Wednesday, July 4, 2012

14 Gluten Free Graham Crackers


Hey everybody! I hope my fellow American readers are having a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July today! (And that all my non-American readers are having a good Wednesday so far.) Today is the first Wednesday of the month, time for another Gluten Free Ratio Rally. This month we took on the task of adapting Crackers and Breaksticks.
I decided to go the sweet route this month and make gluten free graham crackers. I always loved the molasses taste to graham crackers, and the crunchy texture of them as well. They're perfect for delivering cream cheese and other spreads to your mouth, but more importantly awesome for Smores! What better way to celebrate the Fourth of July!
The ratio for graham crackers is:

5:3.75:1.25:1
flour:sugar:butter:milk

It took a little experimenting to find the correct blend of flours. I settled on a blend of a variety of flours, a few of them for notable reasons. I used brown rice flour because it is normally more course than white rice flour, so I chose this to assist in obtaining the texture I wanted for graham crackers. I also chose millet flour because its commonly used in flatbreads, so I figured it would be perfect for a cracker.
From dry and wet ingredients...
Thank you to Rachel of the The Crispy Cook for guiding us this month in our culinary expedition. Be sure to check out her Ratio Rally blog post. Check out her Cilantro Crackers and links to everyone else's recipes
To an extremely sticky dough...
Another thanks goes to the Smitten Kitchen for inspiration on the recipe. Check their original recipe here.
To a rolled out sheet of dough ready to be cut.

Makes: about 30 3x3 crackers
Active Prep Time: 40 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 4 hours
Bake Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
100g sweet rice flour
75g brown rice flour
50g millet flour
75g tapioca flour
75g potato starch
2 tsp xantham gum
175 g dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
100g cold butter, cubed
110g honey
75g 2% milk
2 tbsp gluten free vanilla

Steps
In a large bowl, mix together the flours, starch, gum, sugar, and soda until combined. Cut the cold butter into the flour until the butter is well distributed throughout the flour. You'll expect to see small pea sized amounts of butter throughout the dough.

Whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla in a separate bowl. Gradually add to the flour, and stir until well combined. Expect a sticky dough. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Split the dough into two halves. This makes it easier to work with before the dough warms up. Keep one half in the fridge. Cover a cutting board with a piece of parchment paper, and generously flour with tapioca flour. You'll need to do this or else the dough will stick to the paper. Believe me. From this point on any rolling pins, knives, or fingers need to be dusted with tapioca flour before touching the dough or else they will stick. Roll out one half of the dough until it is a thin sheet of dough. You'll want about 1/8th of an inch thickness. If you don't have a ruler, use the nail of your pinky finger as a good gauge. If the dough is thicker than the length of your pinky finger nail, it needs to be thinner.

Using a knife dusted with flour, cut the dough into squares, about 3 inches by 3 inches. Transfer to the baking sheets. Once all the dough is cut, repeat the rolling and cutting for the second half of dough. Place the cut dough in the fridge for about 10 minutes before placing in the oven (this helps them keep their form). Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, and you'll have gluten free graham crackers. 

Enjoy!

14 comments:

  1. That looks like the perfect s'mores! Well done for the cracker round!

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  2. These look great! I've been craving S'mores now that it's summer, and these would be perfect!

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    1. Yup! They were super tasty, i was also happy with the texture.

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  3. Wow these look awesome!! Congrats on a great looking success! Never tried gluten free "graham" crackers before :)

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  4. Graham crackers are one thing that I miss most after going gluten free. My mom used to make us ice cream sandwiches with graham crackers and vanilla ice cream on hot summer nights. But I just can't stomach spending $6 for a tiny box of the gluten-free version. Thanks for the recipe!

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    1. Wow, graham cracker ice cream sandwiches sound tasty! I still have a few crackers left over, I definitely need to try to make those. Thank you for the idea!

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  5. I love graham crackers!! These look terrific and I am anxious to try your version out!!

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  6. Graham crackers. [sigh] Many may not consider them 'comfort food,' but that's what they are to me. Thank you for sharing your recipe and bringing sweetness to this month's challenge!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I hope you get the chance to try and enjoy them!

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  7. Just a quick note from Camp Brigadoon in Nova Scotia!

    We went with...

    100 g Tapioca Flour
    50 g Golden Flax Flour
    150 g White Rice Flour
    75 g Potato Starch

    ... and kept the rest the same....

    I found the Golden Flax gave it a nice nutty flavour!

    Love this website!

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    Replies
    1. Awesome! I'll definitely have to try that flour mix! Thanks for the share!

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  8. Graham crackers are so versatile, ice cream sandwiches, so-mores, pie crust , and in candy. I have to try out your recipe soon in preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

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  9. I'm really a newbie to gluten free baking.
    I'd love to try this recipe, but how/were can I find a conversion chart for the 100 g flour, 75 g potato starch, etc. I'm not at all familiar with those measurements.
    Thanks for ANY help.
    Diane

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