Sourdough Graham Crackers (Better Than Store Bought!)

My sourdough graham crackers are made from scratch, which is why they taste so much better than store bought! They’ve got that iconic graham cracker taste and crunch with the perfect level of sweetness. In our house, we love snacking on these graham crackers or using them to make delicious treats! This recipe post includes a video tutorial so you can make it alongside me, step-by-step.

This post may contain affiliate links of items I know and love. Read our disclosure policy for more information. I NEVER use AI (artificial intelligence) to create content for Plum Branch Home. Recipes, blog posts, photos, videos, podcasts, social media content: everything is made from scratch by me, Molly LaFontaine. After developing my recipes, they’re tested 2x by my husband, Tyler, and I before publishing. What you see from Plum Branch Home is real. It’s made for a reason, tested, and loved!

If you want to make this recipe but don’t have a sourdough starter, no worries! Grab my free guide so you can make your own starter at home.

If you’re new to sourdough baking and feel hesitant, or you have questions, I’ve got something for you! I broke down the basics of what you need to know about sourdough baking in my free sourdough baking guide for beginners. I highly recommend grabbing a copy!

There’s something about graham crackers that says it’s summer to me. Maybe it’s because I think of using them to make s’mores.

Every time I bake this recipe, my husband says the house smells like the best part of a mall food court. He says the cinnamon wafts through the house and makes it hard not to eat them all!

I love how simple and easy my recipe is. I hope it replaces store-bought graham crackers for you like it has for us!

Why You Should Make This Sourdough Graham Crackers Recipe

• Quick & Easy: You can make this recipe in under 30 minutes from starting the dough to the graham crackers cooling after baking. It’s such a simple process!
• Better than Store Bought: The taste and texture are so much better than any you’ll buy at the grocery store.
• Healthier than Store Bought: Making these homemade cuts out all the nasty additives you’d get in a store-bought version.
• Perfect for Making Treats: You can crumble, crush, or smash these graham crackers to make pie crusts, cookie bars, ice cream sandwiches, and even cheesecake!
• No Refrigeration Needed: You don’t need to refrigerate the dough at all for my recipe unless you want to. I’ve included an optional cold ferment to this recipe in case you want added fermentation benefits.
• Perfect Size & Thickness: These graham crackers are perfectly sized like the ones you’d get from the grocery store. They’ve also got the same thickness.

Why Make Graham Crackers with Sourdough Discard

When you make graham crackers with sourdough, you get benefits from the starter’s cultures. If you long ferment the dough in the fridge for 12-24 hours before baking, those cultures ferment the other ingredients. This long fermentation is optional but adds even more fermentation benefits!

Molly’s Graham Cracker Baking Tips

• Use a salted stick butter and let it sit out on the counter for 1 hour before making this recipe. If you don’t want to wait for it to soften, just slightly warm it on the stovetop in a pan.
• Use your hands to finish combining the dough. It’s supposed to be crumbly.
• Don’t add any extra moisture to the dough.
• Roll the dough out between 2 parchment pieces. It makes rolling so quick and easy.
• Keep the dough on the bottom piece of parchment paper the entire time.

Ingredients You’ll Need (with notes)

• softened butter: I like to use salted stick butter
• raw honey: combines with the brown sugar to give them that iconic taste
• light brown sugar: gives the graham crackers a molasses taste
• pure vanilla extract: adds a delicious flavor
• sourdough discard: aka unfed starter
• ground cinnamon: helps create the graham cracker flavor
• baking soda: gives them the slightly puffed up and crisp texture
• salt: I like to use sea salt
• whole wheat flour: gives them the iconic graham cracker texture
• all-purpose flour: adds a little balance of texture with the wheat flour

Helpful Kitchen Tools for this Recipe

This section contains Amazon affiliate links to items I use and love for this recipe.

• sheet pan
• parchment paper
• pizza cutter

How to Make Sourdough Graham Crackers

Mix the Dough

In a medium sized mixing bowl add in softened butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and sourdough discard.

Use an electric mixer on low speed to mix everything together until creamy (about 1 minute).

Add in cinnamon, baking soda, salt, wheat flour, and all-purpose flour. 

Mix with electric mixer on low at first then increase speed until everything is combined and the dough is moist yet crumbly.

Use your hands to combine the dough into a ball. It’s going to be tacky. 

Optional Cold Ferment

Optional: You can place the dough in the fridge for up to 48 hours if you want more fermentation benefits or need more time before baking. Again this is optional, you don’t have to do this.

Shape Graham Crackers

To continue, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Shape dough in a log with your hands then lay it in the center of a large piece of parchment paper (about 12” long or as large as your baking sheet pan).

Place a second piece of parchment (the same size) over the top of the dough log.

Use your rolling pin to roll the dough out into a rectangle until 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch thick between the 2 pieces or parchment paper. Make sure they are rolled thin. (Put something heavy on the edges of the paper to make rolling easy).

Take the top piece of parchment off the rolled dough. 

Using a knife or pizza cutter, slice off a tiny bit of dough along the edges so you have straight lines (This is optional to make perfectly shaped crackers. You can also bake the unused extra dough separately.) 

Then slice the dough in half horizontally so you have 2 large rectangles. Then slice each rectangle, vertically, to make 4 smaller rectangles. You should have 8 all together.

Use a fork to poke holes in the rectangles of dough to get the iconic graham cracker look. Do whatever pattern you desire.

Bake Graham Crackers & Cool

Place the parchment paper with the sliced dough right on a large sheet pan.

Bake for 12-14 minutes until edges are golden brown. They will feel soft and underbaked when they come out of the oven. This is normal. They will harden up when they cool. 

Let cool completely on a wire rack then break apart and enjoy! 

Video Tutorial

Ways to Eat Sourdough Discard Graham Crackers

You can snack on sourdough graham crackers or use them to make a delicious treat! You could use them as a pie or tart crust, to make a cheesecake, in parfaits, for cookie bars, or even to make ice cream sandwiches.

How to Store

Store cooled down graham crackers in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

How to Freeze

The Dough: You can either freeze the dough by simply wrapping it in parchment paper, then placing it in a freezer-safe baggie or container. The frozen dough will last 1-2 months. To thaw, let it sit in the fridge overnight.

The Crackers: To freeze the baked graham crackers, make sure they’re cooled down then place them in a glass airtight container that’s freezer safe. They’ll last 3-6 months in the freezer.

FAQs

More Better Than Store Bought Sourdough Recipes To Try

If you’re looking for more better than store bought recipes, try a few of these:

• Sourdough Honey Buns (Inspired By Little Debbie)
• Sourdough Lofthouse Cookies (better than store-bought!)
• Sourdough Hot Dog Buns
• Soft Sourdough English Muffins (with nooks and crannies!)
• Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread
• Sourdough Bagels (soft, easy, small batch recipe)

If you made this recipe, give it a 5-star rating below and share a photo on your social media stories! Be sure to tag @plumbranchhome