Homemade Graham Crackers with Graham Flour
Graham crackers might bring a few things to mind – perhaps preschool snacks, s’mores or graham cracker crumb crusts? They are a classic American childhood snack and they also find their way, particularly as a crust, into many desserts. Maybe they don’t seem very exciting to you on their own but there is something to be said for a simple, plain cookie or cracker. And even though they are called “cracker” they are more sweet than savory. My current interest came about because of an inquiry about Graham Flour, which you can read about in our Tips. It is indeed a hearty, whole-wheat flour and was the basis for the original graham cracker; I used Bob’s Red Mill Graham Flour
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1⅓ cup graham flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
- ¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Line two baking sheets with parchment; set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, graham flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a mixing bowl to aerate and combine; set aside.
- Beat the butter with flat paddle attachment in bowl of stand mixer (this is a heavy dough) on medium speed until creamy, about two minutes. Add brown sugar and honey and beat until combined and smooth, scraping down the bowl once or twice. Add the flour in about 3 batches and mix on low speed until incorporated, then beat briefly on medium speed until dough comes together.
- Scrape dough onto work surface very lightly dusted with flour and knead a few times. Divide dough in half and roll out each piece to a large rectangle about ⅛-inch thick. (If the dough seems dry, knead it a few times until it is a bit more elastic). Use a ruler and either a knife, pizza cutter or fluted rotary cutter to cut rectangles about 4 ¼-inches by 2 ½ -inches in size. Use a large spatula to transfer the graham crackers to prepared sheets, allowing an inch between crackers. Use a docker or a fork to pierce each cracker a few times (see in image).
- Make the topping by stirring together the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Dust the tops of the crackers with the cinnamon-sugar, if desired (we coat one pan and leave the other plain). Refrigerate crackers on pans while oven preheats.
- Position racks in upper and lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake crackers for about 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to color and brown. They will firm up upon cooling. Cool pans on racks. Graham crackers may be stored at room temperature in airtight containers for up to 1 week.
Bakepedia Tips
- You might have to mail order the graham flour, so plan ahead. Our Test Kitchen is in an area with many well-stocked stores and we could not find it locally – and we are right near where Sylvester Graham lived! Read about him in our Tips article.
- Make sure to pierce the dough as it is quite dense and this technique allows even baking, especially with the larger sized rectangles.
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