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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.
Meggan’s Notes
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 if that’s not on your radar, you can make graham crackers at home because they are simply delicious and smell wonderful.
Why This Recipe Works
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) and s’mores.
Homemade 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.
How to Make Homemade Graham Crackers
- 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 are 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.
Homemade Graham Crackers Tips and Variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 24 graham crackers.
- 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.
How to Store Homemade Graham Crackers
Homemade graham crackers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks at room temperature or frozen for up to 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
The closest cracker to a graham cracker in the UK and Australia is called a digestive biscuit.
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!
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Homemade Graham Crackers
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 are 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.
Nutrition
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Brrrruuuh. These are delicious. I can’t handle how good they taste. Like.. maaayyybe they’re a bit chewier than store bought, and mayyybe they taste closer to gingerbread than graham crackers but I couldn’t care less. These are amaze.
Going camping and wanted to try my hand at homemade and I am not disappointed with the outcome. I can only imagine how good these will taste as s’mores!
Thank you for sharing this!
Also for those who want it crunchy, the second batch I did turn the heat up a few degrees and briefly opened the oven half way through to let some steam out. It came out crispier! Still a bit chewy but you can only flatten them so thin.
Hi Kay! Your message made my day! I’m so happy you enjoyed them, and homemade graham crackers for camping s’mores sound just perfect. Thanks also for the tip about letting a little steam escape, which can help make them crunchier. Thank you! – Meggan
I have a crazy idea. I’m thinking of using this recipe as a cheesecake crust directly. Chill it, press it in, chill again. Par bake it. chill it again. Add the cheese cake mix and bake it. Not sure if it’s a good idea. but seems like something that could be awesome. might need to tweak the amount of butter a little.
Hi Roy, these graham crackers taste a little different and tend to be softer and chewier than the drier, more crumbly store-bought ones. A reader shared that they were good for a crust, but soft. I haven’t tried it myself, so I don’t know for sure and don’t want to steer you in the wrong direction. If you do happen to try it, please write back! – Meggan
I made this and it was just delicious! My whole family loved it and it was over by the next day. However my son does not eat honey so are there any alternatives I can use?
Hi Nancy, I’m so happy everyone loved them! Readers have shared that they’ve substituted equal amounts of maple syrup or molasses for the honey in their crackers, and one reader shared using 2 tablespoons of agar-agar as a substitute. I hope your son loves them! – Meggan
Can you use all purpose white flour or does it have to be whole wheat?
Hi Jennifer, another reader shared they used all-purpose flour and loved it, but they browned the butter to mimic the flavor of the whole wheat. I haven’t tried it myself, though. Sorry about that! – Meggan
I tried this recipe exactly as written 3x, making some adjustments on the last batch based on comments left here. Every batch was so chewy it was almost like caramel, nothing resembling a Graham cracker. After trying Preppy Kitchen’s recipe, comparing ingredients, and getting a successful cracker on the first go, I can’t see how the amount of sugar and honey in this recipe could be correct or how anyone managed to get an actual cracker using this method.
Hi Chey, thanks so much for writing and for trying this recipe a couple of times. I’m sorry these didn’t turn out as expected. When graham crackers come out chewy, it’s usually due to moisture or baking time. They need to be rolled thin and baked until fully dry to crisp up. I appreciate you giving the recipe multiple tries and sharing your feedback. Sorry again! – Meggan