Homemade Wheat Thins

Ingredients

• For the glaze:
• 2 ounces light corn syrup
• 1/4 ounce barley malt syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use half as much by volume or use the same weight
• 1 ounce hot water
• For the crackers:
• 5 ounces whole wheat flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 1/2 ounces sugar
• 1 1/2 ounces bread flour
• 3/4 ounce toasted wheat germ
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling; for table salt, use half as much by volume or use the same weight
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ounce refined coconut oil, solid but creamy
• 1/4 ounce barley malt syrup
• 3 ounces water

Directions

1. For the glaze, put the corn syrup, barley malt syrup, and salt into a small bowl. Pour in the hot water, then stir with a fork until the salt has fully dissolved. Leave it aside so it can cool.
2. For the crackers, move the oven rack to the lower-middle spot and heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut 2 pieces of parchment to 11- by 16-inches. In a food processor, add the whole wheat flour, then the sugar, bread flour, wheat germ, salt, turmeric, cream of tartar, baking soda, and coconut oil. Pulse until the coconut oil is worked in and the mixture looks dry and finely ground. In a small glass, stir the barley malt syrup into the water until it loosens, then pour that into the processor and run it until a firm dough comes together. On a surface with no flour, knead the dough briefly, split it in half, and cover it with a damp paper towel.
3. Set one parchment sheet on your work surface and coat it well with whole wheat flour. Put one piece of dough in the middle, flour the top, and roll it with a rolling pin into an approximate 5- by 8-inch rectangle. Add more flour, turn the dough over carefully, and dust any sticky areas you see. Roll outward from the center until the dough reaches a little beyond the parchment edges and is no thicker than 1/16 inch. The crackers rise quite a bit in the oven, so getting the dough this slim is what keeps them snappy.
4. Use a pizza wheel to cut off the uneven edges, then brush a light layer of glaze over the dough. Add a pattern with a docking tool, if you’d like. With the pizza wheel, slice the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares; they will get smaller as they bake. Carefully move the parchment with the crackers onto an aluminum half sheet pan, either by lifting opposite corners and keeping the paper tight, or by sliding the whole sheet on and off a pizza peel.
5. Sprinkle the crackers with salt and bake until they turn pale yellow-brown, about 12 minutes. Rotate the pan partway through baking so the thin dough colors evenly. The exact baking time can shift quite a bit depending on how thin the dough is, what kind of baking sheet you use, and whether some areas are thicker than others. Watch them closely, because those differences can make them brown and crisp sooner. Let the crackers cool to room temperature right on the baking sheet; they will still be soft while warm. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough, since crackers rolled and cut ahead will not pull apart from each other properly. Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one month.