Vegan Graham Crackers
These homemade Vegan Graham Crackers have that familiar crisp texture and lightly sweet cinnamon flavor I want from a graham cracker, without any dairy. I originally started making graham crackers when I worked at a bakery, so making a vegan version at home felt like a natural next step.
The dough itself is simple to put together. The one thing I don’t rush is the chilling time. Giving it an hour in the refrigerator lets the flour hydrate and makes the dough much easier to roll without adding more water than it needs.
Why You’ll Love These Vegan Graham Crackers
I like this recipe because the crackers are simple enough for everyday baking but also really useful to have around.
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- They’re crisp, lightly sweet, and flavored with cinnamon.
- The dough can be prepared a day ahead.
- You don’t need any unusual ingredients.
- They work well for snacking or crushing into a homemade graham cracker crust.
- The dough can be mixed by hand or made quickly in a food processor.
Key Ingredients
You’ll find the complete ingredient amounts in the recipe card below, but these are a few ingredients worth paying attention to.
Vegan butter: I use it cold. Even straight from the refrigerator, vegan butter tends to be softer than regular butter, so it incorporates easily into the flour. Keeping it cold helps give the crackers their crisp texture.
Brown sugar: Brown sugar adds sweetness but also gives the crackers a little more depth than granulated sugar alone would.
Maple syrup: This adds sweetness and moisture to the dough without using honey. If you aren’t making the crackers strictly vegan, honey can also be used.
Cinnamon: You don’t need much, but it gives the crackers that familiar graham cracker flavor.
Water: Add only what the dough needs. This dough can look slightly dry before it rests, and adding too much water early makes it harder to roll later.
How to Make Vegan Graham Crackers
The full recipe and ingredient amounts are in the recipe card below. Here’s how I make the dough and what I pay attention to along the way.
This recipe is super easy, the perfect snack, and can come together in just a few minutes. Plus it has the same graham cracker flavor you’re looking for!
Mix the Dry Ingredients
Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.
I like to mix the dry ingredients thoroughly before adding anything else so the leavening and cinnamon are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Cut in the Vegan Butter
Add the cold vegan butter to the dry ingredients.
Use a fork or pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. You can also do this in a food processor with just a few pulses.
I’m not trying to completely blend the butter into the flour here. I just want it evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
Add the Maple Syrup and Water
Pour in the maple syrup and water, then stir with a spatula until the dough starts to come together. If you’re using a food processor, pulse only a few times after adding the liquids.
Pinch a little of the dough between your fingers. If it holds together, it has enough moisture.
If it still feels very dry and crumbles immediately, add another teaspoon of water. Add it slowly because the dough will continue to hydrate while it rests in the refrigerator.
Bring the Dough Together
Turn the dough out onto the counter and gently press it together with your hands.
At first it may look a little rough. That’s fine.
Cut the Dough
Cut the dough in half with a bench scraper or spatula. Place one half over the other and gently press them together.
Cut it in half again, stack, and press.
Repeat the Pat-and-Fold
Repeat this pat-and-fold process a few times until the dough becomes smoother and holds together.
I prefer doing this instead of kneading the dough heavily. It brings everything together without working the flour more than necessary.
Chill the Dough
Wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate it for 1 hour.
You can also make the dough ahead and leave it refrigerated for up to 1 day before rolling and baking.
This resting time matters more than it may seem. It gives the flour time to fully absorb the moisture and helps the dough become much easier to handle.
Cut and Roll
Once the dough has chilled, divide it into four pieces.
Work with one piece at a time and keep the remaining dough covered while you roll.
Roll the dough to approximately 1/4-inch thick.
Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to trim the edges into a rectangle, then cut the rectangle into smaller crackers.
There’s no need to separate each cracker before baking. I leave them together on the baking sheet and separate them after baking.
Use a fork to poke holes across the crackers. This helps prevent them from puffing too much in the oven and also gives them the classic graham cracker look.
