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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.
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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.
can I use oil instead of butter?
Thanks for this recipe! My 2 1/2 year old helped me make them and she loved cutting out the shapes. She also loved eating the dough 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! Id like to try these, but all I have is AP flour on hand. What happens if I use just that? Do I need to add more or less when substituting for the whole wheat?
Thanks!
How do you store these?
Just found your site and our very first recipe we tried was the graham crackers! They are so tasty and my two year old loves them and had so much fun helping my hubby and I bake these. We made these during family time and had a blast! Look forward to making more of your recipes! Have a great day,
Sarah
Will this recipe work with Spelt flour? Just wondering…
Hi! I’ve tried these crackers and everyone loves them!
I was wondering if there was any way to cut the refined sugar (brown sugar) and use a substitute?
Sure 🙂 let me know how they are!
Can I substitue Whole Wheat Graham Flour for Whole Wheat Flour?
Made today. Catherine – when you say whole wheat flour in your recipes, are you purchasing it from the store?
We grind our own. There are different kinds of wheat. Soft white wheat can pretty much replace all purpose flour in any recipe. I have tried it on several of yours, including this one and they turn out great. Grinding your own flour is supposed to maintain the vitamins, protein and fiber naturally in the wheat.
I think the problem some had with not being able to roll it out may be b/c they didn’t roll it between parchment like you said to. I tried with and without the parchment and w/o it was too sticky. They turned out great. The only thing I did different was to halve the recipe b/c my food processor is too small and replaced all the flour with soft white whole wheat flour. They were crunchy and we added some cinnamon sugar to the tops of some. Thank you!!!
Do you think you could use a Gluten Free flour mix with these? I might just try it!
You dont eat sugar? Why are you baking cookies???!! Do you avoid gluten, and corn, and white potatoes, and soy and everything else normal too?
Is there any alternative to brown sugar and butter? We don’t eat sugar or dairy.
hmm, well they are supposed to be like crackers and crispy. Did you follow the recipe to a t?
I just made them and I don’t know what I did wrong but they were an epic fail! LOL 🙁 they were so dry and hard.. i have no idea because I can make cookies normally 🙁
Delicious taste but mine were way too sticky too! I refridgerated the dough in hopes that it would help but it was still too sticky for cookie cutters. In the end I rolled them by hand into little “sausages” then patted them down to rectangles. The puffed so much while backing that I may as well had made them as drop cookies. They taste great – I followed the recipe to a T – but my result was very different than the cracker I was hoping for. Graham Cookies would be a better description.