Homemade Cinnamon Honey "Graham" Crackers with Greek Yogurt Recipe

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We tend to do our grocery shopping on Friday night. It sounds strange, but it's a time that works for us and (understandably) the Commissary isn't usually very crowded after 7 pm on Friday! During last week's shopping trip, my husband kept bringing up to those bear-shaped Graham crackers and I kept refusing to add them to the cart. After all, they're made by the same company as the infamous Play-Doh-tasting crackers I mentioned in an earlier post. Instead, I promised we'd try to create homemade Graham crackers the next day, which got us out of the store cracker-free.

Once we started looking at Graham cracker recipes online, none of them really looked like the correct fit for us. They all either seemed too sweet or like they'd turn out too soft. Instead of giving up hope, we decided to see what we could come up with! By employing some great cracker techniques from the cheddar crackers in The Homemade Pantry and one of our staple ingredients, Greek yogurt, we created the most delicious cinnamon honey Graham crackers we've ever had the pleasure of tasting.

I realize that sounds like an exaggeration, but they're seriously delicious and, based on our cookie size, less than 25 calories each.

Speaking of cookie size - I used a 2" heart cutter from this set of heart cookie cutters. This made the crackers cute, but it really wasn't the best use of the dough.

Like many cookie doughs, you can't really re-roll and re-cut this Graham cracker dough too many times. And by too many times, I mean you can probably only re-roll once, if at all.

If you try re-rolling multiple times, you'll notice the dough almost immediately shrink, both when it's rolled and cut. If your re-rolled dough is shrinking, toss it out. I know that's sad, but the crackers made from these scraps almost certainly won't turn out well. To avoid wasting dough, use a square or round cookie cutter and cut each cookie as close to its neighbor as possible! Or just make cute cookies, anyway, and accept you'll have some wastage. =)

The cinnamon sugar topping is, of course, optional. You'll probably have a little left over - just put it in a container and save it for next time you make these Greek yogurt graham crackers! Because, trust me, there will be a next time.

Whenever I bake cookies, I always make sure to use my Cook's Illustrated recommended baking sheet. It doesn't warp in the oven and it helps promote even baking. Hooray!

Yield: 100

Homemade Cinnamon Honey "Graham" Crackers with Greek Yogurt Recipe

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Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• ¾ cup whole wheat flour
• 1 ¾ cup bleached flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup butter (6 tablespoons), at room temperature and cut into .5" squares
• 4 tablespoons honey (local honey is always best!)
• ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons milk or water (I use sugar free vanilla almond milk)
• ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt (I use 0% Fage)

For the cinnamon sugar topping

• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

Combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.

Place the sugar and pieces of butter in the bowl of a standing mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment) or in a bowl for hand mixing. Cream the sugar and butter together on medium/medium-low until fully combined and fluffy, about 1.5-2 minutes.

Add the honey and combine, then add milk and yogurt and mix to combine, scraping the sides down with a spatula if needed.

Turn off the mixer, add about half the flour mixture, then combine on low. Repeat with the second half of the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. The dough should be dry and crumbly-looking, but moist enough to stick together. If the dough isn't adhering to itself, add water or milk a tablespoon at a time until it does.

Remove the dough from the bowl, separate into two pieces, wrap each piece in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge to chill. Allow the dough to cool for at least 45 minutes (if your dough is tightly covered, it can rest up to overnight). This step is very important! The butter will cause the crackers to spread in the oven if the dough is not chilled.

Prepare two sturdy baking sheets with a silicone mat (like a Silpat or comparable baking mat) or parchment paper.

Combine the white sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Remove one half the dough from the fridge and roll out to ⅛" thickness. To prevent sticking, either lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin or, my favorite, roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper or wax paper. Make sure to roll the dough out as evenly and thinly as possible.

Cut out crackers, making sure to create as little waste as possible. Position the crackers on the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least ⅓" between them.

If you have more space on your baking sheets, go ahead and tackle the second half of the dough! If not, save it to bake later.

Sprinkle the sugar/cinnamon mixture over the crackers then place the baking sheets in the fridge for 10-15 additional minutes.

Place the chilled sheets of cookies on the middle and bottom-middle racks of your oven and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the trays top/bottom for more even baking, then bake until the tops are turning golden brown, 8-10 minutes more. They may not be fully crispy yet - that's fine! They crisp as they cool.

Turn off the oven and allow the cookies to remain in the oven without opening the door for 15-30 additional minutes (15 minutes for ⅛" crackers, longer if yours turned out thicker). Keep an eye on them to make sure none are shifting from "golden brown" to "getting burned" territory!

Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and allow the Graham crackers to cool fully before storage. They store very well in an air-tight container for several days.

Bake additional batches, as needed.

Enjoy your awesome Greek yogurt Graham crackers!

It looks like a whole lot of work because of the number of steps, but these Greek yogurt Graham crackers really aren't tricky to make! Actually, they're unfortunately easy to make and eat, which means we'll be making them again very soon.

I know I've asked similar questions before but I'm always curious to know what other folks are making - what foods would you rather DIY than buy? Are you willing to put in a little extra time and effort to create a tastier, healthier version of an item instead of picking it up at the store?