Cooking for Seven

Some things are a bit difficult to make at home. Like whole wheat crackers. It’s just hard to make them crispy, tender, and tasty.

Here’s a recipe that comes very close.

Notes:

I experimented by adding spices, Parmesan cheese, and nuts to make the crackers more flavorful. The original flavor is very nice as well. Please, experiment! Get creative!

The dough is very similar to pie dough and should be handled gently for tender crackers.

To get perfectly even crackers, you can roll them out using a pasta rolling machine.

Wheat Crackers

Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup finely chopped nuts (I used sunflower seeds)
• 1/4 cup raw sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• Scant 1/2 cup milk
• Kosher salt, for spinkling

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 325°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2) Mix together the flours, nuts, raw sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter. Gradually add milk until the dough comes together.

3) On a floured surface, roll out 1/3 of the dough very thin - about 1/16 inch. Sprinkle with salt, spices, cheese, etc., if desired. Cut into squares, triangles, circles, or whatever shape you wish. Transfer to prepared baking sheet.

4) Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Makes approximately 8 dozen crackers.

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Here is my current favorite whole wheat biscuit recipe. We love to use them for biscuits and gravy. Delicious!

Note: I usually significantly reduce the amount of buttermilk. I’m not sure why, but these always turn out very wet for me. I recommend that you start with less buttermilk and add more as needed.

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Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

From Relish Magazine

Printable Version

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (8 oz) whole-wheat pastry flour, divided
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk, plus more if needed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450° F.

To mix using a food processor:

1) Place 1 3/4 cups of the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in food processor fitted with the metal blade and process briefly to combine. Add the butter and toss lightly with a fork to coat the butter with flour. Using 1 second pulses, mix the butter until it resembles course meal. Do not over-mix.

2) Transfer the flour mixture to a bowl. Add 3/4 cup buttermilk; stir with a fork until the dough gathers into one large lump. Add more buttermilk if necessary.

To mix by hand:

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and toss lightly with a fork to coat the butter with flour. Using a pastry cutter, a fork, two knives, or your fingertips, cut the butter into the flour. Work quickly to keep the butter firm.

2) Add 3/4 cup buttermilk; stir with a fork until the dough gathers into one large lump. Add more buttermilk if necessary.

Continue for either version:

3) Transfer dough to a flat surface sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup flour. Roll the dough to coat with flour then pat out into a rough rectangle about 1/2-inch thick and fold into thirds. Repeat the patting and rolling. Pat the dough out to a thickness of about 1 inch. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut out biscuits and place onto an ungreased baking sheet, placing the biscuits 1 inch apart as they will spread.

4) Bake 10-12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.

Makes about 12 biscuits

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I have been making this recipe for approximately 6 1/2 years. We printed the recipe (simply entitled Peanut Butter Cookies IX) from allrecipes on a thin sheet of paper. The page has been torn and has grease marks and purple scrawls. Penciled in next to the ingredient list are the measurements for doubling and TRIPLING the recipe. Yes, we like these cookies.

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Of course, I have made some (healthy) changes to the original. If you would like to make the cookies as they were intended to be, simply use 3/4 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cup white sugar in place of the raw sugar, regular peanut butter, and 3/4 cup white flour and 1/4 cup whole wheat.

Enjoy!

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup demerara sugar or sucanat or rapadura
• 3/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour (aka soft white wheat)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup regular rolled oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 ° F.

2) In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), cream together the butter, sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the butter and sugar mixture. Add the oats and chocolate chips.

4) Form the dough into balls the size of golf balls and place on an ungreased or parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten the balls slightly.

5) Bake in the preheated oven for 8-12 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and let the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before storing.

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.

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Last year, my sister Janna gave me Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads for Christmas. I haven’t baked very many loaves yet, but the ones I have tried have been very tasty.

Hearth Breads are baked directly on the hearth (without a pan) to create a nice, crispy crust. I baked mine in a very hot oven on a stone.

As with most of Peter Reinhart’s breads, the dough was soaked overnight to produce superior flavor. There are only a few tablespoons of non soaked grains in this bread.

I must confess that this bread was nearly a disaster. When I scored the risen dough, it deflated pitifully. Then, when I attempted to transfer the loaf from the pizza peel to the oven, it slipped onto the floor. Not to be daunted, I simply picked up the lump of dough, placed it back on the pizza peel, transferred it to the stone, and shut the door, hoping it would regain it’s height in the oven.

Thankfully, the dough rose very nicely in the oven. I am quite pleased with this recipe and hope that next time I bake something from Whole Grain Breads I will not have quite so many mishaps.

This is my entry for World Bread Day.

Here is the roundup

I am  definitely a Minnesota girl. When the weather turns cold, I rejoice! And I get an itch to bake delicious, sweet things. Like these muffins. And this pie.

Our apples didn’t do so well this year. There were quite a few deformed apples, but I am thankful for what we did get! It is so nice to be able to munch on an apple whenever I wish.

These muffins have a lovely blend of flavors. Chunky apple pieces, nutty whole wheat flour, LOTS of cinnamon (1 whole tablespoon), and crunchy sugar granules on top.

“Do these have the same ingredients as apple crisp?” my brother asked.

They do resemble that delicious dessert.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

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Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 cups (8 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup demerara sugar, sucanat, or rapadura, divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk or yogurt
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

1) Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour or line with paper muffin cups 14 muffin cups and set aside.

2) Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add 3/4 cup of the sweetener of choice. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the buttermilk gently. (If you over-mix, the buttermilk will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.

2) Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm with butter.

Yield: 12-14 muffins