These crunchy, delicious graham crackers are so easy to make – simply roll out the dough and cut into rectangles for traditional graham crackers, as shown above.
Or cut out the dough using your favorite holiday cookie cutters to make festive graham cracker cookie treats, as shown below.
You can also create Chocolate Graham Cracker Cookies by simply adding unsweetened fair trade cocoa powder (see recipe for details).
The Key to Crisp Crackers: To make these honey grahams crisp and crunchy like a cracker, be sure to roll the dough out thinly and evenly (to about an 1/8-inch). Also, once baking time is completed, follow step #11 below to allow additional time for the crackers to get nice and crispy.
Additional Baking Tip: To ensure cookies bake evenly, gently transfer cracker cut-outs to a parchment-lined baking sheet as shown above.
Honey Graham Crackers are absolutely delicious by themselves, or dunked in a big glass of raw milk!
This recipe was inspired by a whole wheat graham cracker recipe I came across at Heavenly Homemakers. Since graham crackers are one of my all-time favorites, I decided to adapt the recipe to utilize whole spelt instead, since it’s our whole grain flour of choice.
Why whole spelt? I prefer whole spelt over whole wheat for a couple of reasons. Mainly because I can tolerate spelt better than wheat and also, I find that spelt has a lighter taste and texture than whole wheat.
Whole spelt does contain gluten, so it’s not a good choice for those with gluten-related allergies or sensitivities. For more about whole spelt, click here.
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups organic whole spelt flour (see note below about sprouted flour)
- 1/3 cup rapadura (or sucanat)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 3 tbsp pure honey (I prefer sage honey due to its mild flavor)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add melted butter, honey, water and vanilla and whisk well to combine.
- In a smaller mixing bowl, combine the flour, rapadura, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. (If making Chocolate Grahams, add 5 tablespoons of unsweetened fair trade cocoa powder.)
- Add the flour mixture to the melted butter mixture and mix well using a large spoon. Cover and chill dough for at least 30 minutes in frig (but no longer than 12 hours).
- While you’re waiting for the dough to chill, cut two large pieces of parchment paper for rolling out the dough, and one sheet to fit your baking sheet.
- Once dough is chilled, preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Place dough on one large sheet of parchment paper on your countertop and flatten slightly using your hand. Then, place the other piece of large parchment paper on top of the flattened dough.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the dough between the two pieces of parchment paper. To make these honey grahams crisp and crunchy like a cracker, be sure to roll the dough out thinly and evenly (to about an 1/8-inch).
- Use a pizza cutter or knife to trim the rolled-out dough into a large rectangle. Then cut the rectangle-shaped dough into 2x3-inch rectangles and poke with a fork in center of each cracker. Or you can use your favorite cookie cutters to make fun-shaped cookie-crackers.
- Gently transfer cracker cut-outs to the parchment-lined baking sheet to ensure cookies bake evenly. (You may need to use a metal spatula to lift the cut-outs so they don’t lose their shape.)
- Bake for 9-12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow crackers to cool slightly on baking sheet. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. (Please note: Smaller-sized cookies may require less baking time. Likewise, larger-sized cookies may require longer baking time.)
- For crispier cracker-like cookies, once baking time is completed, open oven door and check cookies for doneness. If cookies are done, turn off the oven and leave the oven door open just a bit to allow some of the heat to escape. Allow cookies to remain in warm oven for an additional 6-10 minutes. Then remove from oven and transfer cracker-cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container for up to one week in pantry, or in freezer for one month.
Notes
The Key to Crispy Crackers: To make these honey grahams crisp and crunchy like a cracker, be sure to roll the dough out thinly and evenly (to about an 1/8-inch). Also, once baking time is completed, follow step #11 above to allow additional time for the crackers to get nice and crispy.
For increased nutrition, sprouted spelt flour works great in this recipe. Sprouted flour contains a tremendous amount of beneficial nutrients because the grain is first sprouted, and then is milled into flour (or you can buy whole sprouted spelt berries and grind your own flour).
