Homemade Graham Crackers

The kiddos are huge graham cracker fans.  We eat them like they are going out of style.  Since I try to cut out on preservatives by making what I can at home, I thought I would give homemade graham crackers a try.  Would they notice?

The first time I made them, Logan helped me. We used the same cookies cutters we used for our Christmas cookies. I think he was expecting the finished product to taste like the cookies, so he wouldn't eat them.  The next time I made the graham crackers I cut the dough into rectangles so they looked more like the store bought ones, and he loved them. Kids are weird.

Graham Crackers

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup butter or shortening (I use butter)
* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I use light brown sugar, because that's what I have, but dark brown sugar     might make them darker)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (sometimes I use a little more)
* 2 cups whole wheat flour (I use graham flour)
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon cinnamon (we like cinnamon, can use less or omit)
* 1/2 cup milk

* cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter (or shortening) and brown sugar. Stir in the vanilla. Combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Cover and chill dough until firm. It may seem really hard after chilled, but it softens when rolled.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into rectangles, or use a cookie cutter for fun shapes. Place 1/2 inch apart onto the greased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp. Edges will be golden brown. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

My Favorite Pancake Recipe

We are HUGE breakfast eaters. Pancakes are our favorite! Tonight I am even making them for dinner. This is the best recipe I have found and I love it because you can actually make the mix ahead and store it in your fridge for up to 3 months. I think you can get 3 batches of pancakes out of one batch of mix. This recipe is from "Whole Grains For Busy People" by Lorna Sass, a cook book that I have mentioned before. Enjoy!

Pancake Mix

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 months in an air tight container.


Pancakes

1 large egg
1 cup of buttermilk (I never have buttermilk on hand, so I replace it with yogurt and milk to equal 1 cup. Enough milk added to the yogurt to make it not so thick. Or you can use a cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon added.)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup pancake mix

Mix all ingredients. Drop about by about 1/3 to 1/4 cup scoops onto a buttered and heated pan/griddle. This batter is pretty thick, so you will have to flatten it a bit when cooking :) I usually get about 10 pancakes out of a batch.

I almost always add other things to my pancake batter. Fruit is good- apples, peaches or bananas. I will add spices too, depending on what fruit I use. 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and/or cardamon.  I also use flavored yogurt if that's what I have in the fridge. Tonight I might add coconut and raisins (never tried this before, might be an update on the outcome!).

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

When I was at the flea market on Sunday I found a cook book called "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld (yup, Jerry's wife). The recipes all have a hidden ingredient of some kind of veggie puree. This one has carrot puree. Just steam some carrots and stick them in the food processor with some water until they are pureed. Since I do this for Sophie's food anyway, it's kinda convenient. I made these as a special breakfast treat. Enjoy!!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

non stick cooking spray
1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy)
1/2 cup carrot puree
1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons trans-fat free soft tub margarine spread (yeah, I don't buy this stuff. I used about a tablespoon of slightly melted butter and they were fine)
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt (I used a tad more to make up for the lack of margarine)
1 large egg white ( I accidentally dropped the yolk in there and it came out fine)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup low sugar strawberry, blueberry, or grape preserves (I used raspberry. This is perfect for cleaning out the fridge and using those jellies that you have no clue how long they have been in there for. They are getting cooked, right, so that will kill anything>LOL)

Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter, carrot puree, sugar and margarine with a wooden spoon until well combined. Stir in the yogurt and egg white.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined, but do not over mix- there should be some lumps in the batter.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups and drop a spoonful of preserves on top of each.

Bake until the tops of the muffins are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center, 20-25 min. Cool on wire rack.

Store in an air tight container for up to 2 days, or wrap individually and freeze for up to a month.

A Must Have For The Cook Book Shelf

I am a cook book addict. I check out every new cook book that comes into my library. Usually, I will find one recipe I like and will take the time to copy it down. Maybe, I will even get around to trying it. Well, my library books are due tomorrow and this is one that I don't want to return. I have already renewed it, twice, so it's time to say good-bye. We will meet again.....when I get my own copy.

"Whole Grains For Busy People", by Lorna Sass, is a must for anyone interested in cooking with whole grains. And not just for the recipes. The first chapter is a guide to whole grains. LOVE it. This is one reason why I need my own copy. Too much information to write down. Too many pages for my lazy butt to photo copy. There are actually charts in this cook book that show "at a glance" the different types of whole grain pastas, breads and flours. For example, the whole grain flour chart, has headers like "Easy to Grind at Home?", "Taste", and "Texture in Baked Goods". Since I try to make most of my families food from scratch, this is awesome! Sass even shares her formula for substituting white flour with wheat flour in recipes. I haven't tried it yet, but will share if it works. Wait, can I do that or is that a copy-right thing?

The second reason why I need to get this book is because of the mix and quick bread recipes. There are 'make ahead and refrigerate mixes' recipes for pancakes, biscuits, and muffins, among other things. We are a big breakfast family so I LOVE this idea. I am also a recovering Bisquick addict and am going to try the biscuit mix as a substitute.

The other recipes aren't too shabby either, and they are all easy and quick. Most call for ingredients that are already in the house, or are easy to substitute with what you do have on hand. Since my little guy is on a pasta and rice kick, these recipes have come in handy.

Well, I think I'm going to have to start typing up a couple of recipes tonight to hold me over until I get my own copy. And I think it's gonna be cold enough in the morning to try one of the oatmeal recipes for breakfast. HMMMMM, maybe Chai-Spiced Oatmeal....

FYI, I am not getting anything for this "review" if you could call it that. Nor was I asked to do this. This is just me, sharing my new cook book discovery. When you find a book you like, don't you just want to tell everybody?!