Wheat Thins-Whole Wheat Food Storage Recipes
I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day! I wanted to thank everyone for coming out to my book signing on Saturday. It was so great to meet all of you and to answer your questions about food storage recipes!
Karen S. sent this food storage recipe to me it is so easy and SO delicious….not to mention CHEAP to make. Normal Wheat Thins in the store can run almost $3.00 a box but with this recipe, you’ll be saving money in no time! Here is what Karen had to say about the food storage recipes and how to make them.
“I really wanted to make crackers from scratch! So I bought a box of Wheat Thins and read the ingredients, and then did a google search to see if I could find a copycat recipe with similar ingredients. I found one on Bob’s Red Mill web page that sounded good, so I tweaked it a little and gave it a try. They turned out really good! So here is that recipe, with pictures and instructions.”
In a medium bowl, whisk together:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (whole white wheat flour is my personal preference)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 T. brown sugar
1 1/2 T. dry buttermilk powder*
2 T seeds (sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or a mixture of the two is good), optional
*although buttermilk powder is a somewhat unusual ingredient, it can be found in most grocery stores in the baking isle. I use it all the time in place of fresh buttermilk in recipes. It’s quite handy and has a long shelf life. If you’d rather use fresh buttermilk, leave out the powder and use 1/2 cup buttermilk in place of the water later.
“Now here’s the really cool thing you can do with this. You can mix up a whole bunch of batches of these crackers up to this point and bag them up in Ziplocs and put them in the freezer where they will sit just waiting for your next cracker emergency. I like to keep several cracker mixes in my freezer, labeled with the ingredients I need to add.” *Note from Crystal…I love it! She’s a woman after my own heart, making mixes to save time and make less of a mess and it makes the process so DO-ABLE!*
And those ingredients are:
1/2 cup water
3 T. oil or melted butter
Add these to the ingredients in your bowl (either freshly mixed, or dumped out of the bag from your freezer) This is olive oil I’m using here, but use whatever you have.
Stir together to make a soft dough. It will be very soft and sticky.
“Don’t over-mix the dough. It should be stirred just until the flour is all absorbed, and not kneaded at all. Once it’s all incorporated, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for about 10 minutes. This lets the whole wheat flour absorb all the liquid that it wants.
After you let it rest, divide the dough in half (eyeball it) and plop half of it on the bottom of a regular baking sheet that has been greased or sprayed well with Pam. You can also use a silicone liner, which is what I usually do, but for these pictures I showed just a plain old baking pan because not everyone has silicone liners. If you do have one, by all means, use it. If you do, you don’t need to grease it at all.”
“Once your blob is on the pan, cut a piece of saran wrap the size of your pan. Place the saran wrap over the dough and begin rolling with a rolling pin right over the saran wrap.”
“If your pans are kind of warped like mine, you may not get too far rolling with a rolling pin, but this is a really soft dough, and you can just press it and smooth it with your hands. This is where the silicon liners really come in handy– you can have the silicone liner flat on your counter, roll the dough and THEN put it on your warped pan to bake! 
But if you have just a pan to work with, smooth it out the best you can with your hands.”
“One half of the dough will cover the sheet pan entirely. It will be very thin. When you have it all smoothed out, remove the saran wrap. It will come right off.”
“We’re almost there! Now just the finishing touches. I use a pizza cutter to score the dough into cracker squares. You don’t have to cut all the way through the dough, but you can. Just don’t press too hard because I don’t want you to scratch your pan or damage your silpat because then you’ll be mad at me. Just lightly score so that you can break the crackers apart easily after they’re baked.”
“After you do several lines vertically, turn the pan to make some horizontal cuts. Finally, sprinkle the dough with a generous sprinkling of salt (table salt, sea salt, kosher salt, whatever you have), and you can sprinkle it with some extra seeds or whatever floats your boat. I used some extra sesame seeds here. You can get creative here with garlic salt, onion salt, etc.”
“There they are, all beautiful and ready for the oven. See how my edges aren’t straight, and some of the dough has oozed over the side of the pan? Doesn’t matter. People will eat them anyway. If you want to get really picky you can trim the edges with your pizza cutter, but why?”