For the original whole wheat graham cracker recipe that inspired this one, please visit Heavenly Homemakers.
This recipe was featured at Ingredient Spotlight–Honey.
Does the spelt flour make these better than wheat or graham flour?
I prefer whole spelt flour over whole wheat flour for a couple of reasons. Mainly because I can tolerate spelt better than wheat and also, I find that spelt has a lighter taste and texture than whole wheat. You can certainly use whole wheat in this recipe. Laura at Heaven Homemakers has a whole wheat graham cracker recipe – that is where I got my idea from and decided I’d create a spelt-based graham cracker, since the only gluten-based grains I use are Spelt and Kamut (another ancient grain similar to Spelt). Here is some info on whole spelt, if you like some details about it’s health benefits. Hope this helps! Blessings, Kelly
http://www.naturalnews.com/025929_spelt_wheat_WHO.html
Thanks for the info! I have used spelt some, but not much. I didn’t prefer HH’s graham cracker as they tasted a little too grainy. Will give this one a try!
I hope you like this recipe, I know there are some almond flour graham cracker recipes out there too I’ve been wanting to try! So many great recipes, so little time … LOL! Blessings, Kelly
Thank you! We have food allergies in this house and I can easily replace the butter with an alternative. I love when I see something interesting that I don’t have to change at least three ingredients on, and that doesn’t happen often!
Thanks, Debra! I haven’t tried it myself, but I bet coconut oil would be delicious in this recipe. So glad you’re finding this site helpful! Blessings, Kelly
These look delicious and cute! (I got Nourishing Traditions at the library today!)
Woo Hoo! So excited for you Christy! Thanks again for the great suggestions! Appreciate you! Blessings, Kelly
Can’t wait to try this recipe Kelly. My daughter, Tessa, loves graham crackers so I love this healthy alternative!
Thanks, Tina! Hope you all enjoy these too! Blessings, Kelly
I have recently found your blog & am completely in love with it 😉 I am a complete NOVICE when it comes to baking/cooking. My husband & I are striving hard to steer away from processed foods. It’s not that my husband & I have fed them junk food, but we are constantly becoming more contentious of the products we buy for them. Our sons (3 & 1) LOVE graham crackers so this recipe really hit a chord for our home. I have 3 questions: 1) Any idea what the nutritional value of these crackers are vs. store bought? 2) Any idea what the “cost” per cracker would be for this recipe compared to the store bought version? 3) Would it be OK to add in ground flax seed to this recipe for extra nutritional value?
Thank you so much! I am so happy I found your blog; it is full of great recipes & I can’t wait to try many more 🙂
Hi, Shelly! Welcome! So happy to have you as a new friend at The Nourishing Home. I have not done an extensive cost or nutritional analysis of this recipe, but I will tell you that for the most part, making your own food is much more economical per serving than buying processed food. The one thing that is 100% guaranteed is that making your own food is definitely healthier – more nutritious! These are made with whole spelt flour, which is very nutritious and contains high levels of nutrients, particularly manganese, and it’s higher in protein and fiber than wheat. Additionally, this recipe utilizes natural sweeteners rather than refined ones and butter, which is a healthier choice over refined oils. Although if you’re DF, you could certainly use coconut oil in place of the butter, which is another healthy option. And yes, you could certainly replace a couple of tablespoons of the spelt flour with some ground flax seed. I don’t see that as causing any issue in the recipe’s success. Hope this helps! Be sure to check out the link (in the post above) on whole spelt for more details. Blessings and welcome again, Kelly
Thank you, Kelly! I appreciate all the info! Many blessings & continued success!!
My pleasure! You too! 🙂
I must make these soon! I love graham crackers but hate the white flour, sugar, and other unnecessary ingredients added to commercially produced graham crackers. I love how these are made with spelt flour. These are on my must try soon list for sure – thanks for the great recipe!!
