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If you have the time and the energy, Homemade Graham Crackers are truly something special. As a classically-trained chef with lots of experience in baking and pastries, I tested and perfected this recipe so it’s ready for your next weekend baking project.
Soul Warming Graham Crackers At Home
If you are trying to minimize processed ingredients or avoid things like palm oil and high fructose corn syrup, these are an easy yes. But even that’s not on your radar, you can make graham crackers at home because they are simply delicious and smell wonderful.
Be sure to consider the measurements in the recipe and to roll out your dough to the correct thickness. Otherwise, your crackers might end up too thin or too thick. I love graham crackers for quick snacks (especially spread with cream cheese frosting, just like mom used to do), s’mores, and dessert crusts.
Table of Contents
Graham Cracker Ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
- Whole wheat flour: Do not substitute stone ground or white whole wheat flour.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, or with an electric hand mixer, cream butter and sugar together.
- Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until incorporated well and a soft dough forms, about 2 minutes.
- Add the milk, honey, and vanilla extract. Mix until incorporated. The dough should be sticky and soft.
- Divide the dough into two discs, wrap both in plastic, and chill for at least one hour.
- Adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously flour your counter or a piece of parchment paper and place one ball of dough in the center.
- Pat into a 5-by-6-inch rectangle, sprinkle with flour, flip, and dust again.
- Working from the center out and adding more flour as needed, roll the dough with a rolling pin until roughly 15-by-11 inches and very thin, about 1/8-inch thick.
- Slide the parchment paper on to a baking sheet and brush away excess flour. Repeat with the remaining dough. For grocery store look-alike, score each sheet of dough into twelve 2 1/4-by-4 3/4-inch rectangles and dock with a bamboo skewer, fork, or the narrow end of a chopstick (feel free to use a ruler). Otherwise, leave the dough uncut.
- Bake until crackers and firm and darkened, about 10-12 minutes. Immediately cut along the pre-scored lines with a knife, or cut into free-form shapes using a pizza cutter. Cool to room temperature directly on the baking sheets.
Where to buy a rolling pin
I got the J.K. Adams French Rolling Pin at Amazon for $18. It’s my favorite rolling pin because features tapered edges instead of handles, so you can change the position of your hands right on the dowel instead of using specific handles. I use it for all my parties and baked goods!
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 24 graham crackers.
- Storage: The graham crackers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks at room temperature or frozen for up to 3 months.
- Make ahead: The dough may be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature for 30 minutes before using.
- Pie Crust: Use leftover graham cracker crumbs in a delicious Graham Cracker Crust made with crackers, melted butter, and sugar. It’s the base of many desserts including Vanilla Cheesecake, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Cheesecake Bars, and Key Lime Pie.
Frequently Asked Questions
The closest cracker to a graham cracker in the UK and Australia is called a digestive biscuit.
Graham crackers are never healthy in that they are mostly empty carbohydrates. But, not all food needs to be consumed for health purposes. By making homemade graham crackers which contain whole wheat flour and honey instead of refined sugar, you can close the gap between “snack” and “health food.”
These crackers are named after Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian minister who lived in the 19th century. Graham believed that in order to live in the way God wanted, people should resist all pleasures. This included eating a vegetarian diet. He created graham crackers, then an unsweetened biscuit, as an example of the pleasureless food he wanted his congregation to eat.
We don’t think so. Graham flour is extremely hard to track down even with the resources we have here. So, we developed a graham cracker recipe without it, and we think it tastes great. Your kids will love them!
More homemade snacks
Chocolate Recipes
Puppychow
Appetizer Recipes
Ranch Oyster Crackers
Appetizer Recipes
Chex Mix Recipe
Candy Recipes
Candied Pecans
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Graham Cracker
Equipment
- Stand mixer (I LOVE my KitchenAid Professional mixer!)
- Pizza Wheel (This makes it easier to cut the crackers)
- Bamboo skewers (For scoring the crackers!)
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour plus more for dusting (see note 1)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 7 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the dough:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, or with an electric hand mixer, cream butter and sugar together.
- Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until incorporated well and a soft dough forms, about 2 minutes.
- Add the milk, honey, and vanilla extract. Mix until incorporated. The dough should be sticky and soft.
- Divide the dough in two discs and wrap both in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
To roll and bake the dough:
- Adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously flour your counter or a piece of parchment paper and place one ball of dough in the center.
