Homemade Artisan Wheat Crackers

Homemade artisan wheat crackers are a great way to once again use food storage. Store what you eat and eat what you store is a way that food storage can be advantageous for you today and in years to come. We call this a living food storage — a food storage that progressively gets used and then replaced. One advantage of this type of storage is that food doesn’t go bad or expire and you are learning to use it and make recipes that can become family favorites. 

I have always wanted to learn to make homemade crackers. They look easy and I have tried several recipes that honestly didn’t make the grade. This recipe that I want to share with you took me a couple of times to get a result that I really liked. A friend of mine made the same recipe so I knew that this recipe could be successful, so I pressed forward and kept tweaking the recipe and now want to share it with you so you can have success the first attempt. Using a kitchen scale ensures extremely accurate measuring of ingredients. I use a kitchen scale for the grains and butter in this recipe.

Crackers are a great pairing with cheese, fruit,  and pickled or fermented foods. Theses crackers will remind you of wheat thins. I also used a ravioli/pasta cutter to have a nice edge. These crackers are packed with whole grain goodness, no preservatives, healthy salt, and a healthy sweetener.  They can also have any seasoning or fresh herbs that you like. Flaked sea salt is also beautiful on these crackers.

Homemade Artisan Wheat Crackers

• 180 grams spelt grain, ground into flour
• 60 grams soft white wheat grain, ground into flour
• 60 grams hulled barley, ground into flour
• 80 grams hard white wheat, ground into flour
• 4 tablespoons agave
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon Real Salt
• 113 grams butter, softened
• ¾ cup water

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine spelt flour, soft white wheat flour, barley flour, and salt.
3. Blend in butter thoroughly until smooth.
4. In a measuring cup, combine water, agave, and vanilla. Blend together.
5. Add liquid to butter and dry ingredients and mix for about 45 seconds just to blend. Dough will be sticky. Begin to add the hard white wheat flour and mix until just slightly sticky to the touch. Flatten the dough into a circle, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
6. Divide the dough in thirds. On a lightly floured surface and using a large lightly floured rolling pin, begin rolling the dough from the middle out. Roll to paper-thin. Cut the dough to fit a cookie sheet. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased cookie sheet, moving the dough carefully.
7. Using a ravioli cutter, cut the dough into desired squares.
8. Sprinkle with desired toppings.
9. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Rotate pan in oven after 5 minutes of baking. Crackers should be golden brown. All ovens cook differently. Watch the crackers carefully in case your oven requires more or less time to cook to golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely. You will know if they were rolled to the correct thickness if they snap when eaten and are golden brown. After completely cooled, store in an airtight container to ensure freshness.

I challenge you to make these delicious crackers.  As we see living costs rising, it feels very empowering to make delicious foods for our families to stretch our disposable income. This recipe makes a lot of crackers. I know you will enjoy this recipe and it will become a family favorite.

Sources:  Elissa Ogden, Kitchen Kneads Family Cook Book