Crunchy Homemade Graham Crackers Sandwich Cookies are bursting with honey and toasty whole wheat flavor. A layer of chocolate between two grahams, and a cut-out on top, turns these cookies into festive treats.
About this recipe
This homemade graham crackers recipe was first published in 2014 as part of a Halloween care package post. That package was sent to my second adopted military service member.
Fast forward to 2020, as I update this recipe for another Halloween care package. This box is going to my 17th adopted service member! That’s a lot of themed care packages!
As a volunteer on the Deployed Adoptions Team of Soldier’s Angels, I support deployed service members with weekly letters and a monthly care package for the length of their deployment. That small gesture on my part makes an amazingly large impact.
Our military personnel and their families sacrifice so much in order to serve our country. I consider it an honor to improve morale and show my appreciation with cookies!
The theme for this care package is “Pumpkins”, with a combination of pumpkin shaped and pumpkin flavored goodies.
Honey grahams fall under the pumpkin shaped category. Crunchy cookies with nutty, whole wheat and honey flavor are sandwiched together with creamy, melted chocolate, and adorned with a sprinkled pumpkin cutout.
Ingredients
- Whole wheat flour is what gives graham crackers their unique nutty flavor and crisp texture. Use regular whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour in this recipe for the best results.
- Butter flavored vegetable shortening (Crisco) is recommended. It is the best fat to produce the crisp graham cracker texture.
Directions
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together shortening/butter, brown sugar, and honey. Stir in flour mixture.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill to firm for about 2 hours in the refrigerator or 30 minutes in the freezer.
- When the dough is firm , roll out to ⅛″ thickness between sheets of flour sprinkled parchment or waxed paper.
- Cut out circles with a 2 ½” cookie cutter and place on the prepared baking sheet about 1” apart. If the dough is too soft to transfer easily, place the parchment with the rolled out dough onto a baking sheet and place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 375°F for 7-9 minutes, or until edges are firm.
- Cool on the baking sheet until just cool enough to touch, about 2-3 minutes, then use a mini cookie cutter to cut shapes out of the center of half of the cookies. Use these as the top cookies for the sandwiches.
- When the graham cookies are completely cool, melt the chocolate discs in the microwave. Place the cookies in pairs (one solid cookie with one cutout cookie) on a wax paper lined baking pan with sides. Place the solid cookies with the bottom facing up.
- Working with one cookie at a time, spread about ½ teaspoon of the melted chocolate onto a solid cookie, not quiet to the edge. Gently press a cut-out cookie on top. Immediate add nonpareil sprinkles.
- Refrigerate the completed sandwich cookies for 5-10 minutes to set the chocolate.
Tips and variations
- Graham flour (difficult to find), whole wheat flour, or white whole wheat flour can be used interchangeably in this recipe. All of these flours are coarsely ground and made from hard wheat.
- Do not use whole wheat pastry flour, which is finely ground, and changes the texture of the cookie. King Arthur Flour labels their whole wheat pastry flour as graham flour, but this is NOT graham flour as it is usually defined and won’t produce good results with this recipe.
- Whole wheat flour is made from the whole grain and contains natural oils. Store whole wheat flour in the fridge or freezer to keep the oils from spoiling.
- It is not a mistake. These cookies are all baked without a cut-out. Dough with cut-outs is hard to move onto a baking sheet without mushing the inside shape. Cut the shapes from half of the cookies shortly after coming out of the oven, while the centers are still warm and soft.
- Do not send cookies filled with chocolate during hot weather, as the chocolate will melt. Instead, send graham cookies with a can of frosting or a jar of Nutella for a DIY cookie sandwich.
- For pumpkin spice flavor, mix in ½ teaspoon of pumpkin spice to the white or dark chocolate before spreading on the cookies.
- Flavored baking chips, such as butterscotch or peanut butter, can also be used as filling for these sandwich cookies.
- When using a microwave to melt chocolate, always melt at 50% power. Chocolate, especially white chocolate, burns easily. Heating at a lower power helps prevent scorching.
Frequently asked questions
Graham flour is a coarsely ground whole wheat flour made from all three parts of the wheat berry (endosperm, germ, and bran) which are ground separately then combined.
