Typical Graham Crackers are made with graham flour, which is a coarse whole wheat flour. I actually prefer the taste and texture of my veganized graham crackers when made with home toasted whole wheat pastry flour. These cookies have been unanimously praised by the students in my Essential Vegan Desserts course at Rouxbe, who say they are easy to make, delicious and versatile. Actually, it’s been quite interesting to read the notes from the students outside the U.S. who’ve never seen or tasted grahams, but get hooked on them.
These simple cookies are showing up in s’mores, chocolate dipped treats, and ice cream sandwiches, too. Made with 100% whole wheat flour, they are healthy, but definitely not gluten-free. Well, one of the students in the inagural Essental Vegan Desserts course who avoids gluten, made the grahams successfully using oat flour. (Oat flour, when made from certifed gluten-free oats is gluten-free, of course.) When she asked me about toasting the flour, I said that I wouldn’t, since toasted wheat and toasted oats are miles apart. I was pleased when Erika reported that the oat graham crackers were successful, and I was curious too so I decided to make some myself. These are not too different from the poular Oat Sesame Cookies in my cookbook More Great Good Dairy Free Desserts Naturally or from the tart shells I sometimes make using all oat flour.
Now, here’s the thing that’s open to discussion for me:
I believe, aquafaba meringue is meringue since it looks and tastes like egg meringue. Ditto vegan marshmallows. But in my humble opinion, bean flour pastas, for example, while they can be good, are not the really pastas, nor is spiralized zucchini.
I made these crackers three times, and ate more than was necessary for taste testing each time because they were so good, I wondered if, aside from the shape, are these are oat crackers really graham crackers? Or are they not? Still, as we eat with our eyes first, I wonder if these graham cracker look-a-likes do set up the expectation and connection that says, “I am eating graham crackers.” Your opinions are sure welcome!
As to the name, what works best: Oat Flour Graham Crackers, or Gluten Free Graham Crackers, or Vegan Graham Crackers? Well, no matter what, I do recommend you make these cookies – or graham crackers. They are really good and they can be used just like wheat based grahams!
Vegan Cinnamon Oat Graham Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup oat flour, store bought or home ground, toasted**
- 6 tablespoon powdered whole cane sugar, finely grind whole cane sugar in a blender or nut grinder, then measure
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup any neutral oil
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, Grade A dark or dark amber
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons water, r more as needed to adjust dough o
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- ** Toast the oat flour: Spread the oat flour in an even layer on the parchment lined sheet pan, and toast for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and cool the floor to room temperature. You can toast larger quantitues of oat flour, cool and store in the freezer in airtight containers until needed.
Whisk, measure and sift the oat flour, whole cane sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together into a medium mixing bowl.
- Place the oil in a small mixing bowl. Add the maple syrup and vanilla and whisk until emulsified.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix with a silicone spatula until the mixture holds together when pressed. If the dough is too dry to roll, add a small amount of water, a little at a at a time, until the dough is pliable enough to form into a ball. The dough should be glossy but not wet. Wait about 10 minutes for the flour to fully absorb the liquid and then if it is still too wet,add a bit more oat flour.
- Place the dough into the center of a large piece of parchment. Using the palm of your hand, pat and press the dough into a rough rectangle. The shape does not need to be perfect.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap or another sheet of parchment, and, using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle about 14- x 10-inches and 1/4- inch thick. For the crackers to bake evenly, it is more important that the dough is rolled out to an even thickness rather then the shape being a perfect rectangle.
- Remove the top sheet of wrap or paper, and trim the edges of the dough with a sharp knife to make a neat rectangle. Cut the dough into 2-inch square pieces by making even vertical and then horizontal cuts across the dough. Using a fork or skewer, poke rows of tiny holes over the top of the dough so that your crackers resemble commercially-made graham crackers.
- Gather the scraps of dough together, press into a ball and then roll, trim, and prick as above.
- Transfer the dough, still on the parchment, to the baking sheet. ( You can do this multiple times.)
- Again, cut through the square cuts in the dough to insure that the crackers can easily be broken apart once baked.
- Bake the crackers into the preheated oven for 8 to 11 minutes, or until the tops are uniformly dry and the bottoms are lightly browned. Turn a cracker or two over to check.
- Remove the crackers from the oven and set the baking sheet on a wire rack to cool to room temperature. The crackers will be soft when they are hot, but will crisp as they cool. When cool, cut or break the crackers into squares. Store, airtight, at room temperature for up to 3 days. Freeze in airtight container for up to 1 month.
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Hello,
In the post you mentioned whole wheat pasty flour. If I wanted to use that instead of the oat flour, would the measurement be the same?
Thank you in advance. I’ll definitely try making those!
This recipe specifically uses oat flour. (Oat Graham). Just follow the recipe and you’ll have tasty cookies
Hello, thank you for sharing this amazing recipe. I made it with coconut sugar and extra virgin olive oil and the crackers are delicious.