Cut the Crackers
Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to trim the edges into a rectangle, then cut the rectangle into smaller crackers.
There’s no need to separate each cracker before baking. I leave them together on the baking sheet and separate them after baking.
Poke Holes on the Dough
Use a fork to poke holes across the crackers. This helps prevent them from puffing too much in the oven and also gives them the classic graham cracker look.
Bake the Graham Crackers
Bake the crackers for about 10 minutes, rotating the pan as needed so they bake evenly.
Keep an eye on them near the end of the baking time. Thinner crackers and the ones around the edges may brown faster.
Let the crackers cool before breaking or cutting them apart. They will become crisper as they cool.
Check out this stack of crackers! What more could you ask for? Oh yeah! A huge tall glass of Almond Milk, of course! Or any milk of your choice!
Expert Tips
This is a forgiving dough, but moisture and thickness make the biggest difference in the finished crackers.
- Start with cold vegan butter. Vegan butter softens quickly, so there’s no need to bring it to room temperature before mixing.
- Don’t add too much water. The dough can look drier than expected at first. Add extra water only 1 teaspoon at a time.
- A spray bottle works surprisingly well. If parts of the dough feel dry, lightly misting it with water distributes the moisture more evenly than pouring more water into one spot.
- Use the pat-and-fold method instead of heavy kneading. Cut the dough, stack the halves, press them together, and repeat until it becomes cohesive.
- Roll evenly. Crackers that are much thinner around the edges will brown before the center pieces are done.
- Don’t skip the refrigerator rest. This gives the flour time to hydrate and makes a noticeable difference when you roll the dough.
Variations and Ingredient Swaps
There are a few simple ways you can adjust these depending on what you have.
Whole wheat flour: At the bakery where I worked, we made graham crackers using a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat flour. You can replace part of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour for a slightly heartier cracker.
Gluten-free: A gluten-free flour blend can be used instead of regular flour. Different blends absorb moisture differently, so you may need a small adjustment to the water.
Honey: If the crackers do not need to be vegan, honey can be used in place of maple syrup.
More cinnamon: If you prefer a stronger cinnamon flavor, you can increase it slightly or sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the dough before baking.
How to Store and Make Ahead
Once completely cool, store the graham crackers in an airtight container at room temperature.
Keeping moisture away from them is important because that’s what helps them stay crisp.
The dough itself can also be made up to one day ahead. Keep it tightly wrapped in the refrigerator and roll it out when you’re ready to bake.
Frequently Asked Questions
This dough can look crumbly before it has been fully brought together.
Try pinching some between your fingers. If it holds together, I would continue with the pat-and-fold method before adding more water.
If it truly won’t hold together, add water just 1 teaspoon at a time. You can also lightly mist the dough with a spray bottle.
First, let them cool completely. The crackers continue to crisp as they cool.Thickness also matters. If the dough is rolled too thick, the centers will stay softer. Try to keep the dough around 1/4-inch thick and as even as possible.
Yes. Wrap the dough well and keep it in the refrigerator for up to one day before rolling and baking.
Yes. This is actually one of my favorite ways to use them. Once they are completely cool, crush the crackers into crumbs and use them just as you would store-bought graham cracker crumbs for cheesecake or pie crusts.
More Vegan Recipes to Try
If you’re doing some vegan baking, you might also like my Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies, Vegan Cinnamon Babka, or Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Donuts. And if you want something a little more involved, my Vegan Brownie Chocolate Chip Cheesecake is another fun one to make. You can also check out my vegan desserts here.
I especially love keeping a batch of these crackers around because they can go in two completely different directions: eat them straight from the container with a glass of milk, or crush them and turn them into a graham cracker crust.
If you make these Vegan Graham Crackers, let me know how they turn out! Leave a comment and rating below, or tag me on Instagram so I can see what you made.
