Summer is in full swing, and with it comes all the fun times you can spend with friends, and the sweet treats you can enjoy with them. A neighbor of ours (and frequent commenter!) invites us to bonfires, and what goes great with bonfires? S’mores, of course!
Now, there’s an art to a good s’more. You need good graham crackers, you need good chocolate, and you need to heat up your marshmallows the right way. Obviously, as a campfire treat, over open flame is the best, but that’s not always necessary. I’ve had perfectly acceptable s’mores in the microwave.
Today, though, I want to talk about the crackers. Obviously, the easy route is to buy a box or two of grahams from the store, but why not give a shot at making your own? As it turns out, they’re a bit easier to make than I expected, but there are a few tricks to them.
First of all, the dough is very sticky, because of the honey in it. You need to keep it chilled when you can, and use extra flour to dust it when rolling it out, otherwise you end up with a mess and not a dough.
The second trick is the shape. When you’re rolling out and shaping your dough, you score it to make points it can snap along later. I found that 4″ by 2″ rectangles (about what you get from store-bought grahams) is ideal. Anything larger, and the texture ends up uneven. The middles are chewy while the outer edges are crisp, but if you cook them longer, the outer edges can burn.
I also tried out some cookie cutter shapes, but it’s such a pain to remove the excess dough from around them that I don’t recommend it unless you have a lot of time on your hands.
I used honey as a sweetener for these grahams, but if you don’t like (or can’t have) honey, maple syrup is also a great option. You can also dust them with additional cinnamon-sugar when you’re done.
Homemade Cinnamon Graham Crackers
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper
- Stand Mixer
- Toothpick
- Rolling Pin
- Pastry Cutter
- Plastic Wrap
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 7 Tbsp Butter Softened
- 1 Cups Brown Sugar
- 3 Tbsp Milk
- ⅓ Cup Honey
- 2 Tsp Vanilla
- 1 Tsp Cinnamon
- 1 Tsp Baking Soda
- ½ Tsp Salt
Instructions
- Combine your flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
- In your stand mixer, cram together the butter and brown sugar until it's light and fluffy.
- Add in the milk, honey, and vanilla to the butter/sugar and mix well.
- Gradually add in the flour mixture until the dough forms. It will be quite soft and sticky.
- Divide the dough into two balls or discs, wrap in plastic, and chill for an hour to make it easier to work with.
- Preheat your oven to 350℉. Prepare a work surface with flour.
- Start rolling out one of the dough discs, working from the center out, adding flour as needed to keep it from sticking to your rolling pin. You're looking to make it somewhere between ¼" and ⅛" thick.
- Move your dough sheets to your baking sheet and start shaping them. I cut out the rectangle, lightly score the surface with a knife, and jab in dots throughout with a tooth pick.
- Bake each sheet for 11-13 minutes, or a couple minutes more if you're making larger crackers.
- Let cool for 1-2 hours on the baking sheet before breaking and serving however you like.