Real Snacks (6 page)

Brush the tops and sides of each roll with the remaining ½ tablespoon butter. Sprinkle the tops with the reserved sugar mixture. Bake until the edges are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving, and drizzle with Glaze (
this page
) if desired.

This recipe, adapted from the one on the King Arthur Flour website, is far more interesting than the slightly stale foil-wrapped tarts we all grew up with. My own personal preference for filling is blueberry, but you can fill these with just about any jam or spreadable filling you like
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Whisk the whole-wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, ground millet flour, sugar, and salt together. Work in the butter with your fingers until there are pecan-sized lumps of butter still visible and the mixture holds together when you squeeze it. Add 3 tablespoons of the water and mix with a fork until it is absorbed. Then add the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time, just until a shaggy dough ball forms. You may not need all the water.

Shape the dough into a 4-by-6-inch rectangle, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

Place the chilled dough on a lightly floured work surface and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle about ⅛ inch thick. Trim off the edges to create even rectangles.

Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the egg wash over one piece of the dough. Imagine the dough divided into quarters and place 1 heaping teaspoon of jam in the center of each quarter. Top with another rolled-out piece of dough and press gently to seal around each of the filling pockets. Repeat with the remaining 2 pieces of dough. Reserve the remaining egg wash.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Carefully cut each dough packet into quarters and use a fork to pinch the edges. Place the tarts on the prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Brush the chilled tarts with the remaining egg wash and, using a fork, prick vent holes in the top of each tart. Bake the tarts until they are golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool slightly before serving, and spread with Glaze (
this page
) if desired.

Tiny animal cookie cutters are available in many kitchen supply stores or online. If you don’t have any, you can still make these subtly sweet, toddler favorites and cut them out into squares or small rounds using the back end of a pastry tip. Or even make them with larger cutters instead of the traditional mini ones
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Combine the whole-grain spelt flour, all-purpose flour, oat flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and allspice in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade (or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment) and pulse several times to mix thoroughly. Drop in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time and pulse to create a crumbly mixture.

In a small bowl, combine the honey, milk, egg white, vanilla, and lemon extract together. Then, with the food processor running, drizzle in the liquid mixture until the mixture starts to stick together. You may have a little left over.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. On a generously floured surface, pull the dough together into a ball. It might be a bit sticky, so flour your hands well. Roll the dough to a little more than ¼ inch thick, being careful to keep the dough from sticking to the counter by turning and brushing with more flour as needed. Using the cookie cutters of your choice, cut out crackers and place them on the prepared baking sheets ½ inch apart. Cover the baking sheets with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (or in the freezer for 10 minutes).

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the crackers until they are lightly golden at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking. Remove the crackers from the baking sheets and cool on a wire rack.

Graham crackers get their name from Rev. Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian minister who developed the digestive biscuits made with a combination of whole-wheat and white flours (now known as graham flour) to suppress what he considered to be “unhealthy urges.” The reverend would likely wholly disapprove of this recipe, as these biscuits are hardly bland. Subtle in flavor, perhaps, and packed with whole grains, these cookies bake up crisp so that they hold up to all sorts of decadent fillings and coatings. They’re also great on their own
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Place the white spelt flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and add the butter. Mix until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Mix together the graham flour, barley flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and stir into the butter mixture until crumbly, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and mix again.

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, drizzle the mixture slowly into the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix just until the dough comes together, about 1 minute. It will be sticky.

Pull the dough into a ball, and then divide into 2 pieces. Press each dough ball into a 1-inch-thick disk or rectangle, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes, or up to 48 hours.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

Working with one piece at a time, place the dough onto a well-floured surface. Roll out the dough until it is ⅛ inch thick. Apply additional flour liberally as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the surface or the rolling pin.

Using a toothpick or fork, prick the dough all over. Cut the crackers into 2-by-4-inch rectangles or use a cookie cutter to punch out each one. Place each cracker on the prepared baking sheet, leaving at least ½ inch between crackers. Chill the baking sheet for at least 30 minutes. Repeat with the second half of the dough.

While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake until the crackers are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating after 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.