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Perfectly sweet, with a hint of cinnamon and honey, these Homemade Graham Crackers are a delicious, easy to make snack. If you’ve never baked cookies with your kids, this is a perfect starter recipe.
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
- Better Than Store-Bought: These graham crackers have a rich, buttery flavor and a slightly chewy texture that you just can’t get from store-bought versions. I love re-creating healthy versions of store-bought snacks like Homemade Fig Bars, Homemade Oreo Cookies and Chocolate Chip Granola Bars, homemade cheese crackers.
- Healthier Ingredients: Made with whole wheat flour, dark brown sugar, and honey, these crackers are a more wholesome treat you can feel good about serving to your family.
- Versatile Use: Enjoy them as a snack on their own, crumble them over yogurt, or make classic s’mores – the possibilities are endless!
- Fun to Make: This homemade graham cracker recipe is fun to make, especially if you get the kids involved in cutting out shapes with cookie cutters. It’s a perfect kitchen project for a cozy afternoon.
- Egg-Free: The best part is that there’s no eggs in this Graham Cracker recipe dough, so you can let your kids roll, cut out shapes and enjoy a taste of the dough AND the final baked product!
The Ingredients
- Whole Wheat Flour: Adds a wholesome, nutty flavor and extra fiber to the crackers.
- All-Purpose Flour: Creates a perfect balance between tender and crisp in the crackers.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Provides a deep, molasses-like sweetness that complements the honey.
- Kosher Salt: Balances the sweetness and brings out the flavors of the other ingredients.
- Ground Cinnamon: Adds a touch of warmth and spice, giving the crackers their signature taste.
- Baking Soda: Helps the crackers rise slightly and gives them a light, crisp texture.
- Unsalted Butter: Using chilled and cubed butter contributes to the flaky texture and rich flavor of the crackers.
- Honey: Adds natural sweetness to the graham crackers.
- Water: Helps bring the dough together and keeps it from being too dry.
*For exact measurements and instructions, see the recipe card below.*
Variations and Substitutions
- Flours: You can use all whole wheat flour for a denser, more fiber-rich cracker, or use all all-purpose flour. Some of my readers have used graham flour in place of the whole wheat flour with success too. Feel free to experiment!
- Gluten-Free: I’ve had Weelicious readers share that they’ve used a gluten free all-purpose flour in place of the flours in this recipe with great success!
- Toppings: If you want, before baking, sprinkle the crackers with a bit of cinnamon sugar or flaky sea salt for added texture and flavor.
- Chocolate Dipped: For a sweet treat, dip half of each graham cracker in melted dark or milk chocolate and let it set before serving. Or for a chocolatey version, make Chocolate Graham Crackers.
How to Make Homemade Graham Crackers
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor or mixer combine the flours, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking soda.
Step 2: Add cubed and chilled butter to the mix and pulse/mix until it resembles coarse meal.
Step 3: Add honey and water and continue to mix until it all combines.
Step 4: Remove and shape the dough into a flat disk and place between two sheets of parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to roll dough out until 1/4 inch thick.
Step 5: Cut dough into square crackers or fun shapes using cookie cutters.
Step 6: Place cookies on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Cool and serve.
Tips and Tricks
For the best homemade graham crackers, keep these tips and tricks in mind:
- Chill the Butter: Make sure your butter is cold and cubed before adding it to the dough. This helps create a flaky texture in the crackers.
- Don’t Overwork the Dough: Mix the dough just until it comes together to avoid tough crackers. Over-mixing can result in a denser texture.
- Even Thickness: Roll the dough evenly to ensure that the crackers bake uniformly. Uneven dough can lead to some crackers being over-baked while others remain undercooked.
- Cutting Shapes: Get creative with shapes by using cookie cutters. If you’re making these with kids, they’ll love picking out fun shapes for their crackers!
Storage Tip
Store the cooled graham crackers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. They can also be frozen (pre-baked or baked) for up to 4 months.
FAQs
Yes, you can prepare the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to 2 days. Just let it come to room temperature for a few minutes before rolling it out. Alternatively, you can freeze the dough for up to a month and thaw it in the refrigerator before using.
Leftover graham crackers are incredibly versatile! Crumble them up and use them in Pumpkin Pie Parfaits, use them as a topping for yogurt or ice cream, or enjoy them with a spread of nut butter or homemade homemade strawberry preserves.
If your graham crackers are not crispy, they may need a bit more baking time. You can also try rolling the dough slightly thinner next time for a crisper result. Remember to let them cool completely, as they will firm up as they cool.