“Oh, and don’t tell your 6-year-old daughter that pricking with a fork is not necessary. She thinks it’s an important job!” *Note from Crystal-YEAH, get you kids involved! They’ll love making their own crackers!*
“Now Bake at 350 for 14-15 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. They might be slightly soft right out of the oven, but they’ll most likely crisp up as they sit. If they don’t, you can always stick them back in the oven to crisp for a few minutes.”
“See, I couldn’t even get the picture taken before there were two crackers swiped from the bottom corner! The kids had these taken care of in no time. I was lucky to have some to take a picture of after they were broken apart into individual crackers. Here’s a really blurry picture for you!”
“Now go make some crackers!”
Thanks Karen for the GREAT idea!!!
Bread Q & A
While I was on vacation, I received a lot of similar questions so I figured many others probably had the same questions. So here they are answered, along with some great reader comments of tricks they use or have tried.
Is there a difference between Vital Wheat Gluten and Gluten?
It is just specifying that it is a gluten found in wheat. (I think…if someone else knows leave a comment and I’ll correct it) I use vital wheat gluten.
Do I use all of the items you mention as dough enhancers or just pick and choose?
Yes, use ALL of the items (vinegar, gluten, and potato flakes) together for AMAZING bread!
Why do I have to add in gluten…doesn’t kneading the bread create gluten?
Think of it this way….gluten is like the muscles of the bread holding together those air bubbles. Kneading the bread is like flexing or exercising the muscles to make them strong to be able to hold those bubbles with out breaking. So kneading doesn’t create gluten, it just strengthens it. Because whole wheat is heavier than all-purpose flour and has bran and fiber which have jagged edges that can break the gluten we need to add more muscle into the bread.
Where can I buy gluten?
If you live in Utah, it can be purchased at Maceys in their preparedness section of the store. If you don’t live in Utah I would suggest buying it HERE at the Honeyville Grain website because it is cheap and their shipping is a flat $4.95 no matter how much you purchase.
What kind of wheat do you use in this recipe?
I generally use hard white wheat in my recipes.
What is the difference between hard red and hard white wheat and which does the LDS cannery offer?
Hard red wheat is darker in color and stronger in flavor. Hard white wheat is lighter in color and in flavor and is much easier disguised in baked goods. Nutritionally they are basically the same, only differing slightly. The LDS cannery offers both but the white is slightly more expensive (but I think worth the price!) Before the cannery only sold red wheat so if you grew up and tried wheat and didn’t like it, you should try the white wheat. Soft wheats do not have gluten and are not good for bread making, they are used more for pastries.
I’ve heard the LDS Cannery sells wheat with a protein level of only 8%, is that true?
No! A wheat with a protein level of only 8% CAN’T be a hard wheat by definition. The normal range for a soft wheat protein is 9-12% the normal range for a protein of hard wheat is 10-15%. The church’s wheat is between 10-11% protein, which is right on target for a hard wheat (and suitable for bread making-http://extension.usu.edu/foodstorage/htm/wheat). You can figure out the protein percentage by looking at the serving size in grams (for the church it’s 48 g) and the protein weight in grams (for the church it is 5). 5/48=10.4% You can purchase wheat products with a higher protein level at Lehi Roller Mills or Honeyville Grains.
Why do you store your wheat flour and your bread mixes in the fridge?
I store my freshly ground wheat in the fridge or freezer to preserve the nutrition and to keep it from going rancid. If you’re using wheat flour from the store look on the packaging to see how they recommend storing it.
If I don’t have a wheat grinder, can I grind wheat in my blender?
Most likely no. There are some blenders that have a dry blade and a wet blade. If you have one of those, you can grind it in your blender. However, you have an average blender with only one blade you can’t grind wheat in the blender with out water. My suggestion is to find a friend, family member, or neighbor with a wheat grinder that you can borrow. Also, stay tuned the Fun with Food Storage network will be giving a new wheat grinder away! Check back for more information!
What if I don’t have a Kitchen Aid or Bosch for kneading the bread?
If you’re kneading it by hand, don’t put in all the flour to start with so you can use some of the flour for kneading purposes (to keep it from sticking) with out making the bread too heavy. You’ll want to knead it for the same amount of time 10-15 minutes…so you’ll have really defined arms.
What if my dough is sticky?
When your dough is sticky, you’ll want to slowly add in more flour until you have the right consistency. (Easy to touch and manage)
What if my dough is too dry?
