What do you do when you have an ample amount of toasted marshmallow ice cream hanging out in you freezer?
You make graham crackers so that you can make sandwiches with all that goodness.
Who would make their own graham crackers? People like me. Seriously though, store-bought graham crackers have nothing on this homemade variation. They’re crunchy, snappy, spicy, and dangerously addictive.
Last winter I ordered some mesquite flour online, and I was immediately impressed by it’s slightly nutty, sweet flavor. It has a hint of earthy, woodsy-ness to it too. I think it best complements anything with a little heat, chocolate, coffee, and brown sugar flavors.
The mesquite flour is made from mesquite tree seed pods that are dried and then pulverized into a flour that can be used in all sorts of culinary applications. Naturally gluten-free, it can be swapped in place of all-purpose flour, but not entirely; since whatever you’re baking needs that gluten framework to provide some structure.
If you don’t have any mesquite flour, that’s okay. Just use all-purpose flour or another kind of flour in its place.
How to make this high altitude recipe:
Mesquite Graham Crackers (adapted from Gingerbread by Jennifer Lindner McGlinn)
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup mesquite flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup molasses
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Combine the all-purpose flour, mesquite flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, ginger, and cinnamon in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and begin mixing on medium-low speed.
- Add the butter, about 1 tablespoon at a time, increasing the speed to medium and continue beating until the mixture resembles the texture of fine bread crumbs.
- Whisk together the honey, molasses, milk, and vanilla in a small bowl.
- Pour the honey mixture into the beating crumbs, mixing just until the dough comes together.
- Turn the dough out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap, press into a large disc, and wrap tightly.
- Chill for about 2 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 350 F.
- Roll the chilled dough in between two sheets of parchment paper with a little flour to about ⅛" thick.
- Cut out desired shapes and using a fork, dock the crackers.
- If the dough gets too soft to handle, put the sheet in the freezer for a few minutes.
- Bake the crackers for about 10 minutes, depending on the size of the crackers, until they are golden brown along the edges. They will firm up more as they cool.
Note: This recipe is adjusted for high altitude baking. To bake at sea level, increase the baking soda to 1 teaspoon.
