I've been reading about the wonders of coconut oil, but I don't
have experience baking with it. So, late one night while
looking for recipes to use coconut oil, I came across this recipe
for
homemade graham crackers. Graham crackers? I just love
graham crackers and usually eat one sheet a day with milk.
When I read the recipe, questions popped in my mind.
(Pop!)
Why don't they use graham flour? Is there such a thing as
graham flour? How will it taste with coconut oil? What
kind of oil is in my box of store bought graham crackers?
So I looked at the side of the box....and there is was......
hydrogenated soybean oil....
YUK :-( That made me
determined to make Homemade Graham Crackers. They were
delicious! The coconut oil made them moist. And what flavor!
They were so good! They even made the milk taste better!
This recipe makes 30 biscuit sized crackers. They should
keep in an airtight container for weeks, but we could only
keep them a few days before they were eaten. Making the
cookies were a little labor intensive, but that was fun, too.
DH helped me roll out the cookie dough and cut the cookies
with a biscuit cutter. I had to poke holes in the cookies with
a fork, but it didn't hurt me! Ha! I hope you try these. I just
can't say enough about how good they were. No more store
bought graham crackers for me!
Homemade Graham Crackers
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
5 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut oil (chilled)
3 Tablespoons chilled butter cut into small pieces
2 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon molasses
1/4 cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Blend together all dry ingredients in a bowl. With a
pastry
blender, food processor or your finger tips, work in the
butter and coconut oil until small even particles are formed.
(The author of this recipe prefers using a food process to
do this and I will try it with one next time.) If you use a
food processor, the coconut oil can also be chilled and the
blade will break it up into small pieces. Otherwise, the
coconut oil should be room temperature so that it is softer
and can be worked by hand or with a pastry blender.
Mix together the honey, molasses, water and vanilla extract
and sprinkle this mixture gradually into the dry ingredients,
tossing with a fork until the liquid is evenly incorporated.
Press the dough together into a ball. It may be crumbly, but
do not add water. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for several
hours or overnight. (At this point, the dough smells YUM!)
Halve the dough. Let it soften for about 15 minutes. Roll
the dough out to pie crust thickness. Prick the dough all over
with a sharp tined fork and then cut into approximately 2.5"
squares or cut with a biscuit cutter. Transfer to a parch-
ment covered baking sheet with a spatula, placing them
very close together, almost touching. Repeat the process
with the remaining pieces of dough.
Bake the crackers on the middle shelf of a preheated 350
degree oven for about 15 minutes or until browned (graham
cracker color). If underbaked the crackers will not develop
either flavor or texture. Transfer from the parchment to a
wire rack and let cool completely, then store in an airtight
container.
I work such long hours during the winter that I don't have
time to cook as much as I would like. But I certainly do
collect wonderful recipes from your blogs! Thank you for
posting what you are cooking! Have a great week!
Love,
Lottie (Please, pass the milk!)