I hope you liked today’s recipe for these magical and delicious Vegan Graham Crackers! And I know they will be a favorite for you, just as they were for us at home! Check out the video to see how we made them! Have a fabulous day!
Printable Recipe
Vegan Graham Crackers
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups flour*
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1/2 cup organic brown sugar
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 3 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Place flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar in a large bowl.
- Add vegan butter.
- Use a fork or a pastry cutter to mix butter into dry ingredients. Mix until the butter is completely incorporated, and small crumbs are formed.
- Add water, and maple syrup.
- Mix until incorporated.
- Transfer mixture to the counter. Using a spatula, cut mixture in half and place one half on top of the other. Keep doing this process until you obtain a smooth dough.
- This is called “pat and fold” method, and ensures that your dough won’t be overworked, which could cause the final product to be tough, instead of light and crispy.
- If you feel like the dough is too dry, add a bit more water, about 1 teaspoon at a time.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
- Remove dough from the fridge.
- Divide into 4 parts.
- Roll each piece at a time.
- Use a bit of flour, as necessary.
- Roll dough until it’s 1/4 inch thick.
- Cut edges to form a rectangle. You gather all the trimmings and re-roll them, to make more crackers.
- Cut into squares, poke the top with a fork.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 5-10 minutes, until crackers are slightly brown on top and around the edges.
Storage
- Store in an air-tight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
- You can use gluten-free flour, or a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat. I’ve used just all-purpose in this case, but I used to make graham crackers at a bakery I worked at and we used a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose.
I made this recipe as directed. The all purpose flour made them way too pale imo. Next time I’ll use at least part whole wheat flour for color. They also rise quite a bit when baking so I’d recommend rolling them out much thinner than you think you should. I did 1/4 inch and they doubled in size after baking. They still tasted good but more of a cookie than a cracker.
Can I make mini gram crackers or small gram cookies
sure thing
So excited to try these! We are going camping this weekend and NEED s’mores! Whole Foods didn’t have vegan graham crackers, so your recipe is going to make our cruelty free s’mores dreams come true.
Awesome to hear!
Absolutely AMAZING! Tasted just like a regular graham cracker! I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free baking flour and subbed in an equal amount of coconut oil for the vegan butter. Came out fantastic. So easy and perfect for vegan s’mores!! Thank you for this recipe!
I made a small batch of these because it’s so hard to find any vegan graham crackers! It was so easy and I keep it on hand now for whenever I need some, thank you so much for such a great recipe!
that’s great to hear!! Thank you!
Can you use Coconut Oil instead of Vegan Butter? Thank you very much!!
i’d definitely try it. I think it will work.
Hi, What type of flour should I use. I know graham crackers are traditionally made with graham foul but can not see were it says what type of flour. Thanks you, I love your blog. It has really helped me nail macaroons.
I’m so sorry about that. I had a note that was supposed to say that I typically use all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour or a combination of both. I’ve also had people report success with using gluten-free flour 1 to 1. And I am so happy the blog has helped you with macarons 🙂 thank you!!!
I make vegan and gluten free milk chocolate and was thinking of crumbling up these crackers and adding them. Once incased in chocolate, will the eat within 5 days still apply?
yes I am sure it will be fine!
Thanks! Though I should have phrased it differently. Once incased in chocolate, how long do you think the graham crackers would stay for? I would think longer because of the relatively low moisture content and being mostly sealed off from air.
What temp is the oven supposed to be at?
Hi Mandy, it should be 350 fahrenheit.
Thank you so much! I just don’t want to chance burning it! 🙂
hope it goes well!!
Could I use shortening instead of butter? My kiddos both have different food allergies, and no vegan butter is safe for both of them.
I believe that would work as well!
I think instruction 11 is supposed to say “remove dough from the fridge”, right?
Ha! Yes!! thank you so much, fixed it! 🙂
Perfeitas pro café da tarde, ficaram muito maravilhosas!!!!!!!