I absolutely love trying recipes that allow me to bake things I’d normally buy prepackaged at the store. It’s not that I’m opposed to prepackaged things – sometimes it’s just easier and I’m all about making life easier. I just love the feeling of satisfaction that comes from knowing that if I wanted to I could pass right by that prepackaged item, head home and make it in my own kitchen (and most of the time it’d be cheaper and far more tasty)!
Graham crackers have been on my list of things to try for a while and I’ve bookmarked numerous recipes, but didn’t finally get around to making them until seeing them on Kristin’s site, The Kitchen Sink, recently. I want to make pretty much everything Kristin posts lately but the real reason I stop by her site is for her writing. She’s got a way with words that I really envy and her posts always seem so effortless. But anyway, I digress…
If you like the graham crackers you can buy at the supermarket, I think you’ll love these. I tend to use the store-bought variety mainly for baking, grinding them up to use as crusts for cheesecakes and other treats. They don’t hold much appeal as snack material, but these definitely did. They’re more buttery than the prepackaged variety, but with the same crunch and crumb. My first thought upon sampling one was “yum – shortbread.” The recipe is simple to throw together and I love that Kristin’s adaptation to the original recipe makes these look just like the ones from the store – ok, maybe just a bit more homemade with my uneven cutting job but still cute. These graham crackers made me wish it was summer so I could go outside, toast marshmallows over a fire and make s’mores but since it’s not I guess I’ll just have to make them again in 6 months!
Graham Crackers
adapted from The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco, via NPR (as seen on The Kitchen Sink)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, at room temperature
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup honey
In a bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, dark brown sugar, granulated sugar, and honey. Mix on medium speed until well combined, about 1 minute. In two additions, add the dry ingredients, letting the first fully incorporate before you add the second.
Turn the dough out and flatten it into a rectangular shape, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes or up to 2 days. (The dough can be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 1 month.)
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Unwrap the chilled dough, and on a lightly floured surface, roll it out into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Using a ruler and a pastry cutter or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 3-by-3-inch squares; use a spatula to transfer the rectangles to the prepared baking sheets as you go. Reroll the scraps of dough once, and cut out more cookies. Using a paring kninfe, gently score each square to create a line down the middle, taking care not to cut all the way through the dough. Using a fork, pierce each rectangle with two rows of six to eight marks.
Bake the graham crackers, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until they are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
The graham crackers will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
How fun! I love the idea of home making things you could normally buy at the store. Sometimes you end up amazing yourself at what you can really do!
What a fun recipe, I had no idea graham crackers were so easy to make at home!
These looks great! I love the homemade quality and irregular markings.
I too love making easily available store-bought stuff at home, just to see if I can do better! Lol! But graham crackers are something we don’t get here, so I’ve been meaning to make these since forever!
Beautiful! In Holland we don’t have graham crackers and i have some delicious recipies with it.
Now i can try them! Thank you!!!
Very impressive! I think your cutting job is great, my first thought was OMG these look perfect! Once I prepared cheddar crackers and my son said I’ll never eat cheez-it crackers again, thanks mom!
Oh thank you! Im an american living in the netherlands and they don’t even sell graham crackers here:( I’ve bookmarked and will be making these very soon!
Man, those look good, pass the peanut butter!
We love making our own graham crackers. SO Much better than store bought. Love yours!
Those look wonderfully delicious.
Who says you have to wait six months. Fireplace?? Gas stove?? Butane lighter??
I need some for banana cream pie… how great to know how to make my own… thanks!!!
Yum! Yum! Yum!
They look more than perfect because they look handmade. I make saltines and they taste like food rather than a product from a box. Great post.
I was looking for a good recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Looks good, but doesn’t this recipe need to have GRAHAM flour in it?
These look great, Tracey! And thanks for your kind words.
I made gluten-free grahams tonight. Loved the taste, but they’re nowhere near as lovely looking as yours!
Your graham crackers look great! It’s always fun to make store bought favorites at home!
I completely agree, there is way more satisfaction from making your own! These look great!!
These were so good! I definitely want to make some, and maybe also some marshmallows, for S’mores. I made granola from The Craft of Baking for SB, hopefully I’ll get my act together and post the recipe soon.
I’m so jealous of your homemade graham crackers, Tracey! These are something I’ve wanted to try forever. Yours look so cute, I just love the score down the middle. I’m dying to pick one up and have a taste.
I’ve been known to make smores in winter by toasting my marshmallows over an electric stove burner. Just saying! Love the way your graham crackers look; I’ve had them on my list for quite a while.
I love these photos, Tracey, I would hang them on my wall! Beautiful. I loved the graham crackers I made a few months ago, but I’ll have to try these out too! I just got The Craft of Baking and I’m anxious to use it!
I’ve made homemade graham crackers before and they ARE really good. This recipe looks a lot different than the one I did, these look more buttery and shortbread-like. Yum!
I just made these…..they are SO good! TOO good…we’ll be eating them very quickly:)
I really like when people are expressing their opinion and thought. So I like the way you are writing
i just loved graham crackers when i lived in the states. thanks for the top 10 posts – awesome and a happy new year 2u!
My favorite part was baking up some of the unshaped dough when it was just smaller balls and it turned out fantastic! I made a s’mores cupcake and rolled my cupcakes in the crumble topping so they could get their graham cracker flavor. It also was DELISH mixed with yogurt. I will make it again and won’t make any actual crackers, just the “crumble.”