Homemade Crackers!

Good Morning!

I know I could have saved this for next Food Friday, but I didn't feel like it! I made a batch of these last night and really wanted to share them. Out of the blue the other day I decided I wanted to try making crackers. How hard could it be? My main reason was because my little man LOVES crackers, and I know that many of them are loaded with sugar. So instead of deprive him of him beloved crackers, why not serve him some that are made just how I want them? Sounds good to me.

I found a recipe online for peanut butter whole wheat crackers. It sounded easy and tasty so I gave it a whirl. Well, in the end I didn't roll them nearly thin enough and they were kind of weird. I decided to give them a second try afterwards because there seemed to be a lot of potential there. I tweaked the recipe and tried again. I spent a lot of time making them nice and thin... And they turned out great! They're not what you or I would probably want in a cracker - they're kind of soft and bland, but they're awesome for toddlers.

Peanut Butter Banana "Crackers"

Ingredients:

1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 over-ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp ground flax seeds
2 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk peanut butter, banana and water together until relatively smooth. Add baking powder and flax seeds. Mix well. Add flour and mix until combined [it really helps to get your hands in there for this part]. Form the dough into a ball and place it on a floured surface. Knead it to be sure it's thoroughly mixed. If the dough is really soft, add some more flour. The dough should be more on the stiff/dry side. Flour (don't grease) a cookie sheet and roll the dough out on the cookie sheet.
If you want the crackers to be very thin, you should have some dough leftover after filling the whole cookie sheet, but I was ok with the thickness of the whole batch on one cookie sheet. Once the dough is rolled out on the cookie sheet, score it with a knife to make whatever size of crackers you want. Bake for 10 minutes. Let the crackers cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes then transfer to a rack to cool. Once cool, break along score lines into individual crackers.

And finally, enjoy knowing that your little one isn't filling up on junk!