Recipe: Mini Grahams

If you don't already know, we deal with severe peanut and egg allergies with our oldest, Eloise.  I can't tell you how scary it was to have her try those foods for the first time and watch her allergic reactions unfold.  Truly, you can only know if you experience it... and I hope you never have to!  We are afraid to have Dinah try peanuts (though she is good with eggs, thank goodness!) and may check to see if we can have her try it at the allergist office (which is right across from a hospital).  Though the statistics are low that we will have another child with a peanut allergy, they are just statistics and we want to be prepared for reality!  

As I grew up and moved out of the house, etc... I knew that organic/whole food items were a better option but didn't really bother to take the time to really look into it.  Since having children, and especially having a child with food allergies, it has really forced us to look into what ingredients are in the food(s) we buy.  It's easy not to think about it.... ignorance is bliss, right?  Except for all of the garbage that we put into our bodies that we don't necessarily realize can be causing simple or major health issues.  I'm not here to guilt anybody - your choices are you own!  But in an effort to keep Eloise safe and limit the amount of processed foods we give our kids (and ourselves - though I admit, we are not even close to perfect!)... I am always on the look out for egg free and nut free recipes.  (Technically El is not allergic to tree nuts, however most peanut products and tree nut products are manufactured in the same facilities so we have been instructed to just steer clear of ALL nuts and nut products for the time being).

Recently, my cousin and I have started swapping some recipes.  She has a couple of kids around the same ages as mine, and we both are trying to make healthy choices for our families.  She shared THIS recipe with me and I thought it would be a nice treat for my girls.  They have never had store-bought graham crackers, so I knew I wouldn't be competing for taste... however, I admit they turned out pretty yummy!  They remind me of  Teddy Grahams.

One of the main things we didn't want our kids to have was refined sugar (white, brown, HFCS, etc)... so we try to make an effort to convert recipes we find to be able to use Pure Maple Syrup (and also egg free, if a recipe calls for eggs).  SO... please know that the recipe I am posting below is not MY recipe (see link above)... but I did tweak it for our needs, so really it isn't the same as the one in the link anyway.  But that was where I got my base.  (I haven't looked at any other recipes on that site yet... if you do, let me know if you find anything good!)

I had a helper yesterday!  Please excuse my photos as I was using my OLD cell phone to take pictures (my camera battery had died RIGHT when we started to make the crackers!).

*Note: we normally would use Whole Wheat Flour but the flour manufacturer changed their stance on not producing their flour around peanuts... so we recently had to switch to the only other safe flour we could find for Eloise, which was an Organic White Flour.  I have NOT made these with Whole Wheat, so I'm not sure if they would taste as good - but the original recipe does call for Whole Wheat, should you choose to use it!

Mini Grahams

2 1/4 Cups FLOUR

1 tsp BAKING POWDER

1/2 tsp BAKING SODA

1/2 tsp SALT

1/4 tsp CINNAMON

1/4 Cup MAPLE SYRUP

1/4 Cup WATER

1 tsp VANILLA

1/2 Cup (1 Stick) BUTTER, Melted

-Place all dry ingredients in mixer bowl.

-Add wet ingredients and mix with cookie paddle until everything combines.  The dough will be moderately greasy, NOT sticky.

-Preheat the oven to 350*.

-Divide dough in half and roll out on lightly floured surface.  

-Roll to 1/4" thick and cut with cookie cutters or pizza cutter.  Prick with fork and bake 8-12 mins (edges lightly darkened).

-They will harden as they cool.

-Store in air-tight container.

NOTE: I didn't have to use flour to roll the dough out because the dough is greasy enough that it doesn't stick.  I also think they are better if you roll them out thinner since they puff up when they bake!  I also baked them on parchment paper - but doubt you'd have to grease the cookie sheet if you didn't want to use parchment!

If you try these, let me know!  I hope you enjoy!