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DIY Vegan Graham Crackers Recipe (and what to do with them)

Fill your home with the aroma of homemade vegan graham crackers! Sure, you could buy graham crackers (even gluten-free and vegan ones these days) but making crackers yourself is just so satisfying and surprisingly simple and easy. You can customize them for your diet and health goals or just what you happen to have in your cupboards, and (in my humble opinion) fresh homemade graham crackers just taste better.
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Video tutorial for DIY Vegan Graham Crackers Recipe

 
In about 20 minutes, DIY graham crackers could be yours! What will you do with those homemade graham crackers? I have some ideas. Make:

Let me know what other fun foods you would make with homemade graham crackers?

Where are the lovely photos? Uhh…friends, I will get to them. And put them up on this post ASAP. ATM, I’m elbow deep in flour, testing bread recipes. For now, enjoy the lovely demonstrative video above.

Graham Cracker Ingredients and Substitutions

Flour

Once upon a time, Graham crackers were made with whole wheat flour that was milled to a certain coarseness and called “graham flour”. For our purposes, regular whole wheat flour will do. But if you only have all-purpose flour, you can still make this recipe. They will not have that nutty flavour that whole wheat delivers but, hey, these are your “graham” crackers and there are no rules.

If you’re using whole wheat flour, you’ll also want to add a bit of cornstarch. It makes the graham cracker dough easier to work with. If you’re using regular all-purpose flour, you can skip the cornstarch and replace that amount with flour. If you’re using half whole wheat and half all-purpose, keep the cornstarch in.

Similarly, if you’re avoiding gluten for any reason, skip wheat altogether. Instead, you can use an all-purpose gluten-free flour. I used Bob’s Red Mill One to One Gluten Free Baking Flour; it never fails me for things like cookies, muffins and pancakes. However, using just gf flour tends to result in a chalky product. Graham crackers made with 100% gf flour tastes just like a brand of vegan gluten-free graham crackers we all know and…begrudgingly accept because it’s probably the only one you could find at the store…and it’s not the worst thing in the world.

To make these graham crackers better and not chalky, I add some oat flour to the mix. You can buy oat flour pre-milled (and be sure to check that it’s gluten-free certified) or simply blend up some gluten-free oats in a food processor or blender. If you watched the video, you can see that it doesn’t have to be super fine either. A little texture is not bad and will add texture to your gluten-free graham crackers.

Sweeteners

Molasses is the traditional flavouring syrup used in graham crackers. You’ve also probably run across Honey Graham Crackers which are a super popular variety. So popular that I can never find the ones without honey (except the vegan gluten-free ones previously mentioned). But apparently the BIG company that makes the most common graham crackers makes an Original flavour that is accidently vegan. I say apparently since I’ve never seen them IRL. But back to the molasses.

You can use black-strap, fancy molasses or another syrup altogether. However, I really like using coconut nectar as I find it a bit easier to pour and it has a similar but less bitter flavour. On the other hand, maple syrup is the best syrup and also works well in this recipe. Finally, I haven’t tried it but I imagine you could even substitute my vegan apple honey.

Speaking of sweeteners, I use brown sugar in this recipe. Brown sugar is not always vegan-friendly so check before purchasing if that’s important to you. One easy way of buying vegan sugar is to look for an “organic” label. You can see my note about sugar for more information about sugar and veganism. If you’re avoiding real sugar for any reason, you can use a sugar-free brown sugar alternative like Swerve. Not all sugar replacements act like sugar in baking so check product claims carefully and read some reviews if you can.

Equipment

These vegan graham crackers are baked so you’ll need an oven. You’ll also need a large baking sheet and I recommend using parchment paper as a liner. I have tried using a reusable baking mat and it works. However, the mat I use made my test batches taste funny. Perhaps you have a baking mat that doesn’t make your food taste funny at all. So if you do, by all means use it!

To shape the graham cracker dough, you can use a flat wide spatula with one edge that is completely straight. Also, a rolling pin would be handy. Or, as I like to use, an old beer bottle.  Also (don’t laugh) you could use a ruler to make sure you’re rolling your dough out the the correct thickness.

Lastly, a cooling rack will help you those homemade graham crackers cool to crispy crunchy perfection quickly.