When your dough is too try, you’ll want to slowly add in more water until you have the right consistency. (Pliable and easy to move around)
Do I have to roll out the dough like you did?
No, it just gives it a nicer bubble texture inside. If you’re in a hurry, you can shape the dough by hand and it will take the form of your pan.
What if I need my bread to rise faster?
There are a couple of options
1) You can up to double the yeast called for in the recipe to cut out an extra raising time.
2) Put the dough in a warm oven (I just let mine pre-heat for about 5 minutes and then turn it off). You can also put it in a warm place in your house, like on top of the dryer while it’s running or by a warm vent)
What if my bread didn’t take as long to rise as you said?
Yeah for you! The time in the recipe is a general specification. Use your judgement as to when the bread is risen.
How can I tell if my yeast is dead?
When your yeast is dissolving in the water you should see it sort of bubbling after 5 minutes. If you don’t see any slight bubble action after five minutes, either check your yeast or water temperature. (Too hot of water can kill the yeast, remember you just want WARM water)
What if my bread tastes too yeasty?
This generally means the bread was rushed. It was either too warm for the rising or too warm of ingredients when the yeast was added.
Can I use a Milk Alternative for the Powdered Milk in a bread recipe?
No. A milk alternative is NOT milk and lacks the nutrition (in fact they add high fructose corn syrup and EXTRA SHORTENING to it) and it lacks the caseine protein which helps bind things in a recipe. Think of it this way, would you substitute Tang for Orange Juice in a recipe? It’s a milk flavored drink, NOT MILK and isn’t recommended for baking with out some adjusting. To find out of you have a milk alternative read the label carefully.
What do I do if I have Instant milk instead of Non-Instant Milk for the recipe?
If you’re using instant milk, double the amount of milk called for.
Do I need to scald the powdered milk?
No! The enzyme that you are trying to kill by scalding the milk is already killed in the process of making powdered milk. Yeah for powdered milk!
What if my bread is doughy in the middle after cooking?
Make sure when you take the bread out of the pan that you turn it over and tap the bottoms. If it sounds hollow then it is done. If it is doughy, it didn’t cook long enough. Cook it for 5 more minutes and try tapping it again to see if it is done.
Can I more than double your recipe?
Sure! You’ll just need more ingredients, more pans and a bigger mixing bowl.
Cinnamon mini chips
Okay, this isn’t for my recipe, although I get asked this a lot because I got sent this really great looking recipe (click here to view it) but a lot of you have wondered where to get the cinnamon chips. Lori from ID said her daughter used to work at Great Harvest and that the link below will take you to a place where you can buy similar chips to what Great Harvest uses.
I also received some great tips from all of you and wanted to make sure everyone could read them!
Cami G. said...
For those who are interested in making bread on a regular basis, it might be helpful to know that if you use SAF instant yeast, you only need to let your dough raise once, and it will rise really quickly, within 30-45 minutes generally. I can go from putting ingredients into my mixer to pulling loaves out of the oven in 1 to 1 1/2 hours, and only about 5 – 10 minutes of that requires any effort from me. And considering that it only costs about 25 cents a loaf compared with $3+ from the store, making my own bread is totally worth the (very small) investment of my time. Not to mention that it tastes soooo good!
Heather said...
I have been making bread for a long time and it was fun to learn some things I’m going to try. Thank you! You may want to try something that saves me a ton of time in making bread. I have used this with many different whole wheat recipes so I’m sure it will work with your bread recipe as well. I have the dough raise only once. After the bread is kneaded, I immediately form the loafs in pans. While I’m forming the loafs the oven is pre-heating to the lowest temp. (170). After I am done forming all the loafs I put them in and turn the oven off. If the oven is still on it’s way to hot and will start cooking the bread. I raise for 35 minutes and then turn the oven back on to 350 (keep the pans in the oven) and cook for 35 minutes. I have homemade bread an hour and a half. Try it and see if you like it.
-Just wanted to add in on her comment, this is a great time saving technique if you’re in a hurry! It will change the taste of the bread just slightly (double rising gives a better taste) but if you’re in a hurry it’s definitely worth doing!.
