BY
I have this thing with graham crackers. They are not the tastiest cookie in all the world, but I love them. I love having them around the house. After Will was born and I was in the hospital, I requested that my husband bring me a Diet Coke and a box of graham crackers. When I’m stress eating in the middle of the night, 9 times out of 10, it’s graham crackers and milk. When I’m starving in the morning and my kids are late for school, I grab a couple graham crackers before we head out the door.
My Grandma Randle always had graham crackers around her house. She had lots of treats, too, but those were definitely a controlled substance. The graham crackers, however, were fair game. My parents also always had graham crackers, even if they didn’t keep a lot of treats around the house. So maybe it’s a comfort food thing. In times of duress and boredom, I turn to graham crackers.
So imagine my excitement when I found these graham crackers in Martha Stewart Living magazine during one of my many end-of-pregnancy check-ups (I’m pretty sure I read that particular magazine 3-4 times. I really needed to start bringing my own reading material near the end). So one dreary, rainy, thundery day when it felt cooler than usual and my little girl was sick and sad on the couch, I finally made them. And we loved them. They don’t taste EXACTLY like graham crackers, especially if you roll them a little too thick *cough* like me *cough cough*. But they’re old-fashioned and comforting, kind of like a cross between gingerbread and shortbread, only with whole grains and no eggs.
You’ll need some all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, butter, honey, and brown sugar.
Measure out the flours by lightly spooning them into the measuring cups and leveling it off with the back of a knife. It’s important that you measure them this way because this dough has the potential to be VERY dry, so this will help keep the right consistency. Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl…
and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, brown sugar, and honey.
Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture.
Beat until combined.
Lightly flour a work surface (a silicone rolling mat or wax or parchment paper work great because you can transfer the dough directly into the fridge) and turn the dough onto the floured surface.
Roll the dough out until it’s 1/8″ (you may need to work in 2 batches).
Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350.
Cut the dough with your favorite cookie cutters or a fluted pastry wheel and place on a baking sheet.
Refrigerate or freeze for another 10-15 minutes or until the dough is very firm. If desired, use a fork to prick the dough to ensure even baking.
Bake for 10-14 minutes or until very lightly brown around the edges (it can be a little tricky to tell), being careful not to overbake. Makes about 2 dozen graham crackers, although it really varies on how thick your dough ends up and how large you cut the graham crackers.
Homemade Graham Crackers
Recipe lightly adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (measured by lightly spooning the flour into the measuring cups and leveling with a flat surface), plus more for working
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar (you can use dark if you prefer a richer flavor)
2 tablespoons honey
Instructions:
Whisk together the flours, wheat germ, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, brown sugar, and honey. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture. Beat until combined.
Lightly flour a work surface (a silicone rolling mat or wax or parchment paper work great because you can transfer the dough directly into the fridge) and turn the dough onto the floured surface. Roll the dough out until it’s 1/8″ (you may need to work in 2 batches). Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350.
Cut the dough with your favorite cookie cutters or a fluted pastry wheel and place on a baking sheet. Refrigerate or freeze for another 10-15 minutes or until the dough is very firm. If desired, use a fork to prick the dough to ensure even baking. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until very lightly brown around the edges (it can be a little tricky to tell), being careful not to overbake. Makes about 2 dozen graham crackers, although it really varies on how thick your dough ends up and how large you cut the graham crackers.
This is an interesting idea! I would love to make my own graham crackers! I wonder if they would make a good neighbor gift at Christmas? I was also curious on how you lightly adapted the recipe from Martha Stewart- why did you substitute the baking soda for baking powder? Thanks!
I liked the texture better with baking powder. 🙂
My all time favorite Graham crackers are the Nabisco Grahams in the red box. Sadly, I get them only once a year, since I have to wait for someone on the East Coast to bring them to me. I have no idea why they won’t sell them West of the Mississippi.
I have never have graham crackers before (not sure we get them here in the UK), so I will have to make these.
Dannii you may know them as digestive biscuits in the UK. We don’t have either in Germany normally but can sometimes find digestive biscuits.
Awesome! I was surprised to see they don’t have “graham flour” in them…I thought that’s what made graham crackers…”graham”y. But even if they turn out between gingerbread/shortbread, that still sounds amazing. I’m a total graham cracker girl too and can’t wait to try these.
I think graham flour is just whole wheat flour.
We have multiple food allergies in our house, and wheat is one of them. I am always looking at your recipes and trying to find ways to adapt them so my kids can eat them. I am curious how this would turn out if I replaced the wheat germ with oat germ and used an all-purpose wheat free flour instead. I guess I will just have to try and see. Thanks for the recipe!
I have done a similar recipe to this using Better Batter gluten free all purpose flour and it works well. I leave the wheat germ out, obviously. If you want that whole-grany texture of the wheat germ, try Arrowhead Mills Rice N Shine hot cereal, which is basically just stone ground rice – think grits but rice instead of corn. You can use an equal measure of it. The Better Batter GF flour blend (like all gluten free flours) is VERY “moisture loving” so I recommend backing off a bit on the measure – say 2 cups total of GF flour plus 1/2 cup of the ground rice cereal then proceeding with the recipe as directed. If it comes out dry, add a beaten egg to the recipe next time. I have to add an egg because I live in a very hot dry climate, but you might not. You probably know how tricky the GF flours can be! Good luck! 🙂
Pinned! I love graham crackers too!
One of the many, many things that I love about your blog is that you’re not ashamed to use ‘store brands’. I have that same little honey bear in my cupboard. Thank you again for making cooking and baking accessible and easy!
I was thinking the same exact thing as I was reading the article and looking at the pictures! That is why I love this site:)
This looks awesome!!! At every opportunity, I am trying to replace brown sugar and other sweeteners with Agave. Do you think this would work or do you think it would make it too runny and the wrong consistency?
I truly don’t know enough about substituting agave to say, especially in baking, but I do know the brown sugar adds a real richness (because of the molasses in the brown sugar), so it’s really tough to tell.
These look fantastic. Love the grain bread recipe also.
My family absolutely loves your bake taquitos recipe. They are delicious. We have made your cookbook a part of our kitchen decorations and leave it displayed at all times. My husband is also a culinary chef instructor and has even used some of your recipes in his classroom. The recipes are foolproof and fantastic. Keep up the good work. We are excited for the new cookbook.!!