Great to meet you, Meme! I hope you enjoy these when you get a minute to try them! Thanks for leaving a kind note! 🙂 Blessings, Kelly
I made these recently, and loved them (ate the whole lot way to quickly..). But I must have cooked them from the laptop with the email open, because do you think I could find them again?? I’ve been racking my brains the last few days, searching for “graham” in all the food blogs I subscribe to 🙂 They probably think I’m searching for a mysterious man..! I’ve found them at last, so can bake again! Thanks 😀
Hi, Natalie! So glad you found the recipe again and that you loved them. You might want to get a Pinterest account so you can PIN your favorite recipes for easy access. Or you can always get a free Ziplist account and do the same thing with their cool recipe box feature (for saving online recipes). Just a couple of ideas so you don’t run into this problem again! Thanks so much for your kind note! Lots of blessings, Kelly 🙂
• Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/
• Ziplist: http://get.ziplist.com/
Hello,
I have enjoyed looking at your recipes. I am curious though…..if you find soaking so beneficial, then why do you use almond flour? Almonds and nuts are super high in phytic acid. Could you explain your reasoning? Thanks!
Hi, Lindsay. Thanks for your kind note–glad you’re enjoying the site. Many real foodies who follow the WAPF guidelines for soaking do consume unsoaked blanched almond flour since the highest concentration of phytic acid is found in the skin of the almond, which is removed during the blanching process. Almond meal on the other hand is ground whole almonds (with skins left intact) so it contains a significantly higher level of phytates. Of course a bigger issue is the enzyme inhibitors and tannins found in the skin of the almond, which can cause significant digestive issues, yet another reason why blanched almond flour is the better option. And of course, there is also the issue of oxalates in almonds, which for some can cause much trouble, especially if one’s diet is high oxalate. But back to phytic acid … here’s a post from Jenny at Nourished Kitchen (http://nourishedkitchen.com/soaking-grains-nuts-legumes/) who is a respected WAPF blogger who keep current on WAPF recommendations/research that may help you as you begin to research this further. (see #3 in her post)
With that said, my personal opinion and recommendation is, if you are especially sensitive to phytic acid (and/or have health issues linked to poor gut health), then I would strongly advise healing your gut first through a diet such as GAPS and then proceed as this program suggests in slowly adding a wider variety of whole foods back into your diet as you progress in healing your GI tract. I strongly believe in the power of gut healing, as it (through the grace of God) is what helped me to experience healing and get off of multiple RX medications for my chronic health issues.
I strongly believe in being proactive about your health. Each person is an individual and therefore needs to adjust their diet according to their own unique health issues. But for those who are in good health and are eating a well-balanced, healthy whole food diet, the majority appear to agree that adding some unsoaked blanched almond flour in moderation, should not present a problem. Thanks for your question!
Many blessings, Kelly 🙂
Kelly–
Your site is AH-MAZ-ING!! Baking graham crackers and cookies as we speak. Just curious why the crackers are baked at 400˚ and the Graham crackers are 325˚. The crackers came out (time you suggested) nice and crisp. The graham crackers have been in the oven much longer than suggested (I made sure to roll them out 1/8″). Just curious! Thanks!!!
Suzy 🙂
Hi, Suzy. I am confused? I haven’t made this recipe in so long because I went gluten-free, but I am not seeing in this recipe where I have two different bake temps? Where do you see the crackers baked at 400 degrees? I may be missing this because I’m sick and my head feels like a balloon, but I’ve looked three times and can’t seem to find that in this recipe. Thank you! 🙂
Kelly—
Sorry! It’s me that has no brain! I had many (many) tabs open with many of your wonderful recipes and must have opened a different recipe with my pintrest account. The Graham crackers turned out wonderful!!! Here is the website with the spelt cracker recipe. http://lusaorganics.typepad.com/clean/2010/07/homemade-spelt-cracker-recipe.html The crackers reminded me of wheat thins (which I used to devour by the box full!) Again–thank you so much for sharing all of your wonderful recipes with us!!
No worries at all! 🙂