Homemade Wheat Thins

What Thins. I feel as though they don’t need an explanation for why I love them so much. Frequently you will find me sitting on the couch with a block of cheese, knife and a box of Wheat Thins just going to town. Add a pile of fruit and I actually ate that for dinner one night. The mass consumption that occurs results in purchasing two boxes at a time in order to reduce grocery store trips. And I don’t think I could handle it if I ever ran out mid-snack session. But it happened (yesterday), and instead of high-tailing out the door, I decided to try to make them myself after seeing them on Tracey’s Culinary Adventures. Making things at home that I would normally never think twice about purchasing from the store is really neat, especially when it is quick and simple. And I could not stop eating them once they cooled down. Now I want to explore with making differently seasoned ones O:-). But never fear Wheat Thins, I still plan on picking up my usual stash from the grocery store, but I am definitely keeping this recipe around for whenever another shortage-emergency occurs!

Check back tomorrow to see the pomegranate-goat cheese ball I made to go alone with these homemade crunchy delights.

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1-1/2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt, plus extra for topping

1/4 tsp paprika

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/4 cup water

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
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.  Then, using a pastry blender, mix the butter into the dry ingredients thoroughly.  Add water and vanilla to the butter/flour mixture and mix until a smooth dough forms (add slightly more water if needed – which I did).
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 don’t need to leave much space in between the crackers – they don’t spread at all in the oven.  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; re-roll 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 to a plate and return the remaining crackers to the oven to finish baking.  The crackers can burn quickly so you want to keep a close eye on them.  Once brown and crisp, transfer to a plate to cool.  Store the crackers in an airtight container.

*If they are under-cooked they will be kinda chewy – not preferred for a cracker! So I didn’t mind when a few turned a bit more brown.

Source: Tracey’s Culinary Adventures