tasty tuesday: homemade graham crackers

At the heart of a perfect s'mores night, is the perfect s'more.  Because of that gooey little treat, friends will gather to socialize, a fire will crackle, and stomachs will be satisfied!

And at the heart of the s'mores night I had last Thursday, were homemade graham crackers and homemade marshmallows.

Making homemade graham crackers added a "gourmet" element to my s'mores night.  These crackers tasted great, and it was fun to experiment with their shapes!

Using a pastry blender to combine the dry ingredients with the butter worked very well for this recipe!

Be careful not to mix the dough too much, or you will get tough graham crackers.

Similar to sugar cookies, you can make the graham crackers into whatever fun shapes you want.  We made squares, crinkly circles, and even hearts!

To give it that traditional graham cracker look, use a fork to poke a few holes in each cracker and then sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar before they are baked.

Graham Crackers

(adapted from Nancy Silverton’s Pastries from the La Brea Bakery, and 101 Cookbooks....and found smittenkitchen's blog!)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp kosher or coarse sea salt
7 tablespoon unsalted butter {cut into 1-inch cubes and cold}
1/3 cup honey
5 tablespoon milk (full-fat is best!)
2 tablespoon vanilla

Topping: (optional)
3 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Make the dough:

1)  Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Mix on low to incorporate.
2)  Add the butter and with a pastry blender, until the mixture is the consistency of crumbs.

3)  In a separate small bowl, mix together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract.
4)  Add to the flour mixture and mix on low until the dough just comes together. It will probably be very soft and sticky.  Be careful not to overmix.
5)  Spread out a large peace of plastic wrap, and dust with flour.  Place the dough on the plastic wrap, and carefully roll it out, until it is about an inch thick.  Wrap the dough so it is completely covered with plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about two hours in the fridge, or overnight.

Roll out the crackers: 

6)  Depending on the size of your work surface, divide the dough in half or quarters and return the remaining dough to the refrigerator. Flour your work surface and roll the dough out until it is about 1/8 inch thick. 
7)  The dough may be sticky, so flour as necessary.
8)  Now you can use a cookie cutter to cut the crackers into your desired shapes, or use a knife or a pizza cutter to make traditional rectangular graham crackers.

9)  Place the crackers on one or two parchment-lined (or a silicone baking liner like a Silpat) baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. Repeat with the remaining dough. Finally, gather any scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and re-roll.

Decorate and bake the crackers: 

10)  Preheat your oven to 350°F.
11)  Use a fork to poke holes in the cracker.  You could also use a toothpick or wooden skewer for this step.
12)  Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, depending on your oven and the thickness of your cookies.  You want them to be firm, but not burnt.  They should turn a beautiful golden colour.

So next time you are planning a s'mores night, please consider making these tasty treats!  Your friends will be so impressed, and the flavour of these cookies surpasses the prepackaged variety by a landslide.

{Keep an eye out for part 2: homemade marshmallows...coming tomorrow!}

ps: jordyn and kelsey ♥