Pardon me while I get a little Martha here.

Much fuss is made over s’mores every summer, and for good reason – they’re a perfect combo of gooey-sweet-sticky-crunchy with a generous dose of summer holiday nostalgia.

But I’ve decided that a homemade marshmallow, while pretty, isn’t fantastically delicious enough (compared to a store-bought marshmallow) to justify the time and mess they require to make. The graham crackers, however, seem to be often overlooked; picked up in a box at the store and that’s that. When you think about it, the bookends of a s’more, like the bread you choose for a sandwich, is essential – and when you compare any packaged cookie to a homemade one, it’s clear that making this part of the equation yourself is far more worthwhile.

When it occurred to me that I would never think to eat a boxed graham cracker as-is, it made sense to make my own cookie-crackers to use for s’mores – I often default to Digestive biscuits, but wow, are these better. Almost the entire batch was nibbled away before the fire was even lit.

They’re made from slightly grainy dough, rolled thin and baked up all snappy and buttery – the very best a graham cracker can be, I imagine. I’d make them again regardless of whether or not they were destined to enclose chocolate and marshmallow.

You score, then bake the dough – and at first they’re soft, but if you separate them and put them back into the oven, they’ll get toastier and crunchier, if you like them better that way.

With a few teenagers in the house, our chocolate stash quickly disappeared. But lo! There was a jar of Nutella on the shelf. Which turned out to work even better, in my books.

Spread graham crackers with Nutella. Squish a toasted marshmallow in the middle.

Homemade Graham Crackers

AuthorJulie

Yields1 Serving

1 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp Crosby’s fancy molasses

1 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup wheat germ or oat bran

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy; beat in the molasses, milk and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed or stir by hand until you have a soft dough. Wrap in plastic or waxed paper and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into four pieces and roll each piece out between two sheets of parchment paper to about 1/8-inch thin. Move the rectangle to a baking sheet, peel off the top layer of parchment, cut into squares or rectangles and freeze until firm. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F.

Remove from freezer, prick all over with a fork and bake for 10 minutes, until golden. If you like, separate the crackers and bake for a few more minutes.

Categorycookies & squares

Ingredients