Sourcing: The graham cracker.

[Lindacakes]

Can anyone recommend a truly good graham cracker?  I grew up on Honey Maid, but I don't think they taste the same any more.  I thought Trader Joe's graham crackers were the best.  They disappeared, and reappeared as graham squares.  Not good at all.  I was in Whole Foods looking for 365, couldn't find them, and bought Annie's.  I don't like those either.  I suppose the old-fashioned taste of a graham cracker is gone, but I hold out hope that someone is making them without the taste of cardboard and chemicals.  Summer is almost over, and I have to have a key lime pie before that happens, and I"m desperate.  

 

I know someone is going to say make your own.  I would then ask, where would you source the graham flour?

 

Thank you . . . 

[ElsieD]

Bob's Red Mill sells graham flour.

[pastrygirl]

If you want to make your own, look for coarse ground whole wheat flour.  Bob's Red Mill should have something.

 

I used to use Nabisco graham cracker crumbs  (in 5 lb bags of fine crumbs for foodservice) but they were out of stock for months earlier this year.  In looking for alternatives, I found so many graham crackers with cinnamon added, yuck!  So I feel your frustration a bit.  Graham crackers, victim of the pandemic? 

 

If stuck with mediocre GCs, you could try lightly toasting the crumbs to counteract staleness, or brown your butter and add a drop of vanilla to boost flavor in your crust.

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by pastrygirl (log)

[Lindacakes]

Browned butter, excellent concept.

 

[Katie Meadow]

1 hour ago, Lindacakes said:

Can anyone recommend a truly good graham cracker?  I grew up on Honey Maid, but I don't think they taste the same any more.  I thought Trader Joe's graham crackers were the best.  They disappeared, and reappeared as graham squares.  Not good at all.  I was in Whole Foods looking for 365, couldn't find them, and bought Annie's.  I don't like those either.  I suppose the old-fashioned taste of a graham cracker is gone, but I hold out hope that someone is making them without the taste of cardboard and chemicals.  Summer is almost over, and I have to have a key lime pie before that happens, and I"m desperate.  

 

I know someone is going to say make your own.  I would then ask, where would you source the graham flour?

 

Thank you . . . 

My experience is like yours. Either Honey Maid has gone downhill or my taste buds are too fussy. They are bland and too sweet to my taste these days. Always surprised that no graham cracker alternatives exist. You would think the time has come for those of us who seek nostalgic foods. Just think what good s'mores could be made with better graham crackers and decent bittersweet chocolate

 

I have made Alton Brown's recipe and they were good, but a lot of work for a few graham crackers. And I agree, Bob's graham flour is very nice.. 

[TdeV]

I have been using ginger cookies in place of graham crackers. But the old standby ginger cookies have gone downhill too. Rats!

[heidih]

5 minutes ago, TdeV said:

I have been using ginger cookies in place of graham crackers. But the old standby ginger cookies have gone downhill too. Rats!

I am passionate lover of Nyakers gingersnaps. Big tin but they stay crisp a LONG time and gotta love the tin.. As to graham crackers - I have givn up. Not crispy out of box first go, limpid flavor. To the key lime afficianado - have you considered the premade crusts?   https://www.worldmarket.com/product/nyakers-gingersnap-tin.dov

[blue_dolphin]

39 minutes ago, heidih said:

As to graham crackers - I have givn up. Not crispy out of box first go,

Same.  Graham crackers used to be both flavorful and delightfully crisp.  I wonder if they're intentionally making them softer to minimize breakage.  No flavor and they seem stale right from a new box. 

[JeanneCake]

I used to make the graham cracker dough from one of Maida Heatter's books and use that to line the pie plate; she does exactly this for one of her pies in another book.  You can also use the recipe on the King arthur site (i dont use the cinnamon and my motto is you cant possibly use too much sugar for sprinkling on them.) Enjoy!

[Katie Meadow]

20 hours ago, heidih said:

I am passionate lover of Nyakers gingersnaps. Big tin but they stay crisp a LONG time and gotta love the tin.. As to graham crackers - I have givn up. Not crispy out of box first go, limpid flavor. To the key lime afficianado - have you considered the premade crusts?   https://www.worldmarket.com/product/nyakers-gingersnap-tin.dov

I too am a big fan of the Nyakers tin. I have tried smaller packs of the same and they don't stay as crisp as the big tin ones. I look the other way and pretend that there isn't a enormous quantity of what the ingredients lists as "vegetable margarine." But let's face it, you couldn't make such an affordable cookie using real butter. But they aren't graham crackers. 

