Gimme S'more Grahams!

Homemade grahams and fixin's for next level s'mores

I've been reading about homemade graham crackers for quite some time. The thing is I haven't made a habit of eating graham crackers just to eat them - I usually only eat them with s'mores and unfortunately I only eat s'mores when I'm camping. Sadly, no camping trips have been planned for this summer - you can see the dilemma. However, as fate would have it, the lovely Martha Stewart featured s'mores on the cover of her July 2012 magazine reminding me that July 4th was right around the corner. Just like that, a s'more festivus was created! Even better, the s'mores recipe featured homemade grahams with patriotic star cutouts. Oh how I love Martha - and Independence Day - and grahams - and s'mores. I altered her recipe a tad (this is an actual measurement) as my dough was too crumbly to roll out.  A little half & half did the trick. After several rounds of chilling in the fridge, cutting squares & stars and baking tray after tray - I can report these grahams were VERY tasty and not at all healthy in case you were wondering. I may start making them just to make them and not wait around for s'more season!

Graham Crackers
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living 2012

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
•  As Needed - 1 1/2 teaspoon half & half (adjust as needed to make a workable dough)

Directions

1. Whisk together flours, wheat germ, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
2. Beat together butter, sugar, and honey with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; beat until combined.
3. Turn out dough onto a floured surface, and divide in half. Roll out each dough half to 1/8-inch thickness, and refrigerate until firm, about 10 minutes. (If you find you can't roll out the dough, work in the half & half as needed). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut out squares with a 3-inch fluted square cutter if you have it - or just eyeball it. Cut a star out of the center of half the cookies using a 1 1/2-inch star cutter or get creative with any shape. Reroll scraps once, and repeat. 





My stars weren't perfect - but I didn't hear any complaints!



4. Place squares 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, keeping cookies with cutouts together. Refrigerate until very firm, about 15 minutes.
5. Bake cookies until dark brown, 14 to 16 minutes, rotating halfway through (star cookies take about 1 minute less). Let cool on sheets 10 minutes. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container up to 2 days.

Graham crackers, sparklers and my little brother devouring a s'more - I think he fell in love.