Homemade Wheat Thins Style Crackers

Homemade Wheat Thins Style Crackers

http://www.tammysrecipes.com

Homemade Wheat Thins Style Crackers

Description:

Easy homemade whole wheat crackers that taste remarkably similar to Wheat Thins! Thin, crunchy, and salty -- you will love these crackers!

Yield:

About 8 ounces of crackers

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold butter, sliced
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Salt, for topping

Instructions:

1. Combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, sugar, and paprika in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a fork or pastry blender, until small crumbs form. Or, combine the dry ingredients and butter in a food processor bowl and pulse until crumbly.

2. Make a well in the center, and add the water and vanilla. Stir to mix, then use clean hands to knead a few times, just enough to form a ball of dough. (Add just a tad more water, only if needed.) Divide dough into two pieces and cover with a clean towel.

3. Lightly grease two 11x15-inch baking sheets* and sprinkle lightly with salt. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

4. On a lightly floured counter, roll each piece of dough into a thin rectangle approximately 11x15 inches. (Be sure to lightly flour the dough as you roll, so it doesn't stick to the counter!)

5. Transfer the sheet of dough to the baking sheet. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut dough into squares. Trim edges if desired. Sprinkle tops with salt.

6. Bake at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes, until crisp and lightly browned. Crackers will become more crispy as they cool, so don't over-bake! (Remove edge crackers that are getting too dark if the middle crackers aren't quite done yet, and continue baking.)

7. Remove baked crackers from sheets and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cool, plain or with dips or and store leftover crackers in a sealed bag or container.

Roll out the dough to fit your baking sheet, place on the sheet, and then cut with a pizza cutter into squares

Additional Notes:

*I used stainless steel, but you can use whatever you have. Other options include lining the sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, or using a baking stone (increase baking time if using a baking stone).

Original recipe ingredients from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cook book. Instructions and photos are my own.

I don't trim the edges before baking, so we snack on these first! :)

Preparation Time:

15-20 minutes

Cooking Time:

5-10 minutes

Tammy's Review:

These crackers are very good! They taste quite similar to Wheat Thins.

I think these crackers are fairly easy to make. When you consider the high price of a box of "real" Wheat Thins, these crackers are well worth the time!

Yes, it's a small chunk of time. I estimate 15-20 minutes to make the crackers, and then 5-10 minutes to bake. And then there's the clean-up. But the kids can help make these, and have a great deal of fun with it, too!

And, the amount of work involved can be reduced if you use a food processor to blend the butter into the flour.

Perfect Granola Bars

Perfect Granola Bars
http://michellesnewrecipes.blogspot.com/

1/2 cup and 1/3 cup butter, softened (13 1/3 tbsp.)
1/2 cup honey (6 oz.)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup brown sugar (2.7 oz.)
4 1/2 cups oats (15 oz.)
1 cup whole wheat flour (4 1/2 oz.), or all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup add-ins (i.e. chocolate chips, cranberries, etc.)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl (or stand mixer). Press into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 325º for 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack; gently press down on bars after baking to flatten (I use a small, flat cutting board to press down on them). Cut into 24 bars (4 by 6). Store in an airtight container.

Auntie Anne’s Pretzels

Auntie Anne’s Pretzels

1 1/2 C. warm water
1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast (1 1/2 pkg.)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/8 tsp salt
1 C. bread flour
3 C. regular flour
2 C. warm water
2 Tbsp baking soda
To taste, coarse salt
2 – 4 Tbsp butter (melted)

Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often.

After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in oven at 450 for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

Tidbit Treats

We were invited to a snack-o-licious New Year's Eve party and I brought these Tidbit Treats for my sharable snackie.

Ingredients: 1 package of Little Smokies, I can of pineapple (reserve the juice) and half a cup of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce.

Begin by slicing each Little Smokie in half. Slicing these in half allows you to make 80 bite sized treats.

Next, open your can of pineapple, make sure to set aside about 1/2 a cup of the juice. (Swig the rest if you'd like!)

I normally slice 3-4 rings at a time, making 10 sections per ring. Cans of pineapple typically contain 10 rings- so a) you can nibble a couple of rings if you are hungry, or b) you will have extras in case you have a slicing malfunction!

