Homemade Graham Crackers
Homemade graham crackers, the first question my husband asked me was “why would you want to make them?” Well, I saw the recipe in a cookbook I picked up in Branson, MO. It was the first time I had seen a recipe for graham crackers so I thought it was interesting. Now in hindsight, I see that recipes for homemade graham crackers are all over the internet!
Anyway, I wanted to try my hand at them. I love graham crackers with ice cream, peanut butter, S’mores, and just by themselves. They are a go-to snack at our house. My crackers turned out just a little bit on the hard side but were still tasty and they worked great for a graham cracker crust for a cheesecake I made later in the week.
Ingredients – Recipe from Edwards Mill Cookbook College of the Ozarks
- 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup milk
Basic Instructions
Cream the shortening, sugar, and vanilla together. I used Crisco shortening but you could also use butter. In fact, the next time I make them I will probably try butter. Cream all that together in the mixer and add the dry ingredients a little at a time along with the milk.
Separate the dough into three balls. You can refrigerate for a bit if you like, but I didn’t. Cut parchment paper the size of your cookie sheet and roll the dough out on the parchment paper. That way you can lift the dough and paper over to the cookie sheet to bake.
Roll the homemade graham cracker dough into a rectangular shape, then trim the edges. If the exact size of a regular graham cracker is important to you, you can do that. It wasn’t important to me. Score the dough without cutting all the way through it and then make indentions with a fork.
The oven should be preheated. The recipe I have called for 350 degrees, but I did 300-325 with my oven. All ovens vary and mime tends to get hotter I think. Bake 10-12 minutes until edges turn brown.
In hindsight, maybe I should have tried 350 degrees. Since cookies tend to overbake in my oven at that degree I backed off a bit. When my graham crackers first came out of the oven, they were not as crisp as I thought they should be. So I baked for a few more minutes. And I probably didn’t wait for them to completely cool before testing. My crackers came out a bit on the hard side but were still good. I might not have rolled them quite thin enough too and that could have contributed. The recipe called for rolling them to 1/8″ thick. I mean….who measures!
Oh, my recipe didn’t call for it, but I sprinkled a cinnamon-sugar mixture on top before they baked.
Cool Crackers
Once the graham crackers have baked, let them cool completely. Don’t try to snap the crackers apart where you score them. Not likely they will break evenly apart. Use those scoring marks to cut with a sharp knife. You can do that before they cool completely to make it easier.
Confession
In the first batch of homemade graham crackers I made, I saw that the recipe called for salt and baking soda because of the all-purpose flour. Well, I use self-rising flour so I left that out. Somehow I never thought about the whole wheat flour! So I went through the whole process without the salt and baking soda and had to toss that batch! See, it happens to all of us, no matter how long we’ve been baking)))
Hindsight
After making homemade graham crackers for the first time (not counting that first batch😳) I’ve looked at some other recipes and some have honey which I think I’d like to try. Some had cinnamon added to the dry ingredients and I think that would be good too. Some used butter instead of shortening and some used two teaspoons of vanilla versus one. All these different variations might not make much difference but just think about them as options. Also, check for crispness. If not crisp enough, bake a little bit longer but watch closely and don’t let them burn.
As I said, my graham crackers were a little bit harder than purchased graham crackers but I didn’t expect them to be exact copies))) I processed enough to make a graham cracker crust for my cheesecake and you couldn’t tell them from the real deal. They were good just as a plain snack and great with ice cream too)))
Sugar Substitutes
You know Swerve makes an excellent brown sugar substitute and I may try that in the next batch of homemade graham crackers. I’ve had really good results using the Swerve brand sugar substitutes and every little bit of calorie reduction helps)))
Homemade Graham Crackers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ c Whole Wheat Flour
- ¾ c All-Purpose Flour
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¾ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ c Crisco Shortening I use Crisco
- ¾ c Brown Sugar Packed
- 1 tsp Vanilla Flavoring
- ¼ c Milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (make adjustment as necessary for your oven)
- Cream shortening and sugar, then add vanilla. Sift dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.
- Divide dough into three equal parts (refrigerate if desired for a couple of hours)
- Cut a piece of parchment paper that fits cookie sheet.
- Roll one segment of dough out on parchment paper. Try to roll in a rectangular shape. Roll dough 1/8" thick. You could use cookie cutters too if desired.
- Trim edges to "square" it up. Score lightly with a knife without cutting all the way through the dough.
- Transfer dough and parchment paper to cookie sheet. Make indentions in dough with a fork, without poking all the way through. If desired, sprinkle the tops with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350" for 10-12 minutes until edges are brown. Cool. If graham crackers are not crisp enough, bake a couple more minutes and watch closely.
- Allow to cool slightly and cut through scored lines. Trying to break at the scored lines after cooling may result in uneven breaks. Store in a closed container.
