Homemade Cheese Crackers

Homemade Cheese Crackers ready to please the kid crowd.

Do you have any Cheez-it fans in your house like me?  If allowed, I could go through a whole box in one sitting, but MaMa doesn't think that's the best idea, so when she saw this recipe for Homemade Cheese Crackers she was all over it!  She took a processed favorite and made it into something even more than halfway healthy.  Can't complain about that when they taste this much like the store bought variety.  :)

Ingredients for Homemade Cheese Crackers:
(adapted from Prudent Baby)

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese
1 c Joseph's Grainery Soft White Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temp
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground mustard
2-3 Tbs cold water

Directions:  Grate the cheese in your food processor using the grater attachment, then switch it to the blade attachment and add the flour, salt, butter, and spices.  Pulse until it resembles a crumbly mixture.  Slowly add  the water until a ball of dough forms.  Remove the ball and divide it into two halves.  Place each half between  two sheets of plastic wrap and let chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Roll the dough out between the layers of plastic wrap.  Using a pizza wheel, cut the dough into squares.  Use a toothpick to poke a hole in the center...just so they look a little more like the ones that come out of a box.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  If they are soft in the center, continue baking for a couple more minutes.

Whole Wheat Graham Crackers

Graham crackers are a staple at our house, me being almost 2 and all, everything goes in my mouth and I'm a bottomless pit.  Graham Crackers are one of my favorite snacks, so my MaMa thought she'd try to make them a little more healthy for me.  Here's what she did:

Ingredients:

1 c Joseph's Grainery Soft White Wheat, ground in blender to stone milled flour consistency

1 c all purpose flour

1/4 c sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1/4 c oil

1/4 c honey

2 Tbsp milk

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking powder.  In another bowl, beat the egg until it is light, then add the liquid ingredients.  Stir into the dry ingredients.  Wrap the dough in waxed paper and chill for 1 hour (or longer).  Turn the dough on a floured surface and knead gently.  Roll it out to 1/16 of an inch thick.  You'll need a lot of flour on your work surface...it's a booger for sticking.  Cut the dough into 3 inch squares, pricking each square a few times with a fork.  Place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet and brush the tops with milk.  Then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon if desired.  Bake them for 15 minutes (sometimes a little longer - it all depends on the thickness of your crackers).  Once you take the crackers out of the oven, place them on a wire cooling rack.  Your kids will love them!

Whole Wheat Crackers

This recipe is so simple and the crackers are sooo yummy!  We had them this weekend with a big bowl of soup...perfect for a cold winter day!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c Joseph's Grainery Soft White Wheat, ground into a coarse flour using blender

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/3 c vegetable oil

1 c water

salt for seasoning

Directions:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium blow, stir together the two types of flour and  3/4 tsp 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 of an ince.  Place dough on an ungreasd baking sheet and makr squares with a knife, but don't cut through, just score.  Prick each cracker with a fork a few times and sprinkle with salt.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until crisp and light brown.  When cool, remove from baking sheet and seperate into individual crackers.

Recipe from allrecipes.com, submitted by "Ray Anne"