How to make Vegan Graham Crackers

Here’s the process overview (but you can click here to skip to the printable recipe):

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or use your reusable baking mat that doesn’t make food taste funny)
  2. Mix the dry ingredients together.
  3. Make a space in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients into the space.
  4. Mix the wet ingredients together, then incorporate the dry ingredients. Keep mixing until everything is at the same hydration level. It will resemble wet sand.
  5. Dump your “wet sand” out on to your parchment-lined baking sheet and shape into a rectangle. Give yourself plenty of space between the edge of your crumbly dough and the edge of the baking sheet. Flatten with a rolling pin to 1/8″. Using another piece of parchment on top can help with this part. Shape the edges of the rectangle with your wide spatula, pressing down to flatten the edges neatly. Any cracks can be patched easily with little bits of crumbs and some gentle pressure.
  6. Decide out big you want the crackers to be. Use a thin sharp blade (like a pizza slicer) to cut the shapes. If any cracks form, just fix them by pressing the crumbs into shape.
  7. Bake in your preheated oven for 14 minutes.
  8. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. The graham cracker tops will be slightly puffed up and the edges should be slightly browned. You can use your pizza slicer to re-cut between the crackers to make sure they release easily. Let the baked graham crackers cool undisturbed for 5 minutes before using your spatula to transfer to a cooling rack.

TBH, shaping the graham cracker “dough” AKA “wet sand” is slightly annoying. You will want to be gentle. Too much force will easily make cracks in the dough. But put on some relaxing music and remember that any cracks can be easily patched and don’t stress.

I joke about using a ruler but eyeballing 1/8″ inch is not all that easy (for me). If they are too thick, the crackers will not be crisp like a graham cracker is expected to be. Anything between 1/8″ and 1/4″ is alright but thicker than 1/4″ and they’re not so much crackers as cookies to me.

After your graham crackers are baked, you have to let them rest for 5 minutes before moving them, otherwise, they may fall apart. And when you go to transfer them to a cooling rack, you’ll still want to be careful. Use a thin wide spatula. Soon after though, they will be totally fine to handle. Go ahead and eat at least ONE when it’s warm. After they are completely cool, you can store them in a airtight container at room temperature. Honestly, they are best eaten within a few days. They will keep longer but they don’t taste as good when they are not as fresh (like all baked goods, I guess!)

You can eat these graham crackers on their own but I purposely made them not very sweet as I had very sweet plans for them. These sweet plans included vegan s’mores (made in the oven), vegan s’more ice cream cake, and vegan no-bake two-bite cheesecakes! Keep scrolling for the printable recipes for DIY graham crackers and these three sweet treats that are perfect for summer!

Printable recipe for DIY Vegan Graham Crackers


Yield: 8

Vegan Graham Crackers (with gluten-free option)

Vegan Graham Crackers (with gluten-free option)

Fill your home with the aroma of homemade vegan graham crackers! You can customize this graham cracker recipe using the traditional whole wheat, regular all-purpose flour, gluten-free flour or oat flour.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 14 minutes
Total Time 24 minutes

Ingredients

dry ingredients

  • 165g (1 1/3 cups + 1 teaspoon) whole wheat flour
  • 60g (1/4 cup) brown sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

wet ingredients

  • 60g (1/4 cup) refined coconut oil (butter-flavoured optional)
  • 1 Tablespoon water
  • 2 teaspoons molasses*
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients together.
  3. Make a space in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients into the space.
  4. Mix the wet ingredients together, then incorporate the dry ingredients. Keep mixing until everything is at the same hydration level. It will resemble wet sand.
  5. Dump your “wet sand” out on to your parchment-lined baking sheet and shape into a rectangle of even-thickness. Give yourself plenty of space between the edge of your crumbly dough and the edge of the baking sheet. Flatten with a rolling pin to 1/8″. Using another piece of parchment on top can help with this part. Shape the edges of the rectangle with your wide spatula, pressing down to flatten the edges neatly. Any cracks can be patched easily with little bits of crumbs and some gentle pressure.
  6. Decide out big you want the crackers to be. Use a thin sharp blade (like a pizza slicer) to cut the shapes. I cut them into eight pieces. If any cracks form, just fix them by pressing the crumbs into shape.
  7. Bake in your preheated oven for 14 minutes.
  8. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. The graham cracker tops will be slightly puffed up and the edges should be slightly browned. You can use your pizza slicer to re-cut between the crackers to make sure they release easily. Let the baked graham crackers cool undisturbed for 5 minutes before using your spatula to transfer to a cooling rack. Let them cool an additional few more minutes before handling. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature. Best enjoyed in a few days.