Kimberly said…
This bread is AMAZING!! I used 2 Tbs of powdered shortening instead of the oil/butter and I used instant milk. It turned out better than the recipe I have used for years. Okay, much better!!! I also cut the raise time, as it had risen right out of the pan:)
Dough Enhancers for making Delicious Bread: Food Storage Recipes
One of my most commonly asked questions is about gluten and it’s purpose in a whole wheat bread. So that has also spurred on questions about a dough enhancer. You should definitely be using dough enhancers in your whole wheat bread because whole wheat flour is heavier and courser than all-purpose flour. The problem is that dough enhancer as a product can be very expensive and you can actually make your own! But in order to understand how to use the dough enhancers we need to understand their purpose in bread. Then you can make any whole wheat food storage bread recipe DELICIOUS with your own dough enhancers! After all we need to know how to make our recipes delicious food storage recipes!
Tips for using your own everyday items as dough enhancers in WHEAT BREAD: (It’s best to use ALL THREE of these enhancers when making whole wheat bread)
Gluten: use 1/2 T. – 1 T. per cup of flour (this means before you measure a cup of flour place the 1/2 T.-1 T. gluten in the bottom of your cup and then measure flour as usual)
WHITE Vinegar: use the same amount of vinegar that you are using for yeast (i.e. 1 t. yeast – 1 t. vinegar)
Potato Flakes: use 1/8 to 1/4 C. per loaf of bread you are making, experiment to see what works best in your recipe. (do not substitute in potato pearls, they don’t dissolve as easily and are artificially flavored which you will be able to taste in your bread)
Make sure to check back Wednesday for my video on how to make bread (non bread machine style!)
Rice Food Storage Tips
Rice is a great grain to store in your long term food storage (especially if you, like me, have a loved one who lived in Asia for 2 years . You should have 300 pounds of grains per person in your family in your long term food storage and rice can make up some of that 300 pounds (READ your grains don’t need to consist entirely of wheat-they should consist of wheat, pasta, rice, and oats). So before I get into the delicious recipes I have for rice…after all my husband says there is nothing better than a belly full of rice…I wanted to go over some basics of rice.
Can I only store Long Grain white rice?
Well, the LDS cannery only sells long grain white rice, however, if you’re like me and have someone in your family who has lived in Asia they probably aren’t big fans of white rice. You can store the long grain, medium, or short (sticky) types of rice in your long term food storage. Stored properly these three types of white rice will last 25-30+ years. Brown rice should not be stored for long periods of time because it is considered an “oily grain” and will deteriorate or go rancid. (Click here for the brown rice source) For those of you concerned about not having brown rice for nutritional reasons, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to know that you can actually cook cracked wheat as a rice substitute (it cooks the same way 1-2-3, 1 C. cracked wheat + 2 C. boiling water = 3 C. cooked and get similar nutritional benefits.
How should I store my Rice?
Store rice in a tightly sealed container. Food safe plastics (PETE) containers, glass jars, #10 cans (commercial size) lined with a food-grade enamel lining and Mylar®-type bags work best for long-term storage. Use food-safe oxygen absorbers [Bj5] available from food storage supply stores to preserve rice quality, and protect from insect infestation. #10 cans will hold approximate 5.7 lbs (2.6 kgs) of rice. (Click here for source)
How long does Rice last once opened?
You should use your rice with in 2 years of opening the packaging. (Click here for source)
What are the benefits of cooking with Rice?
In the United States, vitamins and minerals: iron, niacin, thiamin, and folic acid are added to rice. Rice is high in starch and fiber. In addition, rice is low in sodium and a good source of protein. (Click here for source)
Making a complete meal with Rice
As stated above rice is a starch so to balance out your meal with rice, it’s always good to serve it with a protein. Also, since it counts for a starch you may want to steer clear of serving rice with additional starches at the dinner table like potatoes and rolls.
How do you cook long grain rice?
To make 3 C. of cooked rice you will begin by boiling 2 C. of water. When the water is boiling, add a dash of salt, a little butter (optional), and 1 C. of rice. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until water is gone. *Make sure to look over rice for any foreign bits BEFORE cooking.
**As a note about the magnets: Thank you to everyone who purchased a set. They have officially sold out. I sent a big batch out last week and will send the second half out this week. I’ll try and get some more printed but I don’t know when they’ll have that good deal again…I’ll keep you posted. Thanks!
