A scrumptious after-school snack, these chocolate graham crackers are made from scratch with real ingredients, including love (and cocoa)!
By this point in the year, I’m getting burned out on choosing after school snacks. Thank goodness I remembered these gems: Homemade Chocolate Graham Crackers!
My kids love them, and so do I! They stay nicely in the pantry, are easy to transport and pair amazingly with a glass of milk!
Preheat that oven! We’re gonna make your new favorite snack!
Chocolate Graham Cracker Ingredients
My favorite part about making these homemade graham crackers is that you don’t need a special flour. No whole-wheat, no graham flour. All-purpose flour will do just fine!
Flour: all-purpose
Cocoa powder
Baking Soda
Salt
Butter: If you’re out of butter, you can replace with shortening, but your dough may be slightly drier. You may need to add an extra tablespoon of milk.
Sugar: granulated sugar. If you find you only have brown sugar, no one will know you swapped them but you!
Milk: any percentage fat will work fine
Vanilla
How to Make Chocolate Graham Crackers from Scratch
Making the dough is pretty easy. Mix the dry ingredients; cut in the butter; add the wet ingredients (and sugar). Easy peasy!
Knead the dough ball if you’re having trouble getting it to come together. You may also need to add a bit more milk if it’s too dry.
For an even easier way to make this dough, use a food processor! Throw the dry ingredients in and pulse. Throw in the butter and pulse until it is fully mixed in. Add the sugar, milk and vanilla and pulse until the dough comes together into a ball. Knead the dough to get it to combine fully.
Wrap up the dough and keep it in the fridge for about an hour (or longer) before rolling out.
Pro tip: Shape the dough disc into a square for an easier time rolling it into a rectangle shape in the next step.
Roll out a rectangle about 1/8″ thick. Cut the dough into rectangles measuring 3″ x 1 1/2″. I love using a pizza cutter for this job!
You can see below that I did a really bad job getting a rectangle shape. I started with a circle disc of dough instead of square. It makes a difference!
When I cut my rectangles, I ended up with some triangles on the edges that I strategically moved to match up with other triangles. Smoosh them together and you’ve got yourself a decent rectangle!
Poke each cracker 3-4 times with a fork and sprinkle with extra sugar. Is it necessary? No. Is it extra delicious? Yes!
Bake these crackers in a giant square until the edges are firm and the centers spring back lightly.
Immediately after removing from the oven, cut again with your trusty pizza cutter along your lines. Separate each cracker and move to a wire rack to cool completely.
How to Eat Homemade Chocolate Graham Crackers
I know you don’t need help here. These things are delicious on their own! Who needs this section?!
Well, here are a few suggestions to make them more interesting:
- Spread peanut butter on them for a protein boost!
- Spread frosting on them for a sugar high!
- Dip them in milk to feel like a kid again!
How to Store Homemade Chocolate Graham Crackers
Store these crackers at room temperature, tightly covered, up to 3 days for maximum freshness.
Can I Freeze Homemade Chocolate Graham Crackers?
Yes! If you want these crackers to stay fresh for a while or if you need to make them ahead of time, pack them in Tupperware and freeze up to 3 months for maximum freshness.
They’ll be safe to eat for much longer, but the flavor may be affected by freezing for longer.
Ready to Bake?
Are these chocolate graham crackers for you or someone you love? I love to eat these, and so do my kids! Comment below to share who you’re baking for today!
Happy Baking!
Homemade Chocolate Graham Crackers
Equipment
- Food Processor optional
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour (312 grams by weight)
- ½ cup cocoa powder (40 grams by weight)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 7 Tablespoons butter, cut up
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams by weight)
- 6 Tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar for dusting
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt to combine.
- Cut in butter with pastry cutter or 2 knives until mixture resembles fine to coarse crumbs.
- In a small bowl, mix sugar, milk and vanilla. Pour into flour mixture. Mix until moist. Add additional milk 1 Tablespoon at a time if mixture is too dry. (See NOTES below for food processor instructions.)
- Separate dough into 3 disks. Wrap in plastic and place in fridge to chill 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Place each disk of dough on a sheet of parchment paper or silicone baking sheet. Top with a sheet of wax paper. Roll out to ⅛" thickness (about 9" x 7 ½" rectangle).
- Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into rectangles that measure 3" x 1 ½". Poke each rectangle 3-4 times with a fork. Sprinkle top of grahams with extra sugar.
- Transfer parchment paper onto a baking sheet. Bake 375°F for 14-16 minutes until edges are firm and centers spring back lightly when pressed.
- Recut along lines and remove to wire rack to cool, separating each cracker. Crackers will continue to crisp up as they cool.
- Store tightly covered at room temperature up to 3 days, or freeze for longer storage.
Notes
- Butter can be swapped for shortening, if needed.
- To make dough in the food processor: Add all dry ingredients and pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse until mixed to fine crumbs. Mix sugar, milk and vanilla. Add to food processor and pulse until dough comes together in a ball, adding extra milk, if needed.
- Dough can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge up to 2 days before rolling and baking.
- No extra flour is needed when rolling out dough if you cover the dough with waxed paper.
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