- Pat into a 5-by-6-inch rectangle, sprinkle with flour, flip, and dust again. Working from the center out and adding more flour as needed, roll the dough until roughly 15-by-11 inches and very thin, about 1/8-inch thick. Slide the parchment paper onto a baking sheet and brush away excess flour. Repeat with remaining dough.
- For grocery store look-alike, score each sheet of dough into twelve 2 1/4-by-4 3/4-inch rectangles and dock with a bamboo skewer or the narrow end of a chopstick. Otherwise, leave the dough uncut.
- Bake until crackers and firm and darkened, about 10-12 minutes. Immediately cut along the pre-scored lines with a knife, or cut into free-form shapes using a pizza wheel. Cool to room temperature directly on the baking sheets.
- The graham crackers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks at room temperature or frozen for up to 3 months.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Whole wheat flour: Do not substitute stone ground or white whole-wheat flour.
- Yield: This recipe makes 24 graham crackers.
- Storage: The graham crackers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks at room temperature or frozen for up to 3 months.
These are SO SO good! My kids and I absolutely love them! I made them into animal crackers and the kids love them even more.
Such a great idea! Thanks Britt! – Meggan
I used white whole wheat flour for these and they turned out wonderful! I read comments saying they were soft and chewy, so I left them in the oven for 15ish minutes to let them get darker. They ended up being crunchy on the edges and soft chewy in the center. Best of both worlds! My husband said they remind him of a stroop waffle cookie. We really enjoyed them! Will make again. I’m looking forward to trying them with fresh milled flour.
I made a 1.5 recipe so I could break down for cheesecake crust! They started nice and crispy from the oven and slowly got a bit more soft, I’m going to reheat them so I can hopefully crumble them for my crust! I added some ground cloves and nutmeg into the recipe, it’s like a fall cookie, a bit too sweet for our taste so we will add a bit less sugar! Next time I’ll be doing ginger and see if I can make some delicious ginger cookies too! Fingers crossed it works! Thank you for the delicious recipe! I’ll hopefully be using it for ginger bread houses this year!
You’re so welcome, Sarah! Take care! – Meggan
It’s absolutely delicious, let alone nutritional. I recommend as regular food for tea times and snacks. I am also making a cheese cake with homemade Graham crackers as base.
I’m so happy you love them, Lili! 😊 – Meggan
My little guy is dairy-intolerant so I subbed shortening and ice water for the butter and milk, respectively. Baked for 14m and they came out great! The texture is lovely and crisp and the taste is a cross between a graham cracker and a ginger snap or molasses cookie. Super yum!
Thanks for sharing, Elaina! – Meggan
Cookies are delicious but the taste and texture are NOT graham crackers. More like thin and chewy caramel tasting cookies.
Hi Amanda, I’m sorry they didn’t come out to your liking. While they are a little more chewy than store-bought cookies, they should still resemble them in taste and be closer than what you described. I’m not sure what went wrong with your batch. I hope the next one is better. Thank you for taking the time to write and I’m sorry again. – Meggan
Would this work as a Graham cracker crust for a cheesecake? If u rolled it out and put in pan and put my cheesecake in it?
Hey there, these graham crackers tend to be a little more chewy and soft than the brittle, dry store-bought ones. I don’t know that it would make a good crust for a cheesecake. I really don’t know for sure and don’t want to steer you incorrectly. Thank you and sorry! – Meggan
Hello! I know you say not to substitute stone ground but it’s all I have and I really want to make these right now😅 will they not turn out?
Hi Sara, You are welcome to try! I didn’t have luck with the stone-ground flour but there’s always a chance you are a better baker than I am! I’d just hate for you to have a disaster. Good luck! – Meggan
Great for pie crust. Even though they were a little soft
The recipe looks very good. Would it work to roll the dough into a log and cut individual crackers?
Hi Mary! I have no idea, I haven’t tried that. I’ve only ever rolled it out flat. I imagine it would work fine, although the crackers might end up being a lot thicker. But that’s not necessarily bad? More like a cookie? Not sure. Good luck! Thanks – Meggan
I rolled it out a bit too thick so they were soft and still good but not Graham crackers. Couple hours later, I threw them back in the oven to try and get more moisture out and they tasted so much better and are the right texture now! If you roll them out too thick, put them back in the oven, it’s worth it to get this recipe right. Thank you author for sharing!
Thank you so much, Jessica. You never know who this comment / tip will help in the future!!! 🙂 – Meggan