Teff Graham Crackers, a grain free approach

Grain Free, Gluten Free Graham Crackers and “Free From” a whole lot more!

I promised my recipe for Teff flour graham crackers in my last article.  These have been a recent result of tweaking my original recipe for GF Graham Crackers.  Since our youngest is challenged with typical grains, rice being one of them… I decided to test out teff flour with this recipe to see if it would work.  Graham crackers seem to be a staple in the diet of American kids today and this child has sorely been missing out!  If you have been reading any of my articles, you should not be surprised that I would turn to Teff flour as an alternative.  But I was challenged to keep this cracker dairy free, egg free, nut free and refined sugar free.  In the above picture, you see the final results of my last trial.  On the far left is the original rice flour based recipe graham cracker, in the middle is the teff and quinoa with brown sugar graham cracker, and on the right is the teff and quinoa with coconut sugar graham cracker.  We all really enjoy each one.  My favorite is the graham cracker on the right.  Maybe it is because I am used to a less-sweet treat these days… however, we cannot stop eating either version!  Try for yourself if you need to be free of grains.

These are also great to have for VBS!  If you are in the Fox Valley area and send your kids to Christ Community Church’s HotU, these will come in handy.  (If you need this years Snack List for campers follow the link to HotU Snacks).  Here’s the recipe…

GF Teff and Quinoa Graham Crackers

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Teff flour (I used dark Teff here, but if you can find light Teff that would work just as well and yield a lighter cracker)
• 1/4 cup Quinoa flour (or Sorghum flour works just as well)
• 1/4 cup Tapioca Starch flour
• 1/8 cup Arrowroot
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar (OR 1/4  cup Brown Sugar)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum (if you need to avoid corn as well, try using guar gum in equal amounts)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1.5 oz coconut oil
• 1 Tbls + 2 tsp cold water
• 1 Tbls + 2 tsp agave nectar or honey
• 1/2 tsp GF vanilla, unsweetened

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and set a baking sheet aside.  Prepare two sheets of parchment paper and a rolling pin.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine all the dry ingredients.  Mix on low speed.
3. With the mixer running, add the melted coconut oil and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients resemble wet sand.
4. Add the rest of the wet ingredients with the mixer running.  Increase speed to medium and mix until a ball begins to form.  If the dough will not come together into a ball, add a little more cold water, 1 tsp at a time until a dough ball begins to form.
5. Remove dough from mixer and roll out between the two sheets of parchment paper using the rolling pin until the dough is about 1/8 inch in thickness, evenly.
6. Transfer the rolled dough to the prepared baking sheet, score with a pizza cutter into cracker rectangle shapes and prick the dough all over with a fork.
7. Bake in the preheated 325 degree oven for 8 minutes on the middle rack.  After 8 minutes, rotate the pan and bake again for another 8 minutes.  Be careful not to let the crackers burn as Teff flours burn easily.
8. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack and cool.  The graham crackers will harden as they cool.  You may want to re-score the crackers with the pizza cutter when they are hot out of the oven to make it easier to break apart.
9. Store in an airtight container.

Update:  I ran out of quinoa flour and wanted to make these graham crackers the other day… so, I substituted Sorghum Flour for the Quinoa Flour in equal amounts.  The recipe turned out just a good!