Honey Graham Crackers
Adapted from Karen DeMasco’s The Craft of Baking

Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/2 whole-wheat flour
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, at room temperature
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup honey

Preparation:

1. Sift together, in a medium bowl, the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add salt to already sifted ingredients. (The reason for that is that salt, Empire Kosher, which is what DeMasco here uses throughout the book, gets stuck at the bottom of the sifter, leaving you with a salt-less dry ingredients mix.)

2. Combine the butter, both sugars and honey in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the ingredients on medium speed until they are well-combined, about 1 minute before adding dry ingredients, in 2 additions, letting the first addition be fully incorporated before adding the second.

3. Over a piece of plastic wrap, dump the dough out of the mixing bowl and spread it out. Cover with another piece of plastic wrap and shape the dough into rectangular shape. Lift the top piece of wrap off, use the bottom piece to cover your dough, the top piece to cover again and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes or up to 2 days. (You can also freeze the dough, well wrapped, for up to 1 month.)

4. Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

5. Unwrap the chilled dough, and on a lightly floured surface, roll it out into a thinner rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Using a ruler, and a pastry cutter, a sharp knife or a fluted pastry wheel, cut the dough into 1 1/2 x 3-inch rectangles. Use a spatula to gently transfer the cookie rectangles to the baking sheets as you go about cutting. Re-roll the scraps of dough once, and shape more cookies (I rerolled many a time, and it worked out fine!). Piece each rectangle with 2 rows of 4-6 marks, using a fork.

6. With the baking rack positioned in the middle, bake the crackers for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown, rotating the baking sheets half way for even baking. Let the crackers cool on a wire rack.

The graham crackers will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. If using frozen dough, allow to come to “workable” temperature” by placing in the refrigerator overnight.