First add a piece of pineapple to a toothpick- wider side towards the top. Then add half of a Little Smokie to cover the tip of the toothpick. SO CUTE!

Keep up the great work with the rest of the pineapples and Smokies...

Then layer the Tidbit Treats into a small crock pot (mine is a 1.6 quart). I needed to make double- decker layers in my little crock pot.

Lastly, add 1/2 a cup of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and 1/2 a cup of the pineapple juice and turn the crock pot on low. Allow the Smokies to warm and then serve!

Homemade Croutons

I purchased a loaf of Italian bread, but you could easily make a smaller batch of croutons with leftover bread. Ingredients: bread, butter, olive oil and spices.

Because I am using an entire loaf of bread, I have melted one stick of butter and I have stirred in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Reduce this mixture if you are working with a smaller quantity of bread.

To prepare the bread, first slice your bread similarly to the thickness of a typical slice of sandwich bread.
Taking 3-4 slices at a time, cut the bread into 1" slices.

Turn the slices 90* and finish slicing the bread into 1" cubes!

I find it easier to work with smaller batches, it helps to evenly coat all of the bread cubes.

Drizzle the butter and oil mixture over the cubes, and mix thoroughly.

Mmmm, your cubes will look just as yummy as these! (Not saturated, just coated!)

Go ahead, eat a few... just don't eat too many or you'll have fewer croutons to enjoy later!

After you've finished taste testing your buttery cubes, add some of your favorite spices. I've added my ol' stand by of Good Seasons Italian salad dressing mix AND some dried Rosemary- I definitely recommend the Rosemary!!!

Spread an even layer in the bottom of a pan. Bake at 375* for 10 minutes, flip all of your half crispy croutons and bake for another 8-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on your crisping croutons- especially during the second half of the baking!

I prefer 2 metal 9x13's so that I don't accidentally toss half of my croutons off of the pan when I flip them half way through baking.

These croutons are a perfect addition to any salad! We are BIG salad eaters in our home, so I thought that I'd share some of my favorite salad add-ins.

Romain lettuce (best current price is $3.99/2 pound bag of pre-washed, pre-cut leaves at Gordon Food Service).

Cheddar, mozzarella, feta, diced eggs, bacon crumbles, grilled chicken, sliced steak, thinly sliced deli meat, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrot slices, sliced strawberries, dried cranberries or cherries, canned pineapple chunks, canned mandarin orange slices and, of course... yummy croutons!

And be sure to try my favorite 'homemade' salad dressing!

Cream Cheese Chili Dip

Cream Cheese Chili Dip

1. Soften the brick of cream cheese on an oven safe/microwave safe shallow dish (2 inches is all that is necessary).

2. Pour the chili over the cream cheese and lightly sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese (too much shredded cheese makes it hard to scoop with a chip!!!).

3. Bake for 10 minutes at 350*, or until it is bubbly and soft, or microwave for 90-ish seconds.

4. Enjoy with tortilla chips!

WARNING: You'd better make two... this dip gets eaten quickly!!!

Applesauce

Often, my local Meijer will have a reduced rate fruit and vegetable cart on display around 10 in the morning. I'm happy to spend 33% of what these items would usually cost in return for consuming them quickly.

In the past I have purchased banana's for making banana bread, lettuce for dinner the same night, and even vegetables like pea pods and broccoli that I turned into a stir fry dinner later that evening. With a little bit of creativity and flexibility meals made with fresh ingredients can become much less expensive.

Yesterday I picked up 6 apples and 4 pears... all bruised and pretty ripe. I'm pretty sure that in the state that I brought them home in- that they would not have been consumed...

But after peeling (which was super easy thanks to the fruit being very ripened)and slicing...

And boiling (for 20-30 minutes) the apples and pears with half a cup of brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla (my secret ingredient)...

Then, just mash with your potato masher and serve either warm or out of the fridge.

Viola! and Yumm-o if I do say so myself!

The near-dozen apples and pears yielded about 9 cups of apple/pear sauce! If you feel like you can't consume this much sauce (ahem, you have yet to take a bite...) than feel free to freeze some for later! I wish that I could have bottled the aroma from the cooking... it was ridiculously yummy!

***An extra special thank you to my Mother in Law, Pam Webber, for introducing me to this yummy treat!