Sourdough Graham Crackers Fermented Overnight
I’ve always loved graham crackers. They were one of my all-time favorite sweet snacks as a kid, even though my mom didn’t buy them often. As an adult, I don’t buy them either because nothing beats homemade honey cinnamon sourdough graham crackers! Once you try homemade sourdough graham crackers, made with wholesome ingredients, they’re the only graham crackers you’ll want.
The most popular store brands of graham crackers are made with enriched flours, canola oil, soybean oil, and artificial flavors. In contrast, my homemade graham crackers are made with butter from grass-fed cows, raw honey, organic whole-grain flour, and real cinnamon. And who needs artificial flavors when you can long ferment the dough overnight, developing the flavors most nutritiously?
Sourdough Graham Cracker Recipe Tips
Here are my top tips to remember when making this recipe:
- Don’t overwork the dough: When you combine the wet and dry ingredients, you only need to mix until the dough looks evenly combined. Don’t knead it or overwork it; if you do, gluten may develop and ruin the texture.
- Ferment overnight in the fridge: Don’t skip the overnight ferment! Chilling and fermenting the dough overnight is essential to developing the best flavor.
- Keep the dough chilled: Work in batches when rolling out and cutting the dough into crackers. Cut the dough in half, wrap the other half, and place it back in the fridge. When you cut away the extra dough around your rectangular crackers, you can re-roll it out for more crackers, but refrigerate it first!
- Chill the dough again before baking: This is the most important tip for a good graham cracker texture. Chilling the dough fully before baking ensures the crackers don’t spread out in the oven.
What Makes Graham Crackers Taste Like Graham Crackers?
Graham crackers’ distinct taste and texture differentiate them from other crackers or cookies. Here’s what contributes to their signature characteristics:
Taste/Flavor:
- Whole Wheat Flour (Graham Flour): Adds a slightly nutty, hearty taste with a hint of sweetness.
- Honey: Provides mild floral sweetness and a pleasant hint of bitterness.
- Cinnamon and Other Spices: Contributes a warm, spicy note that complements the sweetness and adds complexity.
- Brown Sugar: Adds caramel-like sweetness, deepening the flavor and balancing the nuttiness of the whole wheat flour.
Texture:
- Whole Wheat Flour: Coarse grind whole wheat flour gives the crackers a slightly gritty texture, contributing to their crumbly and crisp nature.
- Butter: Provides fat content that helps achieve a tender yet crisp texture and contributes to the flakiness of the baked crackers.
- The Amount of Sugar: Using the right amount of sugar ensures that the crackers are crisp but not too hard, giving them the perfect consistency for snacking or using in recipes like pie crusts.
Are Graham Crackers Healthier Than Saltines?
When comparing graham crackers and saltines, some nutritional differences can make one appear healthier than the other, depending on your dietary needs and preferences.
- Whole Grain Content:
- Graham Crackers: Typically, you make graham crackers with whole wheat flour, which means they contain more fiber, vitamins, and minerals than refined flour products. This makes them a better option for sustained energy and digestive health.
- Saltines: Most saltines are made with refined white flour, stripped of much of its fiber and nutrients during processing. This can lead to quicker spikes in blood sugar and less satiety.
- Sugar Content:
- Graham Crackers usually contain added sugars, contributing to their sweetness. While this can make them more palatable as a snack or dessert, it also means more calories from sugar.
- Saltines generally have little to no added sugar, making them a lower-sugar option.
- Fat Content:
- Graham Crackers: I make my homemade graham crackers with butter, so they do contain fat.
- Saltines: Saltines are low in fat, though they can contain trans fats or hydrogenated oils in some commercial varieties.
- Sodium Content:
- Graham Crackers are typically lower in sodium than saltines, making them a better choice if you’re watching your salt intake.
- Saltines: Saltines, as their name would suggest, tend to be higher in sodium, which can be a concern for those managing blood pressure or sodium intake.
Conclusion: Graham crackers, especially those made with whole wheat flour, can be considered healthier than saltines due to their higher fiber content. However, they contain more sugar and can have higher fat content, so the best choice depends on what nutritional aspects are most important to you.
