Gluten Free Graham Crackers | Just Like Nabisco!

By Nicole Hunn | Published: April 15, 2024 | Posted In: Cookies, Desserts

small stack of gluten free graham crackers with one broken in half on brown paper

4.98 from 118 votes

Prep Time : 15

Cook Time : 15

The perfect crispy, crunchy gluten free graham crackers taste just like they were made by Nabisco, but they're safely gluten free. Better than anything you can buy, make a big batch for snacking and for graham cracker crumbs!

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These gluten free graham crackers have that snappy, crisp texture with the wheat-y taste of Nabisco grahams and subtle depth of flavor from molasses and honey.

They're absolutely perfect for making into gluten free graham cracker crumbs, and all the things that graham cracker crumbs make possible, like no bake desserts and cookie crust pies. The possibilities are endless for these humble little gf cookies!

A stack of 5 halves of light brown graham crackers with one more half on the side of the stack on wooden brown slats with crumbs and sugar

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What makes these gluten free graham crackers special

Did you know that you can buy gluten free graham crackers (at least in the U.S.)? There are a few brands that I've tried, and they're all perfectly fine, but they lack the depth of flavor of Nabisco, or our homemade grahams. The texture also tends to be less crispy and more dense, making them somewhat hard to eat.

Don't get me wrong, though, as I'm so super grateful that store-bought gluten free graham crackers exist. It's not always practical to make them from scratch, like on bonfire s'mores nights at my son's sleepaway camp when he was small. They easily stocked gf marshmallows and packaged gf graham crackers.

But making your own gluten free graham crackers means that you can experience the same taste, texture, and flavor as the ones that Nabisco makes. And it's so easy to do—with the right recipe, of course.

How to customize these gluten free graham crackers

When you make your own, of course, you can make them with or without the cinnamon-sugar topping, and even with or without the ground cinnamon in the dough. Nothing makes a better cookie-crumb crust for lemon meringue pie than these crispy, crunchy, authentic grahams.

Light brown rectangular graham crackers broken and stacked on metal tray lined in light brown paper

How to make gluten free graham crackers

There are no hard-to-find ingredients in this recipe, and if you're convinced you can't roll out cookie or cracker dough like a pro, read through the step by step instructions carefully.

Ingredients

Here are the simple gluten free pantry ingredients you'll need to make gluten free graham crackers at home:

All purpose gluten free flour (with xanthan gum) (I used Better Batter please be sure to use one of my recommended blends and measure by weight!)
Baking soda (helps neutralize acid and aids in browning)
Baking powder (adds lift to help create that crispy, honeycomb texture)
Salt (enhances and brightens other flavors)
Granulated sugar (adds sweetness, tenderness, and helps make the cookies crispy)
Light brown sugar (adds more moisture and depth of flavor, plus sweetness)
Butter (adds buttery flavor, tenderness, and crispness)
Molasses (adds sweetness, plus that characteristic caramel taste)
Honey (adds sweetness, with a light floral flavor)
Egg (acts as a binder to hold everything together)
Vanilla extract (adds flavor, and enhances other flavors)

Making the graham cracker dough

large metal mixing bowl with white powder and a metal whisk, with a black mixing spoon, with yellow, black, and brown liquids on top, with a black mixing spoon with light brown cookie dough, and that cookie dough in a ball on a piece of white parchment paper

Here's how to make the raw graham cracker dough:

First, whisk together the gluten free flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Next, whisk in the granulated sugar, and then the brown sugar. The granulated sugar will whisk right into the dry ingredients, but you'll need to mix the brown sugar and press down the mixing spoon against the side of the bowl whenever you find any clumps of brown sugar.
Add the melted butter, molasses, honey, beaten egg, and vanilla extract, and mix to combine. If you make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it, you can mix everything together at the same time and still have a cohesive dough.
The dough will be thick and shiny, and should hold together well.

