Graham Crackers - Soy and Dairy Free

I am 28 weeks today:)  I have officially entered my 3rd trimester! I have a scheduled c-section so I have 11 more weeks to go.  Part of me feels as if that is just around the corner, part of me feels like 11 MORE weeks..... Starting to get very excited and nervous around here.  Anyhow enough about me now on to yummy graham crackers.

A lot of the common toddler snacks have either dairy or soy in them; graham crackers, goldfish, animal crackers, and even many of the Gerber foods. Pretzels (almost all are made with canola oil) and Alphabet Cookies from Trader Joes have been our life-savers!  I recently found that Annie's Bunnies and Graham Crackers actually do not have soy or milk in them and Savanna loves them.  Before I found them I had wanted to see if I could make some graham crackers on my own and I finally had some time to do so.  I love home-made graham crackers, but they do taste a little different than commercial ones.  I had some trouble getting them to be light and crispy and not just hard.  They key in the end was adding some baking powder and refrigerating the dough after rolling. This allows the butter to rest and then create flaky air pockets while baking which resulted in a nice crispy cracker not a rock solid one :)

Soy and Dairy Free Graham Crackers

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup whole-wheat flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ tsp cream of tarter

½ teaspoon cinnamon

8oz soy and dairy free butter(Earth Balance)

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup honey

1 tablespoon molasses

2 teaspoons non-dairy milk (I used vanilla rice)

 Instructions:

1. Whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tarter and cinnamon in a medium size bowl and set aside.
2. Cream the butter and brown sugar together.
3. Add the honey, molasses and milk and continue to mix on medium speed until well combined.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, 1-2 hours.
6. Unwrap the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to about ⅛ inch thickness.
7. Use a ruler and a knife to cut the dough into rectangles or squares, or use cookie cutters (I used mini animals).
8. Repeat rolling and cutting until all of the dough has been formed into crackers.
9. Place the cut dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets (if making squares pierce each cracker with a fork two to three times).  It is also optional to sprinkle the top with cinnamon and sugar which I like to do if I am making crackers.
10. Refrigerate for 30-40 minutes until firm.   
11. Bake at 350 degrees, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, approximately 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown.