Chocolate Dipped Graham Cracker Cookies

Ingredients List

To make these homemade graham cracker cookies, you will need:

Dry Ingredients. Whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt.

Wet Ingredients. Unsalted butter, light brown sugar, grade A clover honey, full-flavor molasses, vanilla extract, and milk.

There are no eggs needed for this recipe.

Substitutions

Honey. I used a grade A clover honey, but you can experiment with other honey flavors if you'd like!

Molasses. I used Brer Rabbit's full flavor molasses. You can also try a light molasses as well. I do not recommend using blackstrap. It's bitter and typically not used in baking.

Milk. I used a lactose-free whole milk, but you can use 1% or 2%.

I did not test this recipe using any flour or non-dairy substitutes.

How to Make Homemade Graham Crackers?

Making the graham cracker dough is a fairly straightforward process and much like the sugar cookie recipes I've shared with you.

You can choose to use either a hand mixer or a stand mixer, but the stand mixer will make things much easier because the dough will be on the thicker side.

Make the graham cracker dough. Whisk all of your dry ingredients together, then set aside. Mix all of the wet ingredients together except for the milk. Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and milk to the wet ingredients.

Prep the dough then chill. After making the dough, divide it in half. Roll out each section of dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Next, stack the two layers (including the parchment paper in between) and place them on to a cookie sheet.

I highly recommend doing this because it keeps the dough flat, and it's just easier to transport the dough. Refrigerate it for a minimum of 1 hour—or overnight, which is my preference.

Cut out the cookies and bake. When ready to bake, cut out the graham cracker Christmas trees—or the shape you prefer. Poke a few 1-3 rows of holes (this will depend on the shape of the cookie) into the top of each cookie using a fork. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350ºF.

Once cooled, you can keep them stored in an airtight container at room temperature until they're ready for dipping.

Why Do You Poke Holes into Graham Crackers?

The purpose of poking holes into the pre-baked crackers is to allow steam to escape during baking.

The poked holes are basically like tiny vents for your graham crackers. They'll also keep your graham crackers flat and on the crispier side.

Of course, the crispiness of your graham crackers is dependent on how thin you rolled out your dough!

General

• Make sure you have a cookie sheet that will fit in the refrigerator for chilling the rolled out dough.
• The recommended baking time for the graham crackers is 8-10 minutes at 350ºF. And it has a minimum dough chilling time of 1 hour. Your baking time will vary based on how thin or thick you roll out the dough.
• This recipe makes approximately 6 dozen cookies. Yield results will vary based on what cookie cutter you use!
• The recipe prep time does not include the melting or assembling of the chocolate dipped graham cracker Christmas trees.

Graham Cracker Cookies

• For a thinner graham cracker, roll it out to about ⅛-inch. For a thicker graham cracker cookies, roll it out to about ¼-inch. I wouldn't go any thicker than that though. Remember, thinner gives you a crispier cracker, and thicker gives you a softer one.
• If you'd rather roll out smaller batches of the dough, you can divide it out into thirds.
• Place the dough back into the refrigerator (or freezer) for a few minutes, if begins to soften as you cut out the shapes.
• Don't forget to poke the holes in the cut out cookies before baking them!

Chocolate Dipping

• Using a double boiler isn't required for these chocolate dipped graham cracker cookies, but it is helpful with melting the amount of chocolate needed. It's also helpful if melting the chocolate with the paraffin wax.
• Both the paraffin wax, vegetable shortening, and coconut oil will thin the chocolate. Only the wax will give it a subtle shine though. It will also keep the chocolate from melting off the graham crackers when left out at room temperature.

Decorating

• The Christmas tree shape is from a 6-piece set of small holiday cookie cutters. The smaller size made them easier for dipping into the chocolate.
• The square shape comes from this 24-set of geometric cookie cutters. I'm planning to use these for more pie crust designs in 2020! Eeee! So excited!
• If you're not a fan of the Christmas tree or square, you can use a different shape and size.
• Dipping the cookie cutters into some all-purpose flour will help keep the dough from sticking.
• I suggest using the white or Christmas colored nonpareils sprinkles for the Christmas trees. And for the squares, the red and green sprinkles. Feel free to use whatever type of sprinkles you'd like though!