Crackers - of the saltine variety

Not long ago, I blogged about how I was making "crackers."  That is fine, but we still wanted real crackers.  You know, our beloved saltines that we both grew up with.  I looked in my old copy of Whole Foods for the Whole Family that was published by La Leche League in 1981.  It's one of my favorite cook books.  There is a recipe in there for crackers that uses whole wheat flour.  So, I just changed it up to sprouted whole wheat flour.  Here you can see half of them cooling on a cotton dish towel and the other half in the jar I am going to store them in.  I ate one.  Very very nice!  It remains to be seen how well or long these will keep.  I know from experience that freezing homemade crackers is a mistake.  They get soggy.  So, we'll see.. but anyway, today they are perfect! (recipe below)

Saltine Crackers

2 cups sprouted wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used 1/4 cup milk kefir and 1/4 cup fresh milk.  You can also us 1/2 cup fresh milk with 2 teaspoons lemon juice mixed in, then let it sit for 5 minutes.)
1 large egg
more salt (for topping)

Combine flour, salt and soda.  Cut in the butter until mixture has texture like oatmeal.  Add milk and egg; blend to make a stiff dough.  Knead thoroughly.  Roll 1/8 inch thick on a floured board (I used unbleached flour for this part.)  Cut into squares and place on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Prick with fork, sprinkle with salt.  Bake at 400 F until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and transfer to a towel to cool.  Store in airtight container.  By the way, the wavy edges of my crackers came from using one of these.  Thanks, April.

Here is an update on these crackers:    They really are delicious, but within a few hours seemed sort of "soggy."  My husband suggested I dehydrate them.  So, I put them in the dehydrator on 145 F for maybe 3 or 4 hours, then back into the jar and sealed it.  They are keeping very well now and are crisp.  :)  I imagine you could also spread them on cookie sheets and put them on very low temperature in your oven and do the same thing.