Sourdough Graham Crackers Nutrition
Each sourdough graham cracker in my recipe contains 56 calories, making them a relatively light snack. With 2.2 grams of total fat and 1.3 grams of saturated fat per cracker, they also offer a balanced fat content.
The crackers have 8.6 grams of carbohydrates, including 2.8 grams of sugar. They are moderate in salt with 70.6 mg of sodium, making them a satisfying and nutritious snack or dessert base.
How to Store Sourdough Graham Crackers
Here’s how to store your homemade sourdough graham crackers, how long they last, and whether you can freeze them for later use:
- Storage Method: Store baked graham crackers in an airtight container at room temperature.
- Shelf Life: They will stay fresh for about 1-2 weeks at room temperature.
- Freezing: Yes, you can freeze baked graham crackers! This method will help extend their freshness and allow you to use them later for various recipes.
- Freezing Instructions: Place the graham crackers in a single layer on a baking sheet to freeze individually. Once frozen, transfer them to an airtight container or a freezer-safe bag.
- Frozen Shelf Life: They can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Usage: Frozen graham crackers can be thawed and used for snacking, s’mores, or crushed for pie crusts, cheesecakes, or other desserts.
More Sourdough Sweets to Try
- Sourdough S’mores Cookies with Marshmallows and Brown Butter
- The Best Sourdough Discard Muffins for Back-to-School
- Double Chocolate Cherry Muffins with Sourdough Discard
Things You May Need:
Honey Cinnamon Sourdough Graham Crackers Fermented Overnight
These honey cinnamon sourdough graham crackers are fermented overnight for easier digestion and the best flavor. You can use sourdough discard or an active starter. Kids love these perfectly crispy, wholesome, and delicious cinnamon graham crackers!
- Prep: 15 minutes
- Cook: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 12 hours 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 200 grams organic whole wheat flour
- 100 grams organic all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 113 grams salted butter, room temp
- 70 grams light brown sugar
- 70 grams raw honey
- 150 grams sourdough starter (active or discard)
Instructions
- Combine the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, cream the honey, brown sugar, sourdough starter, and butter together.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until evenly combined. The mixture should be thick, like cookie dough.
- Shape the dough into a small slab and wrap it tightly in parchment paper. Ensure all the dough is wrapped and covered.
- Refrigerate overnight, and then proceed to the next step.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Cut the cold dough in half to work in batches.
- Lightly flour your countertop and the top of the cold dough. Using a rolling pin, evenly roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick.
- Cut the dough into even 2×2.5 inch rectangles. (Any dough you trim off can be combined, re-chilled, and rolled out again for more crackers; You can wrap, bag and freeze left over dough to bake more crackers later).
- Transfer the cut cracker dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 1/2-inch space between the crackers.
- Poke holes in each cracker using a toothpick to prevent them from puffing up too much. Place the sheet pan of crackers in the freezer for 10 minutes before moving them directly from the freezer into the preheated oven. (this pre-bake chill is important for proper texture)
- Bake the crackers for about 15 minutes until they brown around the edges. Midway through, rotate the baking sheet.
- When browned and crisped to your liking, remove the crackers from the oven and allow them to cool completely.
- Store crackers in an air-tight container at room temperature for about two weeks.
I made the dough almost 2 days ago to get the benefits of the fermented grains and to deepen the flavor and my gosh! This is legitimately the best graham crackers recipe I’ve ever tried. And I tried 4 other recipes from 4 different bloggers but Cultured Guru’s recipe reigns supreme! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe Kaitlynn. Next up will be your roasted pumpkin, chocolate chip, and pecan cookies!
I literally have to make these like 2-3 times a week because my kids can’t get enough. Great recipe!
I’m excited to try these. To make regular Graham crackers would one just omit the cinnamon? Also, I’m planning to make your s’mores cookies. Is this the recipe (with cinnamon) that you used for those cookies?
you can leave the cinnamon out for plain crackers! and Yes, I used these graham crackers in the cookies, but any graham cracker will work.
These are fantastic! Baked these to use in a smores brown recipe and they were *insert chef kiss here*! Thanks.
Made these for work, everyone loved them! Will definitely be making them again.
glad to hear everyone loved the crackers! Thanks for leaving a review!