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Graham Crackers From Scratch

Posted on by Alyssa
Homemade, Graham Crackers, From Scratch, Recipe

This homemade Graham Cracker recipe is easy and delicious so put down the boxed version and soften some butter!

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Who doesn’t love a good old graham cracker?!?! I know I do! I just have to tell you that this recipe is the best, I adapted it from Brown Eyed Baker! I really admire that she took a boxed classic and made a copy cat! I’d like to add that I have tried other recipes but no one’s tasted anywhere near like a graham cracker but hers. I really enjoyed hers but decided to change up a couple of things.

A few years back I started noticing boxed items bothered me. My stomach was never quite right I had been to an allergist and they said I wasn’t allergic to anything as far as food goes, but they did say if it bothers me obviously stay away from it. From that point on I made it my mission to stop buying boxed products and start finding some recipes from scratch. I believe what my stomach didn’t like was preservatives and if there was a way around boxed I’ll take it, plus I really love to bake!

While scouring the internet I found Brown Eyed Bakers recipe a few years ago and I really loved it but at the time I was really into using oat flour and I was super curious to sub some oat flour in. I wanted to try it partially because the graham flour can be a bit expensive so I figured why not cut a little out and sub some oat flour, and well obviously it worked really well or I wouldn’t be sharing my adapted version of the recipe with you! 

Homemade, Graham Crackers, From Scratch, Recipe

Besides the oat flour sub no big changes, she uses all dark brown sugar but I like using both light and dark, she also used more salt and kosher salt particularly. I’m not the biggest fan of large kosher salt granules so I always use non-iodized table salt in my baking. Also I like the addition of cinnamon, I am a cinnamon lover so I added that into my version, I have a ½ tsp but you can totally do more, sometimes I do. There is one other thing that I do differently but only because I find it to be less clean-up and wasteful of flour. I like to roll my cookies (or in the case crackers)  between parchment paper. I’ve been doing this with a  lot of recipes I feel like you lose some flavor when using extra flour and I also like my cookies a tiny bit soft so having extra flour is one really messy and two a little wasteful so below I’ve explained what I do below. 

I like to use a round cookie cutter set but you are more than welcome to do whatever shape you please, just keep in mind the baking time may vary. If you are using round-shaped ones and have a 2ich round cutter and a 1inch round you should get around 26 two-inch crackers and 21 one inch crackers. Your graham crackers can be stored for 5 days or you can freeze them in a Ziploc up to 2 months.

The Ingredients

  • I used 3 different flours in his recipe, a mixture of All-Purpose, Graham flour, and Oat flour. You cannot make this without the Graham flour they just won’t be the same. I use oat flour by taking about 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats and blending them till they become like flour. I absolutely love oats they are something I eat multiple times a day.
  • Baking Soda and salt. You don’t need a lot of these but you do need them and I chose to use non-iodized table salt, I am not a fan of kosher, it has too large of granules for me in baking.
  • Unsalted Butter at room temperature. As most baking goes you need that fat to hold it together and it must be room temperature and unsalted, definitely do not use margarine this will make the dough way too soft and impossible to roll out.
  • Sugar, we all want a little sugar in life right? I use a mix of dark and brown sugar and there is honey, because well it isn’t a graham cracker without some honey!
  • Cinnamon is in the recipe too but only if you want it, I love cinnamon so I always add it in.
Homemade, Graham Crackers, From Scratch, Recipe, Unbaked

Equipment

  • You will need at least 3 cookie sheets I always make sure I’ve got 4 out just in case.
  • A couple of bowls and a stand mixer or a hand mixer.
  • Parchment paper is highly recommended because I roll my cookies between it and use the paper to bake on.
  • Rolling pin, make sure it is a very good sturdy one.
  • 2ich round cookie cutter and a 1 inch round cookie cutter. You can totally do what every cookie cutters you want but just keep in mind the baking time may vary and your amount of cookies will depend on what size cutter you use.

