea to cut them on the baking sheet is genius! Mine always get a bit wonky when I move them from cutting surface to baking sheet.
Sarah´s last blog ..Fifty Dangerous Things (you should let your children do)
[Reply to this comment]
I’m definitely trying your cracker recipe!! I’m so excited to find a healthier alternative to store-bought crackers.
[Reply to this comment]
Hospitality Haven :: Butter Chicken :: February :: 2010 // Feb 5, 2010 at 5:39 pm
[...] recipe is a finer thing, and it’s frugal with some of the changes I’ve [...]
I just finished making these crackers and they are so good! I can’t wait to try different spices. I used my pizza stone and they came out great. My girls keep going in the kitchen asking for more! This is the third cracker recipe I have tried-the other two went in the garbage because they were so bad but these are keepers! Thanks!
Morgan Conner´s last blog ..Snow Fun!
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Morgan,
Katie
I am so impressed that you tried them so quickly! Awesome review!
[Reply to this comment]
I just made whole wheat crackers — and I’ve been looking for a good wheat thin one! thanks.
SnoWhite´s last blog ..Sweet Potato Cake
[Reply to this comment]
Can I soak the crackers in buttermilk vs whey?
Heather´s last blog ..2010 Reading List
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 7th, 2010 at 5:21 am
Heather,
Katie
Probably/possibly, but I haven’t tried it. Buttermilk is on the “slightly acidic medium” list for soaking, I just don’t know how it would taste in the crackers. Worth a shot!
[Reply to this comment]
Yum, these look good. I may just try them. But why couldn’t you roll out on 2 baking sheets and put them on 2 different oven racks?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 7th, 2010 at 5:43 am
Yes, I do that sometimes, then switch top to bottom halfway through.
[Reply to this comment]
Twitter: Alli_n_Son
// Feb 7, 2010 at 3:37 pm
I’m been looking for a cracker recipe, this sounds perfect. I’m adding it to my must try list.
Allison´s last blog ..Why I Started Blogging
[Reply to this comment]
I just made these, they are great!! I had some trouble at first rolling out the dough. I found what worked for me was to put the dough on the stone with a piece of parchment paper on top. I then roll on top of the parchment paper. (Baking with no parchment, just on the stone) I forgot to sprinkle salt on one tray, they are not nearly as good.
Also, loved watching your video making mayo. It is neat to actually hear your voice and see how you work. I feel like I know you better now.
[Reply to this comment]
Thanks so much for hosting, Katie. If you ever get the chance… Blissdom is SO worth it!
Amy @ Finer Things´s last blog ..Finer Things Friday: Blissdom
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 12:34 am
I knooooooooowwww!
I truly wanted to be there and got to hear more from Jill @ Diaper Diaries at dinner tonight. I’m thinking about next year already!
[Reply to this comment]
I tried to print out the cracker recipe and related material without success. Is the print friendly button possibly in the wrong place on the page? I keep getting the message that Windows has stopped the program.
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 12:37 am
Hmmm, I tried it on another post and it worked fine. I can’t really access it to edit it per page, so I don’t know how to help. What a bummer!
[Reply to this comment]
Anne Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 4:09 am
I guess it’s not just this post that I’m having trouble with. I tried several other posts, and when I hit the “printer friendly” button, I get the message, “Internet Explorer has stopped working.” I think when you first added the button, it worked for me, so I don’t know what the problem is, but it must be something on my end. And I was so excited to have the print option. Do you think your computer expert husband might have any suggestions for me?
[Reply to this comment]
I know with baking stones you’re supposed to preheat them with the oven, so how do you roll out the dough on the hot stone?
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Sabrina,
Katie
I just use the cold stone, then on the second batch, it’s fairly hot, so I move quickly!
[Reply to this comment]
I am so trying this tomorrow!!!
Felicia´s last blog ..Baked Acorn Squash
[Reply to this comment]
I might try these this weekend. Now that I have mastered bread, I will conquer another carb
[Reply to this comment]
Baked Custard // Feb 16, 2010 at 9:36 am
[...] Kitchen Stewardship “Finer Things Friday” [...]
I just made these and my 6 year old said, “Mom, these are better than real wheat thins.” Okay, we haven’t bought them in over a year but STILL! Great review! this recipe is a keeper.
chanelle´s last blog ..My first giveaway!
[Reply to this comment]
Twitter: Alli_n_Son
// Feb 22, 2010 at 7:41 pm
I just made a batch of these, and they are amazing. Have you ever tried freezing them? I’d like to make a huge batch at once and freeze them in smaller portions.
Allison´s last blog ..ECO Store Gift Card Winner
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:15 am
Allison,
Katie
I haven’t, but I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t work great. I bet you could even freeze the dough for fresh crackers quickly!
[Reply to this comment]
Woo-hoo! I just made these and they are amazing! I feel like Sandy Duncan!
[Reply to this comment]
I’ve made these twice now with the second round being a double batch. I never knew crackers were so very easy to make. Thanks for the delicious recipe-I made the soaked version.
Holly´s last blog ..Starting seeds
[Reply to this comment]