As I look out the window to write this post, it continues to dump snow all around our house. I am extremely grateful to be sitting inside my nice, cozy living room and not outside! I hope you are all nice and cozy as you read this post.
A few weeks ago, my dear friend and neighbor Emily sent me a link to Smitten Kitchen’s Graham Cracker recipe with the note that read “Can you make these next please?” So when it came time to pick my next recipe to try, I knew that this had to be it. It was perfect timing also, because my youngest son just turned 1 and is now able to eat honey. He discovered graham crackers about 2 weeks ago and LOVES them! This homemade version was a success and everyone in the house loved them also!
One of the things that I continue to love about Smitten Kitchen recipes is that they usually contain ingredients that are already in my cabinets. This one is no different. All purpose flour, whole wheat flour, butter, milk, baking soda, salt, honey and vanilla.
I loved that this recipe came together easily in the food processor. I began by adding all the dry ingredients to the bowl – AP flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt and baking soda. I gave the ingredients a whirl to combine them all together. Then I added the butter which I had cut into 1 inch chunks and froze overnight. Again, I turned the food processor on and combined the ingredients so that the butter was combined and the whole mixture looked like course sand.
In a small bowl I combined milk, honey and vanilla. The recipe calls for full fat milk (I had whipping cream on hand so that is what I used). I whisked all the wet ingredients together to make sure they were fully combined before dumping the whole mixture on top of the dry ingredients. I turned the food processor on and let it run just until all the ingredients were combined an the dough began to move around the bowl of the food processor.
I turned the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and covered it with another piece of parchment. I rolled the dough out to an 1/8 of an inch thickness. I cut the dough in half and stacked them on a sheet pan and placed them in the freezer for 30 minutes until they were firm.
Once the dough was ready I pulled one piece at a time out of the freezer and my little helper and I cut out small fluted cookies. After they were all cut out, I gathered up the scraps and folded the parchment paper over it and rolled the dough out again until all the cookies had been cut. After the cookies had been placed on the cookie sheet, I sprinkled half with a tablespoon of cinnamon sugar and the other half just with sugar. I put each of the trays of cookies in the refrigerator to firm back up about 15 minutes. After I put the first tray of cookies in the fridge, I turned the oven on to 350F degrees to preheat.
I baked the trays for 10 minutes and then took them out and spun the trays 180 degrees and finished baking them for another 3 – 5 minutes. I let the cookies cool on the trays for 2 minutes before I let them finish cooling on a cooling rack. I placed the cookies side by side on my beautiful monogram tray from my sweet cousin. It makes it so easy to see the difference between the two cookie toppings.
Oh yes…and to answer the question at the beginning…these are for sure cookies!
Final Thoughts:
- These cookies are so yummy! In fact all of the cinnamon sugar ones are gone less than a day later.
- This cookie turned out crunchier than I usual bake my cookies, but in terms of having a similar texture to graham crackers they are right on the mark.
- This is another great egg free recipe if anyone is looking for a cookie without eggs.
- This is a great toddler treat!
Recipe – Graham Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
- 1/3 cup mild-flavored honey
- 5 tablespoons milk, full-fat is best (or whipping cream)
- 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- Cinnamon and granulated sugar mix for topping
Instructions
- Using a food processor, place the dry ingredients in the bowl and turn the machine on to mix them together.
- Add the frozen butter to the dry ingredients and pulse until it resembles course sand.
- In a small bowl, whisk the milk, honey and vanilla together until thoroughly combined. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and turn the machine on until all the dough just comes together.
- Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and cover it with another piece. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness and transfer to a cookie sheet that will fit into your freezer. (it is ok to cut the dough into smaller pieces and stack them on the cookie sheet to make them fit).
- Chill the dough for 30 minutes or until it is firm and easy to pick up independent of the tray.
- Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees.
- Use a small cookie cutter to cut out desired shapes or cut the dough into traditional graham cracker shapes. (You can also use a skewer to make holes in the dough to really resemble traditional graham crackers.)
- Place the cut out cookies onto a cookie tray lined with parchment paper.
- Sprinkle the desired topping onto the cookies and place them into the refrigerator to chill and firm up for 15 minutes.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes and then rotate the tray 180 degrees and continue to bake for 3-5 minutes until cookies have received desired brown color.
- Cool cookies on baking tray until they are firm (2-3 minutes) then finish cooling on a cooling rack.
- Enjoy! Try not to eat them all in one day!
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen
