Homemade Wheat Thins

I've begun to make more and more of our food at home.  I still prepare almost all of our meals but now, I've started to make some of the foods we used to just buy from the store - baguettes, granola bars, English muffins, bagels, cereal (a new venture for me), and crackers.  These latest crackers are not difficult at all - the recipe only has a few ingredients and since there's no yeast, you don't have to wait around for the dough to rise.   We really liked these mock wheat thins - not only are they tasty and pretty easy but they just look good, too. Using a pizza cutter to cut these crackers is a great tip because it gives them beautiful straight lines so they actually look similar to store-bought crackers.  Just without the suspicious additives and high price.  Served with some Tillamook cheddar cheese or hummus (or plain), it has been the perfect evening snack for us!

Homemade Wheat Thins

Taken from: Two Peas and Their Pod

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus extra for topping
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup water (you might need to add a little more)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
2. Add the flour, sugar, salt and paprika to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.  Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the bowl.  Using a pastry blender, mix the butter into the dry ingredients thoroughly (I used two knives to cut the butter into the flour mixture instead).  Combine the water and vanilla in a small measuring cup or bowl.  Add to the butter/flour mixture and mix until a smooth dough forms. If the dough is still dry, add a little more water.
3. Divide the dough into 4 pieces.  Work with one piece at a time, keeping the others covered with a towel so they don’t dry out.  Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin and roll the dough into a large rectangle.  Lift the dough and turn it as you roll to ensure it’s not sticking.  You want to roll the dough as thin as possible, try to make sure it’s 1/16-inch thick at most.  If you want all of your crackers to be perfect, trim the edges of the dough so you have a rectangle with even sides.  Use a pizza cutter to cut the rectangle into squares about 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide.
4. Transfer the dough squares to the prepared baking sheets. You can place them close together because they will not spread.  Sprinkle the squares lightly with salt.  Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the remaining 3 pieces of dough.  Save all of your scraps under the towel to keep the dough from drying out; reroll them all at once to create a final batch of crackers.
5. Bake the crackers, one sheet at a time, until crisp and browned, about 5-10 minutes.  Check the crackers at 5 minutes, and if some of the thinner ones are browning too quickly, remove them from the oven.  The crackers can burn quickly so you want to keep a close eye on them.  Remove crackers from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  Store the crackers in an airtight container.