Rolling out, shaping, and baking gluten free graham cracker dough

step by step images showing light brown graham cracker crust in a ball, being rolled out between parchment paper sheets with a rolling pin, being cut into rectangles, on a baking sheet without and with cinnamon sugar on top, and baked on a tray

The next steps in the recipe are all about rolling out the dough until it's about 1/4-inch thick, cutting out rectangular shapes, piercing the raw pieces of dough with the tines of a fork to allow steam to escape during baking (this prevents bubbles from forming in the dough), sprinkling with cinnamon sugar (or not!), and baking until firm.

Tips for rolling out cracker dough

It's not difficult to roll out raw cookie or cracker dough, but it can seem intimidating if you're not comfortable with the process. Here are a few tips for rolling out and handling the dough like a pro:

It's a rolling pin, not a pressing pin. Rather than using a rolling pin to press the dough, concentrate on the rolling motion as you flatten the dough. Rolling back and forth makes it easier to get your dough to an even thickness. Applying too much pressure leads to fragile, overly thin parts.
Don't worry about the shape. If you don't have a 2-inch x 4-inch rectangular cookie cutter, try to relax about getting your shapes into precisely the same size as one another. You can break out the ruler and measure each just right, but after the first few, I'd really recommend you eyeball it. It won't matter that much to the final result.
Remove the extra dough first. To make transfer of the rectangles of dough easier, try pulling away the surrounding dough to expose the cut out shapes. Then, turn the shape onto one of your palms, and peel off the parchment paper from the back of the shape.
Go by feel. Your hands are much more sensitive to differences in thickness than your eyes as you roll. Running your hands lightly across the dough will tell you everything you need to know about where to roll thinner, where to leave the dough be. Trust those hands! They're a cook's best tools.
Try chilling the dough. If you are having trouble getting clean lines when cutting out dough or the dough is just too difficult to handle, roll it out, and then chill the dough in the refrigerator or freezer. Also, make sure you're not rolling the dough too thin. That will make it harder to handle, too.

stack of 7 halves of light brown gluten free graham crackers with glass jar with more graham crackers in background

Substitutions for these gluten free graham cracker ingredients

Gluten free dairy free graham crackers

If you're dairy free, replace the melted butter with an equal amount, by volume, of Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening, plus 1 to 2 teaspoons of unsweetened almond milk or your favorite nondairy milk.

Gluten free egg free graham crackers

Since there is only one egg in this recipe, I feel pretty confident saying that a “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel). I don't recommend a “flax egg,” as flax has a strong flavor that would compete with the flavor balance in the recipe.

Gluten free graham crackers baked on tray on brown paper

FAQs

Are graham crackers gluten free?

No! Graham crackers are traditionally made with a combination of different types of wheat flours: conventional all purpose flour and graham flour, which is a coarsely ground wheat flour. They are definitely not gluten free—unless you make them that way or buy them that way!

What is unsulphured molasses?

Unsulphured molasses is the most common type of molasses you'll find in the regular grocery store. It's not been “sulphured,” which is a process by which molasses made from un-matured sugar cane is treated with sulphur during sugar extraction.

Can you use these graham crackers to make a gluten free cookie crust?

Yes! You can use these gf graham crackers to make either a baked or an unbaked gluten free graham cracker crust by adding melted butter to crushed crackers. This recipe will make enough for 2 standard-size gf graham cracker crusts.

What brands make packaged graham crackers are gluten free?

There are a few brands that make packaged gluten free graham crackers. None of them is as good as what you'll make with this homemade gf graham cracker recipe, but sometimes you need a quick shortcut! Here are the brands I know well:
Kinnikinnick “S'moreables graham style crackers” are pretty easy to find in larger grocery stores, but they are relatively bland-tasting.
Schar brand Honeygrams are the best-tasting gf graham crackers I've found—but they're quite expensive.
Pamela's brand gluten free graham crackers are pretty good, but they are made in a facility that is shared with wheat, so check in with your own risk tolerance.

