Makes 18-24 crackers
You can make these crackers as soon as you make the dough, but the crackers will taste even better if you hold the dough overnight, like a soaker, allowing some enzyme activity
to occur before you bake the crackers the following day.
Dough
1 cup whole wheat flour (when I made the crackers for you, I used a mix of soft white wheat and hard red wheat. I kneaded in a couple of cups of all-purpose white flour when I was rolling them out)
½ teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons milk, buttermilk, yogurt, or rice milk
1 ½ tablespoons honey or agave nectar
or 2 Tablespoons sugar or brown sugar
4 tablespoons light olive oil or butter (I didn’t like how they turned out with oil)
Combine the 1 cup flour and the salt, milk, honey, and oil in a bowl and mix until the ingredients come together to form a ball of dough. Add extra flour or milk as needed to make a firm but tacky dough.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, adjusting the flour or liquid as needed; the dough should feel like modeling clay and have a satiny surface. It should not be soft and sticky or crumbly.
If baking the crackers immediately, preheat the oven to 350ยบ. Cover the dough with a cloth towel or plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes, then move on to next step if holding the dough overnight, form into a bowl, place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover loosely with a damp cloth, and leave at room temperature overnight.
When you are ready to bake the crackers, prepare the sheet pan by greasing it with butter. Cover your work surface lightly with a touch of oil, this will make it easier to lift the dough later. Transfer the dough to the work surface and, working from the center of the dough out to the four corners, roll it out into a rectangle, dusting the top of the dough with flour only if needed to prevent sticking. Roll the dough out as thinly as it will allow, about ¼ inch. If the dough begins to spring back, let it rest for a few minutes, then continue rolling until the rectangle it about 1/8 inch think.
Use a pizza roller or a pastry scraper to cut the dough into dough into whatever sizes and shapes you desire (small rectangles are suggested). Use the pastry scraper or a metal spatula to transfer the individual crackers to the prepared sheet pan. They should not touch, but they can be close together. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the crackers begin to turn a rich brown on both the top and the underside.
Let the crackers cool on the pan before serving. They will crisp up as they cool.