Whole wheat and white whole wheat flour are both made from all three layers of the wheat berry, and have the same nutritional value.
Whole-wheat flour is made from hard red wheat. It has a nutty taste.
White Whole-Wheat flour is made from hard white wheat. It has a milder, sweeter taste and a lighter color.
The two flours can be used interchangeably in recipes.
The best substitute for graham flour is whole wheat flour.
Graham cracker cookies are easy to make and even easier to eat. Wrapped and mailed in an airtight container or zip lock bag, they will stay fresh for up to 10 days.
Check back in a few days for more Halloween care package ideas and another recipe for a Halloween pumpkin treat!
Homemade Graham Cracker Sandwich Cookies
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter flavored vegetable shortening
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 ½ cups melting chocolate
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together shortening/butter, brown sugar, and honey.
- Stir in flour mixture.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill to firm for about 2 hours in the refrigerator or 30 minutes in the freezer.
- Roll out dough to ⅛" thickness, between sheets of parchment or waxed paper sprinkled with flour.
- Cut out circles with a 2 ½” cookie cutter and place on the prepared baking sheet about 1” apart. If the dough is too soft to transfer easily, place the parchment with the rolled out dough and cutouts onto a baking sheet and place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Bake for 7-9 minutes or until edges are firm.
- Allow to cool on the baking sheet until just cool enough to touch, about 2-3 minutes, then use a mini cookie cutter to cut shapes out of the center of half of the cookies. These will be used as the top cookies for the sandwiches.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes more before transferring with a spatula to a wire rack.
- When the cookies are completely cool, melt the chocolate discs in the microwave. Place the cookies in pairs (one solid cookie with one cutout cookie) on a wax paper lined baking pan with sides. Place the solid cookies with the bottom facing up.
- Working with one cookie at a time, spread about ½ teaspoon of the melted chocolate onto a solid cookie, not quiet to the edge. Gently press a cut-out cookie on top. Immediate add nonpareil sprinkles.
- Refrigerate the completed sandwich cookies for 5-10 minutes to set the chocolate.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7-10 days.
Notes
- Graham flour (difficult to find), whole wheat flour, or white whole wheat flour can be used interchangeably in this recipe. All of these flours are coarsely ground and made from hard wheat.
- Do not use whole wheat pastry flour, which is finely ground, and changes the texture of the cookie. King Arthur Flour labels their whole wheat pastry flour as graham flour, but this is NOT graham flour as it is usually defined and won’t produce good results with this recipe.
- Whole wheat flour is made from the whole grain and contains natural oils. Store whole wheat flour in the fridge or freezer to keep the oils from spoiling.
- It is not a mistake. These cookies are all baked without a cut-out. Dough with cut-outs is hard to move onto a baking sheet without mushing the inside shape. Cut the shapes from half of the cookies shortly after coming out of the oven, while the centers are still warm and soft.
- Do not send cookies filled with chocolate during hot weather, as the chocolate will melt. Instead, send graham cookies with a can of frosting or a jar of Nutella for a DIY cookie sandwich.
- For pumpkin spice flavor, mix in ½ teaspoon of pumpkin spice to the white or dark chocolate before spreading on the cookies.
- Flavored baking chips, such as butterscotch or peanut butter, can also be used as filling for these sandwich cookies.
- When using a microwave to melt chocolate, always melt at 50% power. Chocolate, especially white chocolate, burns easily. Heating at a lower power helps prevent scorching.
Packing tips
Double wrap pairs of cookies (with bottoms together) in plastic wrap, then place in an airtight container or zip lock bag. Due to the filling, these sandwich cookies should be shipped only during cool weather. The individual graham cookies without filling can be mailed year round.Nutrition
April J Harris says
So nice that one deployment ended, and it’s lovely you are sending a taste of home to Soldier B now. What a fantastic selection of treats, Wendy! Love these honey graham sandwich cookies, not least of all as we can’t get graham crackers easily in the UK. These are much nicer than the boxed ones – and I love the fun Halloween fillings too! Pinning and sharing. Thank you so much for your support of the Hearth and Soul Link Party!