[heidih]

oh not even close but rather than cruddy grahams, was responding to them as an option as someone had posted.  Good to know about the smaller packs not being up to snuff. I have a birthday coming up - may treat myself. 

[haresfur]

On 8/31/2022 at 3:05 AM, pastrygirl said:

If you want to make your own, look for coarse ground whole wheat flour.  Bob's Red Mill should have something.

 

I used to use Nabisco graham cracker crumbs  (in 5 lb bags of fine crumbs for foodservice)

 

I was confused by this at first because it sounded like you were using graham cracker crumbs to make graham crackers and I wondered if you had discovered some sort of graham perpetual motion.

 

Did some googling and found that people recommend Arnott's Granita buisquits as a substitute for graham crackers in Australia but I'm not sure how well they would work out for S'mores.

[CookBot]

Please don't throw things at me, but have you considering dispensing with the graham crackers (or cookies) altogether and going for a salty/savory crust?

 

In the Carolinas there's a version of lime (or lemon) pie that has a filling basically identical to Key Lime, but the crust is made with crushed saltine crackers.  It originated at a legendary restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  I find I much prefer the salty contrast of the crackers against the sweet/tart filling.  Some people use pretzels for the crust, too, but I tried that and found the saltines preferable.  (I also prefer a meringue topping to the standard whipped cream.)

 

From Food52 -- Atlantic Beach Pie:

https://food52.com/recipes/29939-bill-smith-s-atlantic-beach-pie

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by CookBot (log)

[kayb]

And a damn fine pie it is.

[Lindacakes]

Thank you, all.  Very interesting comments.  It's always refreshing to know that you are not nuts, it's the crackers that got small.

 

I could not find the Maida Heatter recipe in Eat Your Books, I'll look (I have them all).

 

I had thought of making a graham cracker dough and making cookies and crumbling them, but I don't really want to do that.  Key lime pie is so easy, why complicate it?  

 

I do things like vacation in Florida for a week, travel from Miami to Key West, eat key lime pie as much as possible, and form opinions about key lime pie.  Therefore, I am a proud member of the graham cracker crust and whipped cream regiment.  Seventh battalion.  The best slice was found in a diner in Marathon, by the way.  Astounding result.

 

I did find these interesting ideas:  Teddy Grahams.  I like them.  No one wants to mass murder all those cute little bears, but I will try it.  I like Italian packaged cookies, and something called Lazzaroni Pain Croute Integrale came up.  I will look for those.  Ditto Arnott's Marie Biscuits.

 

I took the Trader Joe's back.  So sad.  They used to be the absolute best.  

[Anna N]

31 minutes ago, Lindacakes said:

Therefore, I am a proud member of the graham cracker crust and whipped cream regiment.  Seventh battalion.

I salute you.  Has to be that graham cracker crust and must be whipped cream. I won’t deny others their varieties but count me out. 

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Lindacakes said:

I could not find the Maida Heatter recipe in Eat Your Books, I'll look (I have them all).

Could any of these be right?

[Katie Meadow]

On 9/4/2022 at 12:37 PM, CookBot said:

Please don't throw things at me, but have you considering dispensing with the graham crackers (or cookies) altogether and going for a salty/savory crust?

 

In the Carolinas there's a version of lime (or lemon) pie that has a filling basically identical to Key Lime, but the crust is made with crushed saltine crackers.  It originated at a legendary restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  I find I much prefer the salty contrast of the crackers against the sweet/tart filling.  Some people use pretzels for the crust, too, but I tried that and found the saltines preferable.  (I also prefer a meringue topping to the standard whipped cream.)

 

From Food52 -- Atlantic Beach Pie:

https://food52.com/recipes/29939-bill-smith-s-atlantic-beach-pie

 

I've made Atlantic Beach Pie a bunch of times. I liked it with the saltine crust but my husband did not. I found a recipe that used a lemon biscotti to make the crust and that pleased us both. I imagine you could use any number of biscotti flavors, but I think a softer biscotti may work better than a very hard crunchy one.