Notes

Measuring the flour by weight is highly recommended.

The main ingredient in this recipe is whole wheat flour. If you want, you can use all-purpose "white" flour instead. Just leave out the cornstarch and replace it with the same amount of flour.

For gluten-free graham crackers, also omit the cornstarch. Replace the WW flour with 90g (3/4 cup) all-purpose gluten-free flour and 90g (3/4 cup) gluten-free oat flour.

This recipe makes 8 large graham crackers, about 3.5" x 3". Feel free to make your crackers smaller.

For molasses, you can use black strap molasses or choose fancy for less bitterness. For an even milder molasses-like flavour, use coconut nectar. For another delicious flavour, try maple syrup or my vegan apple "honey".

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 86Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 94mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 2g

Nutritional Information automatically calculated by a plugin and may not be correct.

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Printable recipe for Easy Vegan S’mores in the Oven


COMING SOON – sorry guys, my hand budget limit was reached. I will get this up properly ASAP. For now, here is the basic how to:

  1. Place graham crackers on a parchment lined baking sheet. However many you’re going to make.
  2. Add a square of vegan chocolate on each. Add a couple vegan marshmallows or a small handful of mini vegan marshmallows. That means DANDIES brand (are there any other brands you know of? Leave a comment if you do.
  3. Bake at 350°F for 5 minutes until the chocolate is melty and the marshmallows are puffed up. OR use your top broiler and heat until the marshmallow get some brown — by then the chocolate should be melty too.
  4. Remove pan immediately and top each square with another graham cracker. Enjoy!

Printable recipe for Easy Vegan S’mores Ice Cream Cake


COMING SOON – sorry guys, my hand budget limit was reached. I will get this up properly ASAP. For now, here are your ingredient measurements:

  • 2 cups vegan vanilla ice cream
  • 2 cups vegan chocolate ice cream
  • 1 cup vegan mini marshmallows (DANDIES)
  • 1 batch vegan graham crackers (8 large sized graham crackers)
  • 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon refined coconut oil
  • optionally one or two chopped up leftover s’mores

Printable recipe for Vegan 2-Bite Strawberry No-Bake Cheesecakes


COMING SOON – sorry guys, my hand budget limit was reached. I will get this up properly ASAP. For now, here are your ingredient measurements to make 6:

  • 1 cup raw cashews, soaked
  • 150g (about 4 large) fresh strawberries
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup refined coconut oil (butter-flavoured optional)
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup (or coconut nectar, agave or other sweet syrup of choice)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • big pinch of salt
  • 1/2 batch of vegan graham cracker recipe (or about 4 out of 8 large graham crackers)
  • about 1/4 cup of freeze-dried strawberries or baked strawberry chips for decoration
Showing 7 comments
  • Mariam
    Reply

    Hi Mary,

    I’m all out of coconut oil and I would really like to try this recipe. Do you think other oils like sunflower or corn would work?

    Thanks.

    • Ella
      Reply

      These biscuits are delicious!! I am from Australia and I have never had Graham crackers before, but I’ve recently made vegan marshmallows and wanted to try s’mores. I used melted Buttery Nuttelex (vegan butter) instead of coconut oil and it worked really well. Love the cinnamon and molasses together. Thank you so much for another great recipe!

  • sarah
    Reply

    I LOVE this recipe! I’ve already made it three times!

    • Mary
      Reply

      Yay! I’m so happy to hear it. Thanks for sharing, Sarah 🙂
      Stay well and safe,
      Mary

  • Cynthia
    Reply

    Hi Mary,
    Please let me know of any substitution for molasses? Would honey be ok? Would really like to try it for my daughter with dairy allergies. Thanks

    • Mary
      Reply

      Sorry, molasses is there for it’s distinct flavour so I haven’t tested with other syrups.

  • Rebekah
    Reply

    Have you used the pulp from tofu and milk making? If so what would you take out (I want to make the ranch crackers but sweet and this was as close as I could find). Do you have/are you working on a recipe using pulp to make a sweet cracker?

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