Procedure and Tips

  • I like to mix my dry ingredients together first and put them to the side.
  • Then I mix my butter, sugars, and honey together until light and fluffy. Always make sure you scrape that bowl down, there may be unmixed butter or sugar at the bottom.
  • After you’ve got light and fluffy butter/sugar mixture you slowly add your flour and mix till just combined.
  • I separate the dough into two 5-inch disks about an inch thick and wrap each disk in saran wrap. Make sure you are thoroughly pushing the dough into a round shape really form it together and avoid cracks.
  • Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours and up to 5 days.
  • Take your dough out about 10 min before your ready to roll it out and set your oven to 350 at this time.
  • Roll one dough disk between two pieces of parchment paper about the same size as your sheet pans. The dough should be about 1/8 thickness when you’re ready to cut into shapes.
  • Once your shapes are cut, using the parchment paper that you rolled with to bake the crackers on, bake until lightly golden brown.
  • Your graham crackers can be stored for 5 days or you can freeze them in a Ziploc up to 2 months.
  • One little tip, if you live in a warmer climate (or maybe your house is at 75 or its summer)  it will definitely benefit you to put a sheet pan into the freezer. Your dough may get too soft when rolling this will make it hard to cut your shapes. When you have finished rolling one of your Graham Cracker disks put the rolled out one into the freezer on the sheet pan for 5 minutes or until you are done rolling the other disk. Believe me you definitely need to do this if you don’t want your crackers a mess. When the second dough is rolled switch them and cut the first disk and repeat process as needed.
  • Why I don’t use extra flour to roll my crackers? I feel like you dim some of the flavors when you use flour to roll them out and I find that I don’t waste much parchment paper since I use them on the cookie sheets. Extra bonus: LESS CLEAN UP!
Homemade, Graham Cracker, Dough

Graham Crackers From Scratch

This homemade Graham Cracker recipe is easy and delicious so put down the boxed version and soften some butter!
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 1 hr
Cook Time 12 mins
Resting Time 2 hrs
Total Time 3 hrs 12 mins
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American

Equipment

  • 3 Cookie sheets
  • Mixing bowls
  • Stand mixer or hand mixer
  • Parchment paper
  • Rolling Pin
  • Cookie Cutters

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
  • 1 cup Graham flour
  • 1/3 cup Oat flour
  • 1 tsp Baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1 cup Unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup Light brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup Dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp Cinnamon optional
  • 3 tbsp Honey

Instructions
 

  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together all 3 flours, the baking soda salt, and cinnamon if using; set aside for later.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, brown sugars and honey, beat together at medium-high speed until the butter/sugar mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. 
  • Once light and fluffy scrape the sides of the bowl down. Add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix on low speed just until its combined and the dough comes together, which takes about 30 seconds.
  • Transfer the dough onto 2 pieces of plastic wrap separating best as you can into two balls of dough; shape the dough balls into 2 a 5-inch disks about an inch thick, and wrap tightly. Refrigerate the dough disks for at least 2 hours, or if not using yet refrigerate up to 5 days.
  • After your dough has refrigerated and you are ready to bake the graham crackers, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and take your dough out for about 10 min to warm up slightly. 
  • Get 3 baking sheets out but don’t put parchment paper down yet, only cut 2 pieces out and make them the same size you would if putting on the baking sheets. Put one sheet on your counter and grab one of your disks put the other sheet on top of the disk. Between the two pieces of parchment paper roll out the dough to a 1/8-inch thickness 
  • Take one of your parchment pieces and place them onto the baking sheet. Cut into 2-inch and 1inch rounds then transfer them to the baking sheet, spacing the crackers at least ¾-inch apart, grab the other dough and another piece of parchment and roll the other disk follow above directions with the scraps.
  • Only 2 trays at a time bake the crackers for 6 minutes and then rotate the baking sheet. Bake for another 6 to 8 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown and just slightly firm to the touch.
  • Let them cool for one minute on the baking sheets, then transfer them onto a cooling rack. Let them cool completely (they will get crispy as they cool). They stay fresh in an alright container for up to 5 days, they freeze nicely too if you place them into a zip lock bag, I wouldn’t freeze longer than 2 months.

Notes

*When shaping the dough make sure you are thoroughly pushing the dough into a round shape really form it together and avoid cracks.
*If the dough is very hard let it sit on the counter longer than 10 minutes.
*For people in warm climates or if you keep your house around 75 degrees when rolling the dough it may be hard to cut the dough I like to keep a sheet pan in the freezer, when I’m done rolling one disk I take the rolled one and put on the frozen sheet pan in the freezer for 5 minuets or until I’ve finished rolling the other dough. Then take the frozen rolled dough out and put the 2nd one in while you cut your shapes. This process makes it very easy to get the shapes cut with no issues. Repeat process if needed.
*Why I don’t use extra flour to roll my crackers? I feel like you dim some of the flavor when you use flour to roll them out and I find that I don’t waste much parchment paper since I use them on the cookie sheets. Extra bonus: LESS CLEAN UP!
Keyword easy, From scratch, Graham Crackers, homemade

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