Homemade Graham Crackers
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I’ve been on a tear lately when it comes to recreating some of my favorite packaged foods at home. I’ve managed to cross Pop-Tarts, fudge pops, Snickers bars, peanut butter cups, Lofthouse sugar cookies, English muffins and hot fudge sauce off my list. I’ve given graham crackers some thought before, but the dawning of summer and s’mores season finally pushed me over the edge. I always have a box of graham crackers in my pantry; they can easily become the basis for breakfast or a quick snack. My favorite way to eat them is slathered with peanut butter (shocking, I know) – either regular creamy or Cinnamon Raisin Swirl from Peanut Butter & Co. My Chief Culinary Consultant says that when he was a kid he would always dunk them in milk until they got nice and soggy and then devoured them. No matter your favorite way to eat them, one thing is certain – when it comes to summer, graham crackers become the key component to s’mores. When you’re spreading them with peanut butter, dunking them, or sandwiching them with chocolate and marshmallows, this homemade version is infinitely better than anything you’ll eat from a box!
Throwing these together are really quite easy. You’ll need graham flour for these crackers, which obviously gives them their characteristic flavor. I bought a small bag of Bob’s Red Mill graham flour, which I found in the health food section of my local grocery store and which is also available on Amazon. The dough gets mixed together in about 5 minutes, chilled for a couple of hours, and then you roll it out and cut out your crackers. I chose to poke holes on top so that the crackers looked like the ones from the box (it’s a good thing I had practice when I made the ice cream sandwiches!).
These crackers have a wonderfully deep flavor, thanks to the graham flour, dark brown sugar and honey. They are slightly more buttery than the boxed version, which is a very, very good thing. You can snack on these crackers, eat them for breakfast, spread peanut butter, Nutella or Biscoff on them…
Or, you could make s’mores… because it’s summer… and during the summer nothing smells better than a burnt marshmallow. Am I right?
Grab a bag of marshmallows (or make your own), a few chocolate bars, and start a fire (or your gas stove-top if it’s raining). Smoosh it all between two of your graham crackers, and enjoy the ooey, gooey, crunchy, chocolatey heaven that comes with making a s’more. A throwback to being a kid and reveling in the simplicity that summer days and nights bring.
One year ago: Dried Apricot-Pistachio Ice Cream
Two years ago: 10 of My Favorite Recipes
Three years ago: Cookies and Cream Oreo Cake
Four years ago: Basic Pizza Dough[/donotprint]
Homemade Graham Crackers
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1⅓ cups (160 g) graham flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup (146.67 g) dark brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours, the baking soda and salt; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar and honey, and beat at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until blended and the dough comes together, about 30 seconds.
- Transfer the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press into a 7-inch square, and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days.
- When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 1/8-inch thickness and cut into 3-inch squares. Transfer to the baking sheet, spacing the crackers at least ¾-inch apart, gather any scraps, re-roll, and cut out more cookies.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes and then rotate the baking sheet. Bake for another 6 to 8 minutes, or until the cookies are dark golden brown and just firm to the touch. Let cool for a minute on the baking sheets, then transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool completely (they will crisp up as they cool). Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Very good recipe! I made with only minor changes; used Lyle’s golden syrup instead of honey and added a bit of cinnamon. The dough was very stiff after overnight refrigeration, I let it come up to cool room temp, then used the smooth side of a meat mallet to get it pliable enough for a quick kneed. I rolled it using two guides to get it exactly 1/8th inch. A large fish spatula helped with getting them transferred over to the baking sheet. Baked 10 minutes, rotated the sheet then 5 more minutes with a 10 minute cool on the baking sheet. Turned out crispy and delicious, great texture, so much better than store bought.
I haven’t made this yet but was wondering why the gram flour?
Also what is gram flour ?
Been wanting to make these and I’m so glad I did. They were great. Not that much work too.
could i roll this out into a pie dough and make a graham cracker crust???
Hi Amy, I’ve never tried that! If you do it, let me know how it turns out!
Do you poke holes in them ?
I made the first batch of these with my two granddaughters, using an assortment of cookie cutters, topping the crackers with little gingerbread candies & a little sugar with cinnamon. They didn’t appreciate them as much as I did, because kids these days expect SWEET, but they did enjoy making them & I thought the taste was fabulous. I will NOT buy them again. The next two batches, I learned it’s best to use a flat spatula to cut the dough in quarters & roll it between saran wrap. It’s far easier to handle smaller batches & you can pick up the bottom wrap to ease the cut crackers off to place on your cookie sheet. I had to use a paring knife to cut them out this time, but I’ll be ordering a square cutter soon. Also, to speed up the process, I used my pizza roller/poker to quickly make the holes. Thanks for an interesting recipe!
When you talked about making s’mores, you can also toast a marshmallow over a candle. Just be sure to use a plain white one with no scents or dyes!
Are these crispy like the store brands? I’d actually like to use them for the crust of a cheesecake.
So good! My dough was a little dry following the recice so i did my normal egg substitute of water and chia seeds and that made it come together beautifully. Did half with cinnamon sugar and half without. Totally delicious.
Hi. This is my first time to make this recipe. I just took the dough out of the frig and it’s too crumbly to roll out. What did I do wrong? Help!
Hi Sharon, If it seems crumbly, let it sit at room temperature to soften a bit, then knead together, adding a few drops of water a time if necessary, until soft and workable.
I made these, halved the recipe as best I could as a first-run test. Added about 1/4 tsp baking powder and a couple tsp milk, based on other recipes. Also added a tsp of molasses since my brown sugar was the light kind, a dash of vanilla and some cinnamon to the dough. Dough was a little soft and difficult to work with if not totally chilled, so I will try it without the milk next time. Although I liked the texture and crunch of the sugar mixture on top, the cinnamon in the mixture seemed to burn, so I’ll just keep the cinnamon in the dough next time. The dough thickness is crucial. I found my outer edges to burn, while the middle section was still soft. I just cut the rolled dough in squares and left them in place on the parchment. After about the first 15 minutes, I separated them slightly so they would bake more evenly and found that to be more successful. I needed a little more cooking time so I tented with foil and baked an extra 5 minutes or so until they were firm. They do crisp after they cool. These are soooo incredibly buttery, delicious, addictive and dangerous! Versatile too, you can try different flavors. There are several recipe versions out there, some with more or less sugar. I like mine on the less sweet side. Some with milk and egg added. I’ll experiment, but this first recipe test was quite successful. Definitely a keeper recipe to make often.
Hello!
I’m curious – why can’t you use this dough as a graham crust without first making them into crackers?
Thanks so much :)