Graham Crackers with Teff Flour

Graham Crackers with Teff Flour

Adapted from Blue Heron Kitchen

If you’re interested in exploring and working with flours and grains that take you beyond the all-purpose white or whole wheat arena, I recommend you get a copy of Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce. It’s a fantastic resource.

Teff flour is known, primarily in Ethiopian cuisine to make injera, a flat, spongy bread that's served with just about all Ethiopian food. It offers twice as much iron as wheat and it’s loaded with calcium too. It’s another one of those miracle grains like Quinoa that people outside of “civilized culture” have been eating for centuries. We’re just getting it.

Don’t know where to find Teff flour? Bob’s Red Mill is a great resource. If you don’t live  near a market that carries this line, buy it online, directly from the company.  In this recipe, I also use and recommend Bob’s Red Mill’s whole wheat graham flour (organic or not organic, your preference.)

Gluten 101: This isn’t my first recipe for graham crackers. The original one I published calls for the addition of spelt flour. Graham, spelt and teff flours have in common that they’re all low in gluten. Gluten is the protein that binds stuff together, like bread. The more you mix or beat a batter or a dough, the more gluten you’re creating. When you roll out a pie crust and it shrinks back to the center, saying “NO!”, it’s because you’ve worked it too hard and there’s all this gluten activity. (You should put it back into the fridge and let it relax for a while before rolling it again.) Lower gluten flours produce a softer or product. Nobody likes a tough cookie. Not enough gluten, and your cookie crumbles.

You can play around with the spices (I did). I used a mild ‘golden blossom’ flavor honey, and as always, if you can get your hands on it, European style butter (83% butterfat). Brer Rabbit brand molasses is unsulphered and it isn’t blackstrap. The recipe calls for (“not blackstrap”). Blackstrap may be too dominant a flavor. If you only have blackstrap molasses, or are committed to it for its nutritional powerhouse value, use it and you could lighten up a little on some of the spice profile (or not). I’m on the fence about cloves in this recipe. In certain products, cloves are akin to wearing red lipstick. You decide. Cloves are personal.

Don’t forget to score and ‘dock’ the crackers. “Docking” means using the tines of a fork to prick tiny holes in each cookie. This keeps them from rising when they bake. You can be exact or random. Docking is tedious relaxing!

You won’t need anything but measuring devices, a whisk, a couple of bowls and a rolling pin and you. An electric mixer isn’t necessary, but using one will put this together faster than you can say, “Walmart screws women and Mexicans!”

peace and love,

jane

Grahams

With Teff Flour

Adapted from Kim Boyce’s Good to the Grain by Blue Heron Kitchen

Ingredients:

Dry Mix:

1 c. graham flour

½ c. teff flour

¾ c. all-purpose, unbleached flour

½ c. dark brown sugar (be certain that it’s moist and fresh – no lumps!)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground allspice

1/8 tsp. ground cloves (opt.)

Wet Mix:

3 oz. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (Plugra, Cabots, Kate’s, Kerrygold are all great choices.)

¼ cup honey

1 Tbsp. unsulphured (not blackstrap) molasses

1/3 c. whole milk

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I recommend Baldwin’s)

Topping (optional):

¼ c. sugar

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Procedure:

1.            In a medium to large sized bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, baking powder and spices. Then, whisk in the (fresh and lump-free) brown sugar. Set aside.

2.            Over low heat, melt the butter and set aside

3.            (Truc: For an easy pour, coat the inside of your measuring cup with tasteless oil or soft/melted butter.)

4.            Measure out the honey and add the molasses.

5.            Pour milk, honey and molasses into a smaller bowl. Add lukewarm butter and whisk together. Add vanilla extract.

6.            Pour wet mixture over dry and mix together, using a wooden spoon and then your hands.

7.            Flatten into two discs and wrap in plastic wrap.

8.            Refrigerate for several hours, overnight, or up to three days.

9.            Baking: Preheat oven to 350º F. and line several baking sheets with parchment paper (or butter them).

10.         Dust the work surface with flour and roll the chilled dough out to 1/8” thickness. Using a pastry wheel, fluted or non-fluted, a sharp knife, or you can use cookie cutters to make cute shapes, cut rectangles, whatever size you fancy your graham crackers. You can cut them out completely or cut out strips and leave some partially ‘scored’ and break them apart after they’re baked. It’s fun to do this.

11.         Dock them with the tines of a fork and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

12.         Transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

13.         Bake for approximately about 15 minutes, until the edges are darker than the rest    of the cracker, rotating the sheets half way through the bake, top to bottom and front to back. 

14.         Remove from sheets and cool on rack.

15.         If you don’t polish them all off with some cold milk, these are the bookends for the ultimate s’mores.  Use homemade plain or flavored (Grand Marnier!) marshmallows (click here for the recipe!) Choose a black tie chocolate bar like Lindt, Godiva or Valhrona or even Hershey's dark, and you've got  S’Mosts.  

16.         Unless you live in a humid climate or are at sea (and provided you’ve baked them thoroughly), these will keep for a week in an airtight container. They may be packed well and frozen.