Graham Crackers (and Dandies!)
I always have trouble finding vegan graham crackers at the store. Nearly every single brand has honey in them. The one version that doesn’t is full of icky ingredients.
When I got my Dandies in the mail, I knew I had to make my own graham crackers once and for all. The recipe turned out really good. I’d like to perfect the texture a little (ideally, I’d actually like them to be more crumbly than they are), but the flavor is nice and mellow, and it really highlights the sweet, nutty taste of whole wheat without being overly sugary. If you like your graham crackers really sweet, add a bit more sugar than I call for.
Graham crackers are traditionally made with graham flour, named after Sylvester Graham, a really interesting (if slightly crazy) health nut from the 19th century. He promoted the vegetarian diet (yay!) to cure, among other things, sexual desires (I did say he was slightly crazy).
Graham flour is whole wheat flour. What makes it different from standard whole wheat is the ratio of endosperm to bran to germ. Sylvester Graham ground these parts of the wheat berry separately to preserve texture and then re-combined them in a specific proportion. You can find graham flour in some stores and online, or you can make your own. Wikipedia says “one cup of graham flour is approximately equivalent to 84 g (~2/3 cup) white flour, 15 g (slightly less than 1/3 cup) wheat bran, and 2.5 g (1.5 teaspoons) wheat germ.”
Or you can do what I did and just use stoneground flour and call it a day.
Actually, you can use whatever flour you like for these. I used stoneground flour because it has little flecks of bran in it, which adds some lovely texture to the crackers. I really recommend using at least some form of whole wheat, because it gives the graham crackers their traditional nutty flavor. Oh yeah, and it’s healthier. And rest assured it won’t mess with your libido. Sorry Sylvester.
Graham crackers are tasty, but they aren’t the sexiest food in the world. S’mores, on the other hand? Sexy. I made these with Chicago Soydairy’s latest vegan treat, Dandies vegan marshmallows. They are awesome! It’s my understanding that they’re being sold online, but sell out FAST. So if you see them available, scoop them up! They taste great, and they’re gelatin free, and they roast up just like the non-vegan version. Perfect for s’mores.
How about a little video before the recipe? Don’t forget all my videos are HD, so you can watch them full-screen!
Making Graham Crackers on Vimeo.
Graham Crackers
Makes at least 24 3×3″ Crackers
2 1/2 Cups Graham Flour or Stoneground Flour or Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Earth Balance Margarine
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup Agave Nectar (or a little more sugar mixed with water)
3/4 Cup Water
Mix the all the dry ingredients together. Cream together Earth Balance and sugar. Add vanilla and agave and beat with a whisk until smooth. Add a little of the flour and a little of the water to the earth balance/sugar mixture and combine. Continue adding in flour and water, a little at a time, until all flour and water is added. Work the dough with your hands until everything is evenly combined.
Divide dough in half and cover. Let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 325º F. Roll out the dough into a rectangle that measures approximately 11″x15″. Trim edges. Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into squares or rectangles (I cut mine into 3′x3′ squares). Prick the squares with a fork.
Bake for 30-40 minutes at 325º F or until the crackers are turning golden brown around the edges. You can sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top of the crackers during the last 10 minutes of baking if you like.
Remove from the baking sheet and let cool on a wire rack. See the video above for visual directions.
For S’mores
Place the crackers in multiples of two on a baking sheet and preheat the oven to broil. Add chocolate to one cracker and vegan marshmallows to another until all the crackers are topped. Broil for less than 1 minute, watching constantly, until the marshmallows are golden and melty and the chocolate has softened.
Remove from oven, assemble the s’more, and eat! The graham crackers are also great plain, or topped with cream cheese frosting.
OH MY! Those are lovely! Would love to bake some before camping trips this summer. :)
These look wonderful. I’ve been on the lookout the perfect graham cracker recipe. I’ll have to give these a try.
Graham crackers are on the top of my baking list right now! Those look great.
I’m confused…doesn’t chocolate have milk in it? Is there vegan chocolate?
Dark chocolate is almost always vegan, but it’s a good idea to check the label for milk ingredients just in case.
Fabulous! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! Thanks also for taking the time to make the video. I like how professional your videos are, and how carefully you edit them too: all the useful info is there, and yet it’s all packed in a few short minutes. Awesome job!
I just printed out your recipe. I’m so going to make these this weekend. YUM!
Amazing job! These look so delicious.
That was the first video or yours that I watched. I liked it! These just might inspire me to bake again.
You are truly amazing! We are going to make these thanks to you. You pics are beautiful!
Amazing, as all your recipes!
Those look just perfect! I miss graham crackers. . . gotta try these!
ahh! graham crackers.. :)
Wow Those are perfect!!!
Wow, I am very impressed! It’s so kind of you to share how to make them and the recipe as well. Your blog is very professional, I just love it!!
