Harking back to the birth of the graham cracker — invented by nineteenth-century preacher Sylvester Graham as a whole-grain, healthy food — these crackers are 100% whole wheat. Crisp and light, they're just sweet enough.
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets; if you have parchment, you'll be using it to roll, transfer, and bake the crackers, so you won't need to grease your baking sheets.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder, if you're using it; if you're using baker's ammonia, don't mix it in yet. Set the mixture aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, and orange juice/water. If you're using baker's ammonia, dissolve it in 1 tablespoon of the water before adding it to the remaining liquid ingredients.
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry mixture, stirring to form a cohesive dough.
Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into a flattened block.
Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it between two pieces of lightly greased parchment or waxed paper until it's 1/16" thick. Try to keep the dough a uniform thinness throughout.
Transfer the rolled-out dough to your prepared baking sheet; if it's on parchment, peel off the top piece, and lay the bottom piece on the baking sheet. If it's on waxed paper, peel off the top piece, flip the dough over onto the baking sheet, and peel off the remaining piece.
Repeat with the remaining piece of dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, if desired.
Bake the crackers for 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven, and use a rolling pizza wheel or sharp knife to cut the sheets of dough into 3" x 2" rectangles; don't separate them, just cut them. You can use a fork to prick the crackers at this point, if you like, for that distinctive graham cracker look. Return the crackers to the oven, and continue to bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until they're browning around the edges.
Turn off the oven, and open the oven door wide. After 5 minutes or so, when much of the oven's heat has dissipated, shut the oven door, and let it cool down completely with the crackers inside; this will help them become as crisp as possible.
Store the cooled crackers, tightly wrapped, at room temperature. They'll stay good for several weeks.
Orange juice tempers the sometimes strong flavor of whole wheat; used in this small amount, your crackers won't taste orange-y, just less "wheaty". Use all water if desired.
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