Graham Cracker And Graham Wafer Recipe – How To Make Homemade Graham Crackers – Detailed Tutorial

It’s not rocket science and I will prove it to you.

Graham crackers which are also known as graham wafers were developed by a Presbyterian minister named Sylvester Graham in 1829.

To be precise, graham crackers must be made with graham flour in order to be true graham crackers. Graham flour is a hard whole-wheat flour that has the bran, germ, and endosperm ground separately. The bran and germ are ground coarsely while the endosperm is ground finely. Today, however, most graham crackers are made with white and wheat flours along with different types of sweeteners.

One of the most common uses for graham crackers today is as a snack “cookie” which is either served plain or with a topping such as chocolate, cheese or a s’mores creation. Another very popular use for graham crackers is to crush them into a crust for cheesecakes or pies.

Making graham crackers is easy and feels very “Betty Crocker” in a 1950’s way. Of course, I love cooking and would be happy cooking all day long. Imagine all the recipes I could share if I stayed home every day of the week!

Why should you make homemade graham crackers instead of buying them at the store? Not only are the crackers homemade, but they do not have any preservatives or other chemicals in them which make them a much healthier snack! Another reason to bake them is if you want to put them into a special recipe. I think in literature class that would be called a foreshadowing. (smile)

It’s time to stop chatting and get down to work…Not really work because cooking is too fun to be work!
 

 
I have made three different kinds of graham crackers with this one recipe. I will show you all three variations. They are just small tweaks to allow different textures.

The first ingredient is whole-wheat flour. Put it into a food processor with the following ingredients:

All purpose flour…

Brown sugar…

Baking powder…

Baking soda…

Salt…

and Ground cinnamon.

Combine for about 1 minute.

Add the cold butter and combine for another minute or until the mixture resembles coarse meal .

In a measuring cup, add the milk and vanilla extract.

Add this liquid mixture to the ingredients in the food processor.

Add the honey. Use a rubber spatula to get all the honey out of the measuring cup.

Process for approximately 1 minute or until the mixture becomes a ball of dough. .

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. On top of parchment paper or wax paper, cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and press slightly into a flat square. Cover with another sheet of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll into a square shape. The dough should be about 1/8 inch thick for fat graham cracker cookies or 1/16 inch for thin crunchy graham crackers.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Slowly peel off the plastic wrap.

S-l-o-w-l-y peel it or the dough with RIP.

Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into 1 inch by 2 inch rectangle shaped cookies.

Holding both ends of the plastic wrap that currently covers the baking sheet, flip the crackers over quickly onto the wax paper covered baking sheet.

Carefully peel away the plastic wrap. If the dough tears, return it to the refrigerator for another 10-15 minutes.

Separate the crackers on the baking sheet leaving a little space between them. Poke holes into each cracker with a fork or wooden skewer. Make four rows of holes down each cracker

Preheat oven to 350º F. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are light brown. Remove from the oven. At this point you can sprinkle with granulated sugar or leave plain. Obviously these are the fat graham cracker cookies.

Slide the wax paper off the baking sheet and cool crackers on a baking rack.

These crackers are so thick they are like a cookie. Without all the sugar on top, they are actually quite a healthy snack.

I especially like them with some mango ginger cheese on top.

Mmmmmmm…..

You know how much I love a mango.

This is so heavenly delicious. I love this cheese on my homemade graham crackers.

Maybe you don’t want fat graham cracker cookies.

My daughter likes the thin crunchy graham crackers with sugar on top. So you follow the same directions as the fat graham cracker cookies except that you have to roll the dough out to 1/16 inch instead of 1/8 inch. Then the last step would be to melt the butter and using a pastry brush, cover crackers with melted butter and…

sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake at the same temperature, but for only 12 minutes. When the graham crackers come out of the oven, sprinkle with more granulated sugar.

So here are the three variations of the graham cracker. At the top of the plate is the fat cookie graham cracker. Shown at the bottom left of the plate is is the thin crunchy graham cracker without sugar on top. Shown at the bottom right of the plate is the thin crunchy graham cracker with double sugar on top.

Yes. They are all very delicious.

Fat cookie graham cracker with sugar after baking.

Thin crunchy graham cracker without sugar on top.

Thin crunchy graham cracker with sugar on top before and after baking.

They are pretty too. Don’t you think the sugar looks a little like snowflakes? I always have snow on the brain.

Do you want a bite?

*Crunch*

Graham Cracker And Graham Wafer Recipe

Ingredients for Graham Crackers (Graham Wafers):

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) of cold butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup cold milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions for Graham Crackers (Graham Wafers):

Using a food processor, combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon for about 1 minute. Add the cold butter to the mixture and process about 1 minute or until it resembles coarse meal. Add the honey, milk and vanilla. Process for approximately 1 minute or until the mixture becomes a ball of dough.

For Fat Graham Cracker Cookies: Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. On top of parchment paper or wax paper, cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and press slightly into a flat square. Cover with another sheet of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll into a square shape. The dough should be about 1/8 inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Slowly peel off the plastic wrap. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 1 inch by 2 inch rectangle shaped cookies. Holding both ends of the plastic wrap that currently covers the baking sheet, flip the crackers over quickly onto the wax paper covered baking sheet. Carefully peel away the plastic wrap. If the dough tears, return it to the refrigerator for another 10-15 minutes. Separate the crackers on the baking sheet leaving a little space between them. Poke holes into each cracker with a fork or wooden skewer. Make four rows of holes down each cracker.

Preheat oven to 350º F. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are light brown. Remove from the oven. At this point you can sprinkle with granulated sugar or leave plain. Slide the wax paper off the baking sheet and cool crackers on a baking rack.

For Thin Crunchy Graham Crackers: Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or wax paper. On top of the parchment paper or wax paper, cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap. Transfer half the dough to the baking sheet and press slightly into a flat square. Cover with another sheet of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll into a square shape. The dough should be about 1/16 inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

Slowly peel off the plastic wrap. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 1 inch by 2 inch rectangle shaped cookies. Holding both ends of the plastic wrap that currently covers the baking sheet, flip the crackers over quickly onto the wax paper covered baking sheet. Carefully peel away the plastic wrap. If the dough tears, return it to the refrigerator for another 10-15 minutes. Separate the crackers on the baking sheet leaving a little space between them. Poke holes into each cracker with a fork or wooden skewer. Make four rows of holes down each cracker.

If adding sugar topping to crackers, melt butter. Using a pastry brush, cover crackers with melted butter and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Preheat oven to 350º F. Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are light brown. Remove from the oven. At this point you can sprinkle with more granulated sugar or leave plain. Slide the wax paper off the baking sheet and cool crackers on a baking rack.

When completely cooled, store in an airtight container.

Ingredients for Sugar Topping:

1 to 2 tablespoons butter
2 to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions for Sugar Topping:

Melt sugar. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops of the uncooked cookies with butter. Sprinkle each cookie with the granulated sugar. Bake according to directions above.