Why is my graham cracker dough greasy?

Did you let the melted butter cool before you added it to the mixture? If melted butter is too warm, it won't incorporate fully into the dough and will make it seem greasy. Try letting the raw dough sit for a bit so the flours can absorb the fat.

Why aren't my graham crackers crispy?

If you didn't make any ingredient substitutions, especially with the gluten free flour blend, and you measured by weight, not volume, you may not have baked your graham crackers for long enough. You don't want them to burn, but they're not done until they are golden brown all over, plus dry and firm to the touch. If they're still kind of shiny, they're not done yet.

Can I use these graham crackers to make into crumbs for a crust?

Yes! Once they are completely cool, you can put these crackers into a food processor and pulse until they have the texture of coarse crumbs, and then use them to make a cookie crumb crust. Just follow the instructions in our recipe for gluten free graham cracker crust to make either a baked crust, or a no-bake crust. You can use these graham crackers in any recipe where you might have used wheat-based graham crackers before.

Warm weather months absolutely demand graham cracker crumbs. Now, you'll be ready! Looking for more recipes that call for gluten free graham crackers? Try the easiest no bake cheesecake and our gluten free key lime pie. Or use them exactly as you always have in your favorite pie that has a naturally gluten free filling.

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Gluten Free Graham Crackers | Just Like Nabisco!

Course: Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 15

Yield: 20 graham crackers

Author: Nicole Hunn

Ingredients

For the dough

2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
¾ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
⅓ cup (72 g) packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
2 tablespoons (42 g) honey
2 tablespoons (42 g) unsulphured molasses
1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg at room temperature, beaten
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the topping (optional)

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Line rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.

Make the dough.

Prepare and shape the dough. In a large bowl, place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, optional cinnamon and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the brown sugar and whisk and mix again, working out any lumps in the brown sugar by pressing the clumps against the side of the mixing bowl with the back of the spoon.
Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the melted butter, honey, molasses, egg and vanilla, and mix to combine.
Knead the dough together with your hands, if necessary, to bring it together into a cohesive ball.
Transfer the dough to a piece of unbleached parchment paper sprinkled lightly with gluten free flour, and, sprinkling lightly with flour as necessary to prevent sticking, roll out the dough until it is about 1/4-inch thick.
You can also skip sprinkling with additional flour. Simply top the dough with a second sheet of parchment paper, and roll out the dough until it's about 1/4-inch thick. Before cutting out shapes, remove the top sheet of parchment paper.
Cut into 2 x 4-inch rectangles (or use a 2 x 4-inch rectangular cutter to cut out shapes) and place them about 1-inch apart from one another on the prepared baking sheets.
To make transfer of the rectangles of dough easier, try pulling away the surrounding dough to expose the cut out shapes. Then, turn the shape onto one of your palms, and peel off the parchment paper from the back of the shape. Carefully place on the prepared baking sheet.
Gather and reroll the scraps to cut out more crackers until you’ve used up the dough.
Place the cinnamon and sugar from the topping, if using, in a small bowl and whisk to combine well.
Combine the topping ingredients in a small bowl, and sprinkle the rectangles evenly with the optional cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Place the baking sheets, one at a time, in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the crackers are golden brown all over and dry and firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. Do not allow the graham crackers to burn. They will brown faster if you've used the cinnamon-sugar topping.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheets. They will crisp as they cool.
The crackers can be stored in a sealed glass container at room temperature and should maintain their texture for at least 5 days.
For longer storage, seal them tightly in a freezer-safe wrap or bag and freeze for up to 2 months. If you freeze them, they will lose some of their crispness but they'll still be delicious. Defrost at room temperature.

Notes

From the book Gluten-Free Classic Snacks: 100 Recipes for the Brand Name Treats You Love, by Nicole Hunn. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2015.

Nutritional information is per graham cracker when made precisely as written, excludes the optional cinnamon-sugar topping, is approximate and should not be relied upon.