I remember a time when making Valentines were fun. This was way back, of course, when my oldest son (now 19) was young. We would make homemade Valentines for his class, complete with a little treat or homemade cookie. The teachers would get a special one with a larger cookie, and maybe a little candy. We might do a little decorating at home. I might even be ambitious enough to make fudge...
Not so today. I usually chinse (you can find chinsy in the Urban Dictionary) out and just get store bought Valentines, put a candy "Kiss" on them and send them into class. Yes, the teacher gets the teacher one from the box (usually the bigger one), and two candy kisses instead of one! I then hope that Grandma sends some candy so I don't have to make anything at home and call it a day. No, my husband doesn't usually do anything for Valentines as for many years now he would be out of town at a trade show and figured that was a good enough "out." I do remember a lovely engraved bracelet he gave me one Valentine's Day, but that was back before we had children. He will be in town this year, it will be interesting to see if he remembers...
Anyway, as you can see Valentines is not on my list of important "holidays" anymore. With my youngest in 6th grade, I hope this is the LAST Valentine's Day I will have to worry about getting Valentines for school. I am pretty much over that.
So, what says "Happy Valentine's Day" more than graham crackers! Okay, they don't say anything about Valentine's Day at all. Still, graham crackers are a great cookie/cracker. They are often overlooked except to play a role in Smores. But, they are only the "supporting" (pun intended) role in the the production, outmatched by the marshmallows and chocolate. Of course, if you have little ones around, graham crackers take on a different meaning as they are often a sweet snack of choice to give out when your first choice of carrots sticks is met with them being thrown across the kitchen. To be honest, I usually just skipped the sticks and would go straight for the crackers. Saved a bit of clean up time and a having to give a lecture on how much more healthy the carrot sticks would be for them (Just kidding, they wouldn't have been allow to throw food!). Currently, my kids don't really go much for graham crackers, unless they are a part of a Smores or as a base to spread Nutella on. They love Nutella. But, now we are back to the graham crackers in a supporting role.
My friend Liz though, does have little ones and had asked me quite awhile ago now for a gluten free recipe. Early into my daughter's diagnosis of Celiac, I had tried out a recipe for "graham crackers" I found using Teff flour. The end result was pretty good, but not excellent enough for me to want to make it on a regular basis. Liz gently reminded me after I got my recipe book out (link: here) that I had promised to get her a recipe. So, in my usual research fashion, I set out to see what recipes were out there and create one that I thought will work the best. So, here it is.
Oh, wait! First, we need to talk about shortening. Shortening is a touchy subject with people. Why? It involves FAT. In this case, saturated fat. You know, the bad kind. So, fat has become a "hush, hush" word. There are some people not wanting to use any solid fats, only liquid oils (unsaturated fats), and some shunning the category of fats all together. For those of us that still use some solid forms, there is the argument over which one is better; butter vs vegan butters, vs coconut oils, vs margerine, vs tub varieties (with plant steroids, olive oil or other add in's). There is much to say on this subject. Just go Google it and you will find a myriad of articles and opinions. Most people are in one camp or the other. Either the butter camp or margarine (now usually made without trans fats, typically that means palm oils)/vegan "butters"/coconut oil camp. Personally, I will say I am firmly in the butter camp. Why? Without going into too much chemistry and detail (I like to do detail), mostly because it has been used for centuries, and contains two ingredients: cream and salt. I like that. It is a natural form of fat and can be processed by your body. I am not arguing here that it is GOOD for you to eat it in mass quantities, but rather than use, let's say a vegan butter that contains 11 ingredients including soy products and flavor, I would rather stick with the butter. Yes, there is coconut oil and I have used it, but it can sometime lend a bit of a coconut flavor and it doesn't always give me the texture I am looking for. So, there you go. Like I said I am firmly in the butter camp. So much so, that I have taken to making my own lately. This way I can pick the organic cream of choice and with a little kosher salt, some mixing.... voila! BUTTER!
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| Homemade butter |
As far as this recipe goes, I did try it with both butter and coconut oil (if you are vegan). Both came out great, though I prefer the flavor of the butter version better (shouldn't be a surprise by now). So, go ahead and use whichever form of shortening you prefer, but it needs to be solid. It will not come out the same with oils. If you are completely against solid shortening you can play with using oil, but I didn't see any recipe out there that used it for this, and one that specifically said it would not work well. If you are against fats entirely, well, I can't help you there.
So, NOW, here is the recipe for gluten free graham crackers:
Lisa's Gluten Free Graham Crackers
2 cps Lisa's all purpose gluten free flour mix (or mix of choice)
1/4 cp almond or teff flour (if you don't have this you can use 1/8 cp more all purpose)
1-2 tbsp ground flax seed (optional - I didn't use it in my test versions)
1/2 cp packed brown sugar or coconut sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum (unless the all purpose flour you are using has it in the ingredients)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup shortening of choice
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp cold water
1 tsp vanilla
Combine the dry ingredients together. Cut the shortening into dry ingredients until fully incorporated. Add liquid ingredients, mix well and form into a ball. If the dough seems too dry, add more water a little at a time (about a teaspoon) till the desired consistency is reached. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. Preheat oven to 350° F and lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Take dough out of refrigerator and let warm for 5 min or so before rolling. Roll dough between two pieces of plastic wrap, till desired thickness (the thinner, the crispier the crackers will be). Transfer carefully to cookie sheet. Using a pizza wheel or knife, cut into squares or 2 x 3 sections. You can run "score" the middle of each piece (not all the way through) and then prick lightly with a fork. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. If cookies bake together, re-cut while warm and then transfer to cooling rack.
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| The end cracker should look a bit like this. |
Besides the slight taste difference, the coconut oil version was a bit darker. The thicker rolled version was more like a soft spice cookie. We liked it thinner and crispy.
So, I wanted to bake up a second batch that was cut nicer, but ended up burning it!
I blame the Olympics and trying to help my daughter make Lego "letters" for a project she is working on. Oh well, they still taste great even if they aren't as pretty. I know I'm supposed to wrap them with a bow to make them look beautiful and appetizing. Too lazy and my daughter had the camera commandeered.
So, go ahead and make some up for Valentine's Day, cut them into heart shapes using a heart shaped cookie cutter, if you want. Just don't burn them like I did.
Alright, I couldn't resist, knowing that everything looks better tied up in a pretty bow...
Happy Valentine's Day!
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