Okay, so I decided to try making Carr’s Whole Wheat Crackers at home. I love those things, but they can be a bit pricey, so I figured, why not give it a shot myself?
Getting Started
First, I needed to gather all my ingredients. It’s a pretty simple list, actually:
- Whole wheat flour (obviously!)
- Some all-purpose flour, just a bit
- Salt
- Sugar – just a touch
- Baking powder – to give them a little lift
- Butter, cold and cut into cubes is the key!
- Ice water
Mixing it Up
I threw the flours, salt, sugar, and baking powder into a big bowl and gave it a good whisk. Then, I tossed in the cold butter cubes. The trick here is to work the butter into the flour until it looks like coarse crumbs. I used my fingers, but you could probably use a pastry cutter if you have one. It took some time and it’s very important.
Next, I slowly added the ice water, a little at a time, mixing until it just started to come together into a dough. You don’t want to overwork it, so I was careful not to add too much water at once.
Rolling and Baking
I turned the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneaded it just a couple of times to bring it all together. Then, I rolled it out super thin – like, really, really thin. The thinner you roll it, the crispier the crackers will be.
I used a pizza cutter to cut the dough into squares. You can make them any shape you want, but I went for the classic square look. Then, I pricked each square a few times with a fork – this helps prevent them from puffing up too much in the oven.
I placed the crackers onto a baking sheet (I didn’t bother greasing it) and popped them into a preheated oven. I think I baked them at around 375°F (190°C) for about 12-15 minutes, but I just kept an eye on them until they were golden brown and crispy.
The Final Result
I pulled them out of the oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack. And you know what? They were pretty darn good! They weren’t exactly like Carr’s, but they were definitely close. Crispy, a little bit nutty, and perfect with some cheese. I will make the crackers next time.
All in all, a pretty successful baking experiment! It was fun, relatively easy, and way cheaper than buying the store-bought ones. I’d definitely recommend giving it a try.
