Homemade Graham Crackers

I'm not sure when or why I decided I had to make homemade graham crackers, but once it was in my head, I couldn't get rid of the idea.  Some supermarket brands have extra additives and preservatives, and some have the "may contain/processed on the same equipment as... peanuts, eggs, etc" on the package.  (Obviously I don't have a Trader Joe's or other awesome grocery store near-by)  So I decided to make them, and reviewed several recipes on the internet.

I decided to go with this one from Two Peas and Their Pod.  I liked that it was almost all whole wheat flour and contained molasses (which is one of my favorite things!)

Ingredients-

½ cup all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 T honey
1 T molasses *I used 2 T.
¼ cup water, plus a little more if it is too dry

Combine all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Cut in the butter until the texture is dry and crumbly.

In a small bowl, mix the honey, molasses, and water. Mix with the dry ingredients until blended in the food processor. Pulse the dough until it forms a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface.  Roll the dough out thin and cut with cookie cutters, or you can do the traditional graham cracker shape. If you do this cut them into rectangles and poke each cracker with a fork.  I cut mine with a pizza cutter and let my daughter poke the holes in them!  Place them on a cookie sheet (I used a silicon mat).

Bake for 15 minutes or until they are golden brown and crisp. Store in an air tight container. They will keep for awhile.

I couldn't resist making some little 'teddy grahams' too!  I sprinkled these with cinnamon-sugar.

Someone was a fan! He especially liked the cinnamon-sugar teddy grahams, and I felt good about giving them to him as a snack.  Not to mention I didn't have to worry about an allergic reaction.  Always a plus.

My thoughts - The dough is delicious.  The baked cookie was good, but not great.  They are very crunchy, but not flaky and crispy like a store bought graham cracker.  I think I could have rolled them a little thinner; using butter instead of Smart Balance 50/50 may make a difference; and increasing the all-purpose to wheat flour ratio.  I'll definitely do that next time and see what happens. 

Overall, it was a fun little experiment & something the kids enjoyed helping with.  I'm sure I'll probably make them again, since the little man enjoyed them so much. 

Check in tomorrow, and I'll post some pics of what my girls and I did with them! Yes, it involves chocolate :D

I'm linking this recipe up with

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesdays @ 33 Shades of Green, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Made from Scratch Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday @ For The Love Of Blogs, Blog It Forward Tuesday, Feeding Four, Show and Tell @ Blue Cricket Design, At Home with Haley, Little Brick Ranch