Tried It & Loved It: Graham Crackers

Many years ago my Mom's friend gave me a cookie calendar that included a recipe for graham crackers.  I remember just being floored that those were something you could make at home.  I am little older now and a little wiser (at least I hope I am) and I have been a stay at home mom for nearly three years.  I have learned time and time again that most everything you can buy premade at the store can be made at home with fairly simple ingredients.  Whether it's household cleaners or snacks, you can probably make it at home.  And if it's a food item, you control the ingredients, so then you know exactly what's in them too, which is SO cool.  Finally, if you are like me, and you have more time than money, then this can save you money too!

My friend sent me this recipe probably close to a year ago and I haven't bought premade graham crackers since!  They are sooo good and they make an excellent graham cracker crust for your favorite pie recipe too--if you ever have enough leftover to get that far!

Homemade Whole Wheat Graham Crackers ~ slightly adapted from Heavenly Homemakers 

2 ¼ cups whole wheat flour (I used graham flour this time, but whole wheat works/tastes just as well)
½ cup rapadura
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
4 Tbsp honey
¼ cup water
1 tsp vanilla
 ½ cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a stand mixer or larger bowl, mix together dry ingredients.  Melt butter and stir in honey, water, and vanilla.  Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until a dough ball forms.  Split dough ball into two equal portions.  Laura suggests rolling each portion out between two sheets of parchment.  I use my Silpats and roll each portion out on the Silpat mat and place on the cookie sheet(s).   Using a pizza cutter, slice rolled out dough into two inch squares.  Prick each square with a fork several times.  Bake for 18 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through baking.  At the 18 minute mark, turn off the oven, but leave the crackers in the oven.  Leave in the oven for an additional 30 minutes to one hour.  The 30 minute mark works well with my oven, but you may want to play around with it to see what works for you. 

The key to these are two fold.  First, roll the dough out very thin.  Second, leave the crackers in the oven for the additional time after you turn off the oven.  Some people might call that following the instructions.  I didn't do this the first time I made them, and while they still tasted good, the texture was more of a cookie, not a cracker.  The additional time in the oven allows them to crisp up without over baking. 

Store in an airtight container.