The first time we made a batch of wintertime, gas-burner stovetop s’mores using our own homemade graham crackers, we realized that they are a component of the classic dessert that we had been overlooking all this time. The graham isn’t just a vehicle for transporting scorched marshmallows into your mouth; it’s a crispy, molasses-y ingredient that is every bit as important as the char on your marshmallow, or the quality of your chocolate. These grahams made us wonder why we ever eat packaged cookies, because honestly, nothing from a box is ever as good as these simple crackers.

Try and make sure you roll your dough out to a consistent 1/4 inch, and then cut them with a fluted pastry wheel, or cookie cutters, for a polished, from-the-bakery look. Or, hell, go rustic-style, make them wildly uneven, and hack them into irregular chunks with a regular kitchen knife. I don’t know how you roll. They’ll still be delicious.

Homemade Graham Crackers
Makes about two dozen 2×3″ crackers

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup chilled unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup skim or 2% milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

In food processor, combine both types of flour, salt, and baking powder. Add butter, cutting it into chunks, and pulse until mixture takes on a coarse, crumb-like consistency. Add honey, molasses, and 1/3 cup sugar. Pulse again. Transfer to large mixing bowl, and add milk and vanilla. Mix using hands until a stiff dough forms, adding more milk if needed to make the dough hang together.

Lightly oil two baking sheets. Lay a piece of parchment onto your work surface, and place half the dough in the center. Cover with another piece of parchment, and roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Using knife, pastry cutter, or cookie cutters, cut dough into 3″ crackers, saving leftover scraps to rework into more cookies, by re-rolling and cutting again. Transfer to baking sheet, leaving space between crackers. Prick the crackers all over with a fork, and then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar and half teaspoon of cinnamon. Lightly press the sugar into the surface of each cracker with your hand.

Repeat the rolling and cutting process for the other half of the dough, placing the crackers on second baking sheet. Place both baking sheets in the freezer, and freeze for 15 minutes. While the dough chills, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the chilled dough for 20 – 22 minutes, or until lightly browned around edges. Let cool completely before eating.