Thank you for updating us on your version of the grahams. I am so happy you liked them and took the time to let us know!!
hi. is it ok to avoid maple syrup?
Hi there,
I am not sure why you are asking. Of course, you can choose to avoid maple syrup. In the recipe though, you do need a sweetener and it has to be maple syrup in this one, although, with such a small amount, you could try agave or coconut nectar. I’d cut the recipe in half and do a test. Let me know how it goes.
I just made these and they are great but I think I ‘LLC try less sweet next batch.
Thanks for sharing this recipe
Let us know how the revision works.
I made these twice. Although they were delicious I thought the first batch was too sweet. So the second time I left out the powdered cane sugar. Good but the salt came through too strongly so next time I’ll decrease the salt. Any pointers on getting them harder like the store graham crackers? I probably could have left them in a bit longer but think they would still be more crumbly than store ones.
Thanks
Hi Janie
Try baking the oat Graham’s longer. Know however the oat Graham’s are softer than the wheat graham cracker recipe in Vegan Chocolate.
Your ingredient list and instructions list don’t line up. In the ingredient list you said “1/2 tsp of baking SODA”. In the instruction list “baking POWDER”. Which is it? Soda or powder? Makes a big difference, don’t you think?
You bet it makes a big difference. Thank you for pointing this out. I’m going to correct the recipe asap. BAKING SODA is correct.
Fran
These were so good! They made the best gourmet vegan s’mores!
Emily.
This makes me sooooo happy! Thank you for letting me k now you made gourmet S’Mores!
Do you have any photos to share?
Take care!
Warmest wishes,
Fran
We found the taste delicious! They are pretty sweet (sweeter than I remember store bought graham crackers being and sweet like a sweet cookie, in my opinion). Not all of mine were quite strong enough to work as S’mores graham crackers the first time, when following all instructions, so I’m going to try to bake them a little longer today to see if I can get them a little more firm without burning. They go great with Dandies vegan marshmallows and Green & Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate bars, for S’mores. Thank you for the great recipe!
Hi Jessica,
Definitely roll them thicker and bake them longer, reducing the temp as needed towards the end. Your plans for them is spot on.
Happy, healthy 2021
Fran
Could I replace the regular powdered sugar with coconut sugar? And if I can will the measurements change?
hi Chloe,
Lots of people use coconut sugar, so go for it. I have not made the grahams using coconut sugar to date so I can’t give you a definitive answer but the while the flavor profile will change, it will be nice. You may need to add a bit more liquid to bind the douign. No difference in measurement is necessary. That said, I’d use metric, not volumic measuring. In other words, weigh the cane sugar, and replace with the same amount of coconut sugar, if possible.
Let us know how it goes.
Happy baking.
Fran
These gluten free oat graham crackers ARE in my opinion true graham crackers by my taste buds. They are actually better than any store bought ones I have ever tried. And I have a long history with graham crackers. This is a perfect recipe. I used Miyoko’s creamery butter because I wanted that buttery flavor and I know at room temperature, it melts so I could use it as my “oil”. Fran, this recipe is out of this world good and I am grateful you have paved the way for me on my gluten free journey! You have given me confidence and many delicious treats. Thank you.
Hi Terrilynn,
Thank you!!! I am beyond excited and happy to know you love these gluten-free graham crackers. What a good idea to substitute vegan butter, melted. I am going to try that sometime.
You have been so open to learning. I loved working with you in Essential Vegan Desserts and glad you are continuing on your journey.
Take care.
All the best.
Fran
only used maple syrup, no sugar.. SPECTACULAR! love them!
Hi Gena,
I am so excited to know that you made the grahams without the sugar and you liked them. SPECTACULAR is a great comment. I’m going to try the same.
Thanks so much for letting us know.
Take care,
Fran
thanks for this recipe . but could you tell me 1cup of oat flour in gram
and 1/4 oil in ml thanks again .
I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting Nesma.
! cup oat flour is 120m grams and 1/4 cup of oil is 60ml. There are converters online, but the best thing to do, what I teach my students is to get a good quality set of measures, both liquid and dry, and use an electronic scale, like this one – or similar to weight ingredients. Keep a notebook. Scale. https://amzn.to/3DnqpyJ
Happy baking!
Fran
I have to say your Vegan Cinnamon Oat Graham Crackers are by far THE BEST Graham Crackers I have ever tasted! Whenever I make them people rave about them and usually can’t stop eating them. THEY ARE THE BEST! Absolutely no complaints here! But I do have a suggestion/question, would it be possible to have the nutritional info in your recipes? It really helps when I give these recipes to my weight loss group. I look forward to making more of your gluten free recipes for sure!
Roberta,
I am thrilled to know how much you LOVE the grahams. I made the decision not to do nutritional information on desserts but you can plug te recipe(s) into any numner of programs.
Take care and happy New Year.
Fran