Sprouted Wheat Berry Smiley-Face Crackers

It is not often that Sawyer takes a bite of something and tells me it is "delicious," but he has done that twice with these crackers that I made on the spur of the moment at snack-time last week when I needed to do something with the over-sprouted wheat berries hanging out in my fridge.  I had found that when I made my secret ingredient almost sugar-free cut-out cookies that over-sprouted wheat berries work great in cookies, so why not try crackers? Abiline preferred the dough because the crackers came out really crispy, so next time I think I would roll some of them a bit thicker and leave others really thin for Sawyer who loves ultra-crispy.  It is hard to please both children at once!

The smiley-faces are optional, of course, but they were fun for Abiline.  Every time Sawyer sits down to draw in his sketchbook like his daddy, Abiline wants to color, too, but quickly gets bored, turns to me, and urges "Draw face, Mommy! Draw face!"  I then scrawl a shamefully primitive version of a face while she giggles in delight.  Great artist is not currently on my mommy resume, but luckily my children are generous art critics.

1 1/2 cups sprouted wheat berries (with sprouted tails about twice the length of the berry)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. melted coconut oil
2 Tbsp. brown rice syrup
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour

1.  To sprout your wheat berries, place about 1/2 cup dry wheat berries in a glass jar with a lid, and add enough water to cover them plus fill the jar a few inches above the berries. Place the lid on, but do not screw it on. Soak the berries overnight, then drain them in the morning in a fine mesh sieve and rinse them with you faucet turned all the way up, to really blast those berries with the water. Shake them around to get the excess water off and then put the wheat berries back in the jar with the lid placed on top. Rinse them again at night, about 12 hours later. Continue to rinse them morning and night until they are sprouted and their tails are 2-3xs as long as the wheat berries. Be careful to catch them before they sprout leaves, as then it is too late to use them for baking.
 2. Preheat your oven to 350 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. You should start with wheat berries that look like this:



Place all of the ingredients and your food processor and pulse until you have a smooth paste. You want to crush the wheat berries completely because any whole chunks will become hard when you bake them.
3. Transfer the paste to a small mixing bowl and stir in the flour until a soft dough forms. You may need to add an additional tablespoon or two of flour if your berries had sprouted a bit farther than mine, as that may make the dough even moister.
4. Roll out the dough on a floured work surface, 1/8 inch for crispy crackers, almost 1/4 inch for less crispy.  I cut mine out using a really small biscuit cutter and poked the holes for the face with a toothpick, but you can make whatever shapes you want. Place the crackers on the prepared baking sheet; I made about two dozen.
4. Bake the crackers in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, turning the pan 180 degrees half-way through the baking time.  Check them at this point,and if they aren't looking browned on the bottom, bake them for a few more minutes, checking frequently so they don't burn.

This recipe is featured on Allergy-Friendly Lunchbox Love ,Melt in Your Mouth Monday , Whole Foods Wednesdays, and Kids in the Kitchen.

These made great snacks at the beach this weekend!