Home made Graham Crackers

We've been trying to take out processed foods from our diet for awhile now but it very trying with young kids. It is so easy to reach for those bags of fun shaped fishy crackers or fruit snacks as you run out the door. But have you ever stopped and looked at the ingredients in those things. Most of them are unrecognizable.

My brother came for a visit last week and pointed out that the fruit snacks that I was giving my toddlers were closer to gasoline and plastic than something edible. I made the mistake of looking the ingredients up online to see what they real were, he was right.

Luckily, I have a vault full of kid friendly recipes that I have been collecting for years. most of them I have never gotten around to testing.

This recipe for homemade graham crackers has been on the top of the stack for months now. I love recipes like this because it is easy enough that my 2 and 4 year old can help with in the kitchen and I can teach it to my teens to lock away in their memory banks.

All you need is:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1.2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup honey

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in a 1 cup microwavable measuring cup, once melted add your honey and mix together well. Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and combine completely.

Drop the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet, one with sides is best rather than a flat one. Using a rolling pin, smooth glass, or even just the palms of your hands roll the dough out filling the pan evenly. It might feel really thin but don't worry, they do rise int he oven.

Bake for 9 to 12 minutes depending on how crispy you like them. My daughter prefers her chewy and soft while my son likes his super crispy so we usually have to make two batches.

Once your cookies are out of the oven cut them immediately and remove them from the pan onto a cooling rack.

Once cooled the cookies will crisp up a bit so don't over bake. Once dry these make awesome smores! Microwave a marshmallow for 20 seconds and sandwich it with a bit of chocolate for a super yummy and quick indoor treat.

***Want a little more pizazz? Add a little bit of vanilla extract to your wet ingredients before combining or mix a tsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon together to sprinkler on top of the dough right before it goes into the oven.

***Instead of a cookie sheet press down a small amount into the bottom of a cupcake pan and decrease you baking time to 5 to 8 minutes. These create perfect little circles which you can top with fresh fruit and homemade whipped cream or a dollop of ice cream.