These graham crackers are sweet with a hint of cinnamon. Even your pickiest eater is sure to love them.
Recently, I’ve found myself on a quest to make more of our food at home. Maybe it’s the rising grocery store prices. Maybe it’s just that I’m obsessed with sourdough. Maybe it’s a control thing … knowing exactly what goes into our food. Maybe it’s just part of being a 30-something-year-old mom. Whatever it is, I’m here for it.
My kids love cookies and all things sweet. I’ve been working on this graham cracker recipe for months. And I finally perfected it. Even my pickiest kid couldn’t get enough of these crackers when she got home from school.
These crackers can be soft and chewy or sweet and crispy. It all depends on your preference and how long you bake them.
My kids prefer a more chewy graham cracker cookie … kind of like a gingersnap, so I roll them a little thicker. The outside gets caramelized and crispy, but the inside stays soft and chewy. And boy are they delicious.
When you make these graham crackers, I recommend using discard that’s less than a week old. If it’s really old and covered with hooch, your discard is going to make these crackers taste sour. And that’s not the flavor we’re going for. Save that jar of discard for pancakes or savory crackers where you want more sour flavor.
These crackers are made with 11 ingredients you probably already have on hand. I like to use a blend of wheat flour and white all purpose flour. My kids love them best when I use equal parts of each flour, but you can definitely make them 100% whole wheat or 100% all purpose – it’s totally up to you. The flavor is amazing both ways.
These are going to make amazing s’mores all summer long. And are a delicious snack dipped in milk.
You’ll want to store these crackers in an air-tight container. After a couple of days you may notice they start to get dried out and more crisp. If you want to soften them up, just place a small slice of bread into the container with the crackers. Works every time.
Discard Graham Crackers
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Kitchen scale
- hand mixer, or stand mixer
- Sheet Pan
- Rolling Pin
- pizza cutter or knife
Ingredients
- 113 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 250 grams brown sugar
- 125 grams discard, less than a week old is best
- 15 grams vanilla extract
- 100 grams honey
- 200 grams whole wheat flour
- 200 grams all purpose flour
- 3 grams ground cinnamon, optional, but recommended (1 teaspoon)
- 5 grams salt
- 6 grams baking soda (1 teaspoon)
- 10-25 grams milk, as needed
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar with your electric hand mixer (a stand mixer also works, you’ll just need to scrape down the sides often).
- Once creamed, add your discard and honey and mix until light and fluffy.
- Add vanilla and mix again until everything is combined.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix well.
- Add your dry ingredients to your creamed mixture and mix with a spatula until everything is combined. If your mixture is too crumbly, add a splash of milk until everything is combined. If your mixture is too wet, add flour a spoonful at a time until everything is combined. Your mixture should all come together easily, but not be overly sticky.
- Cover and chill in the fridge at least one hour or up to 24 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F
- Divide your dough in two even portions
- Place the first portion of your dough onto a piece of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Gently roll the dough out until it fills the parchment paper. You may need to lightly flour to keep your dough from sticking. Try to make sure it’s the same thickness in the center as it is on the edges so the crackers cook evenly. For a softer, chewy cookie, roll a little thicker. For a crispy cracker, roll as thin as you can.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut your graham crackers into rectangles on the parchment paper. Then poke each cracker 3 or 4 times with a fork. Place parchment paper on a sheet pan.
- Bake cookies for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and using the pizza cutter, cut your crackers a second time so they don’t stick together when baking. Return to the oven and bake an additional 10-13 minutes until graham crackers are baked through and turning golden brown along the edges.
- Let rest on the sheet pan for 10-15 minutes and allow the graham crackers to finish baking, then move to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
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