I’m still drooling over the apple cake and now here you are with the graham crackers and smores! It all looks delicious…and so beautifully photographed. Nice work.
What a fabulous video!!! How did you make it? I couldn’t read the writing at the very end.
You are so talented!
ummm… run away with me please.
you are so talented! wow. i love the video. what song is that?? so catchy!
This is an AWESOME recipe! I also love that song by the Blow! Great post! :-)
Lolo, my husband and I LOVE (love, love, love!!) your videos. You totally made my night. :D
oh these look delicious and so nice!
Thanks for the great description of what a ‘graham cracker’ is – I’ve been wondering.
I had my first marshmallow just a couple of months ago, having spent most of my life looking out for the semi-mythical vegan ones! :)
awww I wish I had a video camera to show how to make my recipes! You make the crackers look so cute <3
OMG!! Those look so delicious! I have to make these very soon. Where do you get your marshmallows from? I haven’t been able to find any I really enjoy.
Thank you so much for this post, it was very helpful. I always wondered how Graham flour was made exactly, but was too lazy to research it. Now I can make my own. :)
Brilliant! You never fail to impress, Lolo.
Nice Video! I’m guessing you did that on a Canon 5D Mk II? I love how it’s done and the smores look delicious. I just bought a video cam to do videos and if I can get them to be 1% as rad as yours I’ll be happy.
I love graham crackers! These are made much the same way as the whole wheat crackers I recently posted. Can’t wait to give these a whirl and order those Dandies. We do smores out by the chiminea all summer!
mmmm s’mores =)
I make s’mores with Sweet & Sara’s vegan marshmallows. They are sold in a bunch of stores (listed on her website http://www.sweetandsara.com), and also through vegan mail order stores. They come in vanilla and toasted coconut. And if you don’t want to go to the trouble of making your own graham crackers, Sweet & Sara also makes two flavors of S’Mores, regular and peanut butter! AWESOME!!!
I can’t even tell you how perfect this post is!! I’ve been begging hubby (who is my personal breadmaker) to find a good vegan recipe for graham crackers! I’m so excited you nailed this one :) I will be making ASAP! Thanks :)
Thank you so much for this! I have the same graham cracker issues. When I need them for a recipe, the ONLY brand I can find without honey are the Keebler kind. And yep, they’re loaded with crap (hydrogenated soybean oil anyone?). Ick. Now, I’ll just make my own. Do you know how long these keep?
These look sooo good! I’m jealous of your Dandies – I signed up to be notified by vegan essentials when they come back in stock, and so far I’ve been notified 3 times, and by the time I got around to it (once only 30 minutes later) they were all sold out!
I just had a chance to watch your broccolini cherry tomato and butter bean udon video and it was SO beautiful. I didn’t have the sound on, but your cinematography reminded me of something I would have seen on Sesame Street or Mr. Rogers in the early 80′s–simple, instructive, clever, elegant. Very nice work. And the 5D Mark II seems like a must have. Gotta get me one of those!
:) CQ
your photos are amazing and your variety of food topics incredible. however, i never actually cook most of your recipes because they are full of crap ingredients like tons of sugar, earth balance and now…dandies. i’d love to see how you could modify a traditional meal not only for vegans but for a crowd that enjoys food that is actually, well…food. corn syrup, soy lecithin, the list is endless.
The broiler…duh! Why didn’t I think of using that for in-home smores!?!
I can’t find vegan graham crackers in my area either, thanks for this. Would your homemade crackers work well as crumbs like for say, a pie crust?
after we saw a movie, my man said: “nice art! wonder if ever we could do sth like that” i hope we’ll be able 2do it:) ps. nice song too :)
best wishes from Poland :)
What kind of chocolate did you use?
I always loved your photos, but these videos are absolutely fantastic! Amazing job with food! Congratulations!
CONGRATULATIONS LADY!!
I LOVED IT! GREAT IMAGES, NOT THAT HEAVY RECIPES, GREAT EXPLANATION, AND VEGAN!!!! MAYBE I FORGOT SOMETHING, BUT THAT’S OK!!
KISSES
Your site is amazing and so yummy! I’ll be back a lot ;o)
If you have the chance, just come to see my blog too!
Brilliant post and perfect looking graham crackers! Gotta love the idea of vegan s’mores!
looks yummy!
interesting information about Mr. Graham as well.
YUM! I can’t wait to make these. Thanks!
This looks so good, I can’t remember the last time I had marshmallows or S’mores for that matter. Beautiful pictures my mouth is watering!
I LOVE THE BLOW! And your simple step by step, self explanatory how to viddies :)
Holy Crap! These look awesome!
This is probably a strange question, but we get invited to impromptu cookouts at the neighbor’s house where everyone else is making s’mores. Do you think these would freeze well so I could have them on hand when the need arises?
You made your own graham crackers?! I’m impressed and I’m excited to give this recipe a try!