Absolutely! You can add different spices like ginger, nutmeg, or even a bit of cocoa powder to make Chocolate Graham Crackers. Or experiment with almond or vanilla extract for different flavors.
More Easy Snacks for Kids
If you’ve never made your own graham crackers, you’ve got to try! Especially if you have little one. Graham crackers are like a total cookie rite of passage for kids. Let me know what you think of this recipe by leaving a comment and rating below!
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Graham Crackers
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup butter, chilled & cubed
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a food processor or mixer combine the first 6 ingredients.
- Add cubed and chilled butter to the mix and pulse/mix until it resembles coarse meal.
- Add honey and water and continue to mix until it all combines into a dough.
- Remove and shape the dough into a flat disk and place between two pieces of parchment paper.
- Roll dough out until 1/4 inch thick. Cut into crackers or fun shapes using cookie cutters.
- Place cookies on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
- Cool and serve.
Video
Notes
- To Freeze: After step 6, place the cut out cookie shapes on a baking sheet and freeze for 20 minutes. Remove, place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze for up to 4 months. When ready to bake, follow steps 7-8, adding an additional 1-2 minutes baking time.
- If you have no Whole Wheat, you can use 1 Cup Oat Bran to 2 Cups AP Flour instead of what the recipe calls for and it works perfect!
- To Store: Place the cooled graham crackers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Do you think this would work with dates instead of brown sugar? We don’t use it so I never have any at home. Thanks
I made these tonight and they are wonderful! I don’t have a food processor yet (trying to find a good, yet affordable one) and used a hand mixer and bowl instead, it worked really well, just took more time and made a bigger mess! Thank you!
I cut the shapes and freeze before baking, then just pull straight out and bake. The kids love having a yummy healthy snack that is ready in minutes! This is one of our favourite go-to recipes. Thank you Catherine!!!
I freeze the cookies after baking! They will keep for about 4 months in the freezer!
Do you think this dough could be frozen before and/or after baking?
These are amazing! My little guy loves graham crackers, they are his “cookies.” I pinned this recipe and made these when we ran out of the boxed kind. I didn’t have any honey, but they turned out perfect. They were so good in fact, that my husband and I had trouble not eating a ton too. What I really like about making these is that I can cut these to a size I don’t mind giving more that one to my son, and then he thinks he’s getting more. 🙂
You could probably do this with just your fingertips. Like when making scones or pie crust. It probably doesn’t work well in the stand mixer because the intent is not to cream the butter. You need to get the butter incorporated into the flour before you add everything else to hold it together!
I was wondering if it work to make this graham cracker dough in a standing mixer instead of a food processor? I’ve made your shortcake recipe in my food processor, but I cannot get this one to combine well in my food processor. I have a Kitchen Aid Little Classic….maybe it is too small for this recipe? If a standing mixer would not work, what else could I use to mix up the dough for this recipe?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried this dough in a cookie press. Hmmm good idea! I wonder if it’s too thick, though. This dough is so easy to work with I would say just cut it into sticks by hand! Maybe roll it a tiny bit thicker.
We LOVE both these and the chocolate grahams. Thanks for the fun and delicious recipes!!! Have you tried the dough in a cookie press? I’m thinking to do sticks like cheese straws rather than the spritzer cookie look. Trying to take a more nutritious snack for preschool ; )
[…] You can find the recipe HERE. […]
Strange. My dough never comes out like that. Although, if you live in a more humid or moist climate that will have an effect on your doughs and baking!
They are delicious! However i found the dough to be really sticky and tacky….i needed an extra cup of flour just for rolling..is that normal? Love your blog thanks!!!
My 2 1/2 year old son and I made these amazing cooking today. Not only was it fun and easy to make with him, but they are absolutely addicting!!! We both couldn’t stop eating them. I had to hide it in the pantry to try to forget about them!!!! 🙂 thanks again for your amazing work. Loving the book too.
found you on pinterest. so glad i did!!
my little man is eating quite a bit and we want to cut back on eating processed foods. these graham crackers look delicious! thanks so much!
We are a gluten free family. I made these using 2 1/2 cups of Bob;s All purpose gf baking flour. I couldn’t roll them out because the dough was too sticky, but I spooned teaspoon fulls onto the baking mat. Then I used the back of the spoon to make sure that the dough was 1/4″ thick. They were amazing! We used them for s’mores and even our non GF friends told me that they were the best graham crackers they had ever had. Thanks so much for this recipe!