Graham Crackers
August 8, 2007 at 6:17 pm | Posted in cookies & bars, sweet things | 13 Comments
Yes, I am aware that it looks like I’ve taken a photo of a pile of damp sand, but a few crumbs are all that I have left to share of my experience with homemade graham crackers. I have plans for those leftover crumbs, though…you wait and see.
Waaay back when, I promised that if anyone was interested, I would give the recipe for homemade graham crackers that I used in making my Namaimo bars. I did get a request, and I’m sorry it has taken me so long to get this out.
This recipe is from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, which calls them “the best graham crackers.” And I can attest to them being very tasty, since I did a quality control check before I whizzed the batch to bits. I imagine they’d be very good with a little peanut butter (one of my favorite snacks).
Graham Crackers – makes 32 crackers (3.5″ x 2.5″)
adapted from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion
1/2 c (2 oz) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c (7 7/8 oz) whole wheat flour
3/4 c (3 oz) powdered sugar
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon (optional)
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter
2 T (1 1/2 oz) honey
2 T (1 oz) cold milk
– Preheat the oven to 325°F/165°C. Have ready two baking sheets, with parchment to match.
– Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly.
– In a separate bowl, stir the honey into the milk to dissolve. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry, tossing with a fork until it comes together. If it seems to require more liquid to come together (mine did), add a little extra milk.
-Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and fold it over gently 10-12 times until smooth (I found a metal bench scraper to be quite helpful here). Divide the dough in half, and form each half roughly into a rectangular shape. Work with one half at a time, keeping the other half covered.
-On the counter, lightly flour one of your parchment sheets and a rolling pin. Roll one piece of dough on the parchment, adding a little more flour as necessary, into a rectangle about 10″ X 14″ (almost the size of your parchment). The dough should be about 1/16″ thick. Trim the edges to make a clean rectangle and dock evenly with a fork.
-Using a pizza or pastry wheel, cut the dough into 16 rectangles. Lift the parchment onto your baking sheet. There is no need to separate the cookies– they will bake together, but will break apart easily along the pre-cut lines when slightly cooled.
-Repeat the last two steps for your other half of dough.
-Bake for 15 minutes, or until medium gold all over (mine took a little longer). Let the crackers cool on the pan until just barely warm. Carefully snap crackers apart and cool them completely on a rack, before wrapping them tightly for storage.
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a whisk and a spoon 
wow-wee! homemade graham crackers! i’m well impressed. this is great though, because here in the NL, i’ve long given up on recipes calling for graham crackers, as they’re not available here. digestive biscuits or even speculaas could be used, but being an American native, sometimes you just want the taste you know. do these really taste like graham crackers?
Comment by Mari— August 9, 2007 #
I’ve never thought of even making my own graham crackers. What a treat!!
Comment by Deborah— August 9, 2007 #
they do look very nice for crumbs. 🙂
Comment by marye— August 9, 2007 #
I was thinking the other day, wouldn’t it be great to find a graham cracker recipe, and it appears! Perfect for a key lime pie, however, it does double the time.
Comment by Jerry— August 9, 2007 #
Oh my! I think I’m going to have to make these. I love graham crackers! And I love King Arthur flour.
Comment by Nirmala— August 9, 2007 #
Mari- I didn’t realize that they are such an American thing. I was baffled when I couldn’t find them. Then I read on Wikipedia that they were developed in New Jersey in the 1820s! Poor Aussie and NL kids…not knowing what a graham cracker is! Yes, they do taste like graham crackers, but like with anything store-bought vs homemade, there is a bit of a difference. I think store-bought are made with graham flour, which can be hard to find, so the recipe here approximates that with a combo of white and whole wheat flours. You can do like I did, and just make a half batch (1 tray worth) to try.
Deborah- Try them out. The dough’s a bit sticky to work with, but they are pretty easy to make.
marye- Thanks!
Jerry- Give them a try! It may not be worth the extra effort if you are only using them for a crust (I only did because I couldn’t find the crackers in the stores here). With all the extra butter, sugar and cinnamon in a crust, I don’t know that it makes all that much difference there, but they would certainly make a good s’more.
Nirmala- I love King Aruthur, too! I hope to visit them in Vermont sometime! Looks like they have some fun baking classes and a great store.
Comment by steph— August 9, 2007 #
Uh uh, not sand, it does look like something sweet. Can’t wait to see what you make with it.
Comment by Cynthia— August 9, 2007 #
Always thought about making mine but never got around to it. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Comment by Tartelette— August 9, 2007 #
Thank you for sharing this recipe, Steph – we can’t find Graham Crackers here in Brazil! 😀
Comment by Patricia Scarpin— August 10, 2007 #
Wow, I would never think to make homemade Graham Crackers… but this recipe sounds great. Anything homemade tastes better than the packaged stuff!! 😀
Comment by Robin— August 11, 2007 #
Cynthia- Give me a couple of weeks, and I will have something for you. 😉
Tartlette and Patricia- My pleasure!
Robin- You are so right about homemade!
Comment by steph— August 12, 2007 #
I compared your recipe and the one on KA’s site. I was just wondering why you made the changes you did so that I can know which recipe to follow. For example, your recipe doesn’t have the egg; it has confectioner’s sugar (3/4 cup), etc. Thanks!!
Comment by Memoria— April 23, 2009 #
Memoria: Thanks for the question. The recipe I used came out of one of KA’s cookbooks, not off their website. I did not make ingredient changes to the recipe in the book…they just must have published a slightly different one in the book than on the site.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— April 24, 2009 #