Thursday, February 3, 2011

Alice Medrich's Graham Crackers

Making your own graham crackers is as easy as making sugar cookies, and they're so much better than store-bought.  You can eat them on their own or smash them up to make an absoultely incredible graham cracker crust (we used some of these in a crust for peppermint cheesecake - so good!).  I bet these would make killer s'mores as well, though I haven't tried it.  Be sure to try and get the cookies as thin as possible when rolling them out to keep the graham crackers crunchy.


Alice Medrich's Graham Crackers (from Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies)

1-3/4 cups (8 ounces) graham flour
1/2 cup plus 1 T (2 ounces) oat flour
1/4 cup (1.75 ounces) sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
6 T cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 T milk (more as needed)
3 T honey
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Whisk together the flours, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Sprinkle over the butter and cut into the dry ingredients (or pulse together in a food processor).
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, honey, and vanilla.  Drizzle over the flour-butter mixture, and stir to combine.  Add more milk if needed so that the dough comes together into a single mass.
3. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill until firm but still flexible enough to roll out, 20-30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper until it is 1/8-inch thick.  Peel off the top sheet of parchment and place on a cookie sheet.  Prick the dough all over with a fork and score into squares or any other shape you like with a sharp knife.
5. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  Cool, and then break graham crackers along the score lines.  Cool before storing.  Cookies can be kept air-tight for at least 3 weeks.

4 comments:

  1. Interesting. I've never thought to make these homemade. I'll have to try them!

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  2. Despite the sometimes decadent treats I indulge in making, graham crackers are one of my favorite sweet snacks. These look way better than store-bought. By the way, I've noticed recently that my grocery store stopped selling normal graham crackers and now only has cinnamon. Is that weird or what?

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  3. @ Xiaolu: Very weird about the cinnamon grahams! Plus, annoying for pie-crust-making, which is usually all I buy store-brought graham crackers for anymore...not every pie filling goes well with cinnamon!

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  4. I'm so glad to know these are good for cheesecake bases! Tks for sharing the info, Sara!
    I am making them soon - yum!

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