First Guest Post: Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers

I would like to introduce you all to a long time friend of mine that remembers me so well in one word, as you will see! Good times! And she has the cutest kids!

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Hey everyone! I'd like to give a big thanks to my old friend Bethany for inviting me to do a guest post on her blog! We grew up together in the dainty little town of Gervais, Oregon. You might know her as a professional, a mom, and a grown woman, but to me she'll always be the sweet little high school girl who would yell 'Schnikes!' when things went awry. ;)

Now, on to business!

I had seen homemade graham crackers a few times on Pinterest, but I wanted to take it a step further by dipping them in chocolate! I searched around a bit for a recipe I thought I would like, and Smitten Kitchen never fails me, so I went with her recipe. You can use whatever chocolate you want to dip them in. Chocolate isn't any good to me unless it's at least 60% cacao, and that was the highest they had in chocolate chips, so that's what I went with. 

If you don't have a food processor you can use a Kitchen Aid or even just a hand mixer. I got this baby after serving for five years at Bentley's Grill...I quit a month later. 

You can't go wrong with something that has milk and honey in it!

Make sure you hire top sous chefs in your area to help!

Well on our way to deliciousness!

Bringing out the big guns

Almost there....

Yes! Complete success! I hope you enjoy making these as much as I did. I do have a couple of tips for you before you begin. First, when working with the dough, it gets very sticky VERY fast, so I would NOT recommend having a baby on your hip and a toddler tugging at your pants while your making these, not that I know or anything....Second, keep a very close eye on these while in the oven. Things can go south really fast once they are finished baking and I can tell you from experience, dark brown grahams are not tasty, however, if they are a little underdone, no worries! They are like a cookie. Mark said his favorite part was the different consistencies that there were, lol, wasn't my objective, but it all works out in the end I suppose.

Now go and show Starbucks and their wimpy little overpriced chocolate grahams who's boss and make these tonight!

Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 10 4 x 4.5-inch graham crackers or 48 2-inch squares

2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
1/3 cup honey
5 tablespoons milk, full-fat is best
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

Topping (optional)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 bag of chocolate chips, any kind

Make the dough: Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Pulse or mix on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off on and off, or mix on low, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal.

[Alternately, if you don't have a food processor or electric mixer, you can cut the ingredients together with a pastry blender. Just make sure they're very well incorporated.]

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla extract. Add to the flour mixture and pulse on and off a few times or mix on low until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and pat it into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Wrap it, then chill it until firm, about 2 hours or overnight. Meanwhile, prepare the topping, if using, by combining the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and setting aside.

Roll out the grahams: Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be sticky, so flour as necessary. Trim the edges of the rectangle to 4 inches wide. Working with the shorter side of the rectangle parallel to the work surface, cut the strip every 4 1/2 inches to make 4 crackers. I used a pizza cutter.

Place the crackers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. Repeat with the second batch of dough. Finally, gather any scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and re-roll.

Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Decorate the crackers: Mark a vertical line down the middle of each cracker, being careful not to cut through the dough (this is for the traditional cracker shape). Using a toothpick or skewer (I like to use the blunt end of a wooden skewer for more dramatic dots), prick the dough to form two dotted rows about 1/2 inch for each side of the dividing line.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. 

Melt the chocolate: In a small sauce pan, melt chocolate chips on low until almost melted, then remove from heat. Take cooled grahams and, tipping the sauce pan towards you, dip half of the graham in the chocolate, letting the excess drip back into the pan. Set on parchment paper and let cool for a few hours or overnight to ensure chocolate hardens.

Kailee Adams is a bartender turned stay at home mom working on starting her own at home bakery. You can visit her blog by clicking here. She is also on Facebook and Twitter.

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Thank you Kailee, for ruining my diet with pictures! :) Thank you for the Guest Post and hopefully everyone likes it enough for you to come back! (hint hint). I am thinking we should meet for a play/eating baked goodies date the next time I am back home... Just a thought!

Happy Grahams Y'all!

Bethany