Homemade Crackers

I can still picture the look on my mom’s face when I told her I was going to make home-made crackers. She had this look that was a combination of shock and “okay sure..good luck with that”. Little does she know, this recipe was incredibly easy to make, and the result was absolutely delicious!

These crackers are unlike any other cracker you’ll find in the grocery store (they’re much better), but if I had to pick the closest option, it would be Wheat Thins. Unlike Wheat Thins, though, these homemade ingredients contained only real ingredients and nothing artificial or processed.

If you go to the grocery store and look at the ingredients listed on a box of Wheat Thins, here is what you will see:

Let’s dive in a bit deeper to see what these ingredients actually are, shall we?

• Whole Grain Wheat Flour – So far, so good! Anytime you see the word “whole” in front of a flour, that’s a sign that it’s truly made from whole grains. These flours are less processed and contain more fiber, making them a better option than enriched or white flours.
• Sugar – I can’t complain, because the recipe I made also contains a small amount of sugar. However, sugar is listed as the second ingredient of Wheat Thins, meaning it’s the second-most common ingredient – yikes!
• Soybean Oil – The main type of fat found in this oil is omega-6 fat, which is a pro-inflammatory fat. Even though we do need some omega-6 fats in our diet, we should be consuming far more omega-3 fats in relation to omega-6. Soybean oil is very processed (often made from GMO soybeans) and therefore is damaged and doesn’t provide all of the nutrients it should be providing. Plus, as I mentioned, soybean oil is an omega-6 fat, which promotes chronic inflammation in your body, which is an underlying issue for virtually all chronic diseases from diabetes to arthritis to heart disease.
• Cornstarch – There really isn’t anything bad about cornstarch, but there really isn’t anything great about it, either. This starch made from corn (go figures) is often used to thicken mixtures, but it’s relatively high in calories for the small amount you use, and it really doesn’t have any nutritional benefits to offer.
• Malt Syrup – Malt syrup is a liquid sweetener (similar to honey or molasses) made from soaked and sprouted barley. Its flavor and consistency resembles molasses, and it is often used as a replacement for molasses in breads, sauces, or baked goods. The main carbohydrate (or sugar) in malt syrup is maltose, which has been known to cause rapid spikes in blood sugar, which is not a good thing. Plus, it’s a lot less sweeter than regular sugar, so you have to use a lot more of it in order to actually taste its sweetness. You’d be much better sticking with regular old sugar as opposed to using malt syrup.
• Salt – This is another one of those ingredients I don’t have an issue with. Salt is needed to add flavor, and there’s actually not too much salt in these Wheat Thins, so it’s not a major concern.
• Invert Sugar – Even though it sounds like something fancy, invert sugar is no different than your regular white sugar. At room temperature, invert sugar is more soluble in water, meaning it dissolves better and is smoother (unlike sugar which can be grainy). Because of this, it’s often used in syrups, candies, baked goods, soft drinks, yogurt, or ice creams. However, don’t let it fool you – invert sugar isn’t any healthier than regular sugar.
• Leavening – Does anyone else get a little worried when it says calcium phosphate and/OR baking soda? How can it be OR? Do they not know what ingredients are going into their product? That’s a big red flag for me when not even the ingredients label can clarify what’s in the product!
• Vegetable Color – Personally, I don’t care if my crackers look like the colors of vegetables. I’d much rather eat natural crackers than crackers with added ingredients to make them look a certain way.
• BHT – Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) is a preservative added to foods to help keep it from going bad. When fats and oils in foods are exposed to air, a process called oxidation occurs, causing the food to lose flavor, texture, color, and even nutrients. (It’s also the same process that causes old cars to rust). However, BHT interferes with this process, making the food last longer without going bad. Multiple studies have found that BHT can be carcinogens and cause cancer in animals, and one study stated that BHT has been linked to “an increased or sometimes decreased risk of cancer in animals”. The fact that they don’t even know whether or not it’s harmful or dangerous definitely isn’t a good sign! I’d much rather eat fresh food before it goes to waste, rather than buying products packed with potentially harmful ingredients to make it last longer!

As you can probably guess, I’m not a big fan of many of the ingredients found in Wheat Thins, which is why I’m more than happy to make my own crackers, even if it does require more work. But the good news is that it’s really not all that much work at all, and the end result tastes much better than store-bought crackers!

To make the dough, all I had to do was add the ingredients to the food processor, mix it up, and then roll it out. Doesn’t get much easier than that, does it? The trick is to roll it out as thin as possible, because the dough will actually raise slightly when it’s baked. Therefore, the thinner you roll it out, the less chewy/more crispier it is when it bakes.

After rolling it out as much as I could, I used a pizza cutter to quickly cut the dough into small squares, and then lined them on my parchment-lined baking sheet. I even got fancy and decided to use a fork to poke little holes in them, but that’s totally optional.

Next up, it was into the oven they went. After about 10 minutes of baking, I pulled the sheet out and flipped each cracker individually to make sure that they all baked evenly. Then it was back into the oven for another 6-8 minutes until they were nice and golden brown.

My goal was to let them cool off completely before I tried them out, but I was just too eager to try them and couldn’t wait any longer. So I had to dive right in. Let’s just say that these babies didn’t last very long after they came out of the oven. They were so flavorful, perfectly crispy, and unlike Wheat Thins, they did not have a cardboard consistency to them.

I just so happened to make some homemade hummus that night, as well, which made the perfect dip to dunk these crackers into! Homemade crackers and homemade hummus… it just doesn’t get much better than that! I put the leftover crackers into a container and sealed it up, and the next day they still tasted just as fresh. I’m sure they’ll stay fresh for a few days as long as they’re sealed, but I can’t say for sure because every time I make these, they’re gone by the second day!