Honey Graham Crackers

Ingredients:

2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

½ cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 to 8 tablespoons milk

Instructions:

1. Adjust 2 oven racks to be in the center of your oven. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees F.

2. Put the whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon or whisk to mix the ingredients. Set the bowl aside.

3. Put the brown sugar, butter, honey, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. With the electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat until the mixture is well blended and fluffy.

4. Add one-fourth of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and beat on low speed until blended. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and beat until blended. Beat in another one-fourth of the flour and another 2 tablespoons of the milk. Beat in half of the remaining flour and another 2 tablespoons milk. Then beat in all of remaining flour and another 1 tablespoon milk. If the dough seems too dry, beat in a little more milk. (If mixture is too stiff for your mixer to beat, knead the dough in the bowl with your hands until it is smooth.)

5. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Refrigerate the balls separately until somewhat cool, but not hard, about 30-45 minutes (so the dough is less sticky and easier to work with).

6. Work with one ball of dough at a time. With your fingers, sprinkle a light coating of flour over a flat work surface and the rolling pin. Put the unwrapped ball of dough on the floured work surface. With the rolling pin, roll out the dough into a 15-by-5 rectangle. (Do not press hard when you roll or the dough will stick.)

7. With a sharp knife and the straight edge of a ruler, trim the edges of the rectangle so they are even. Cut the rectangle crosswise into 6 smaller rectangles, each measuring 5 by 2-1/2 inches. (The dough can also be cut into rough squares or other shapes simply using the straight edge of a dough scraper instead of a knife.)

8. Very carefully slip the spatula under each small rectangle and transfer it to an ungreased baking sheet. With the knife, mark a line across the center of each rectangle, without cutting through the dough, dividing it into 2 equal squares. Using the tines of a fork, poke a pattern of holes into each square. Roll out and cut the remaining dough.

9. Place the baking sheets in the preheated 350 degree F oven. Bake until the crackers are beginning to brown around the edges, 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time.

10. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and put them on hot pads. Carefully slip the spatula under each cracker and transfer it to a rack. Let the crackers cool completely.