Graham Crackers

While graham crackers aren’t officially a cookie, let alone a decorative Christmas cookie, being able to make them gluten-free is a gift for the year to someone who must avoid wheat flour. These crackers can be layered with chocolate and marshmallow for S’mores or ground into crumbs for a key lime pie or cheesecake, Layered Chip and Coconut Bars, or Dried Fruit Coconut Balls.

Yield: 16 to 20, depending on size

Active time: 20 minutes

Start to finish: 1³/₄ hours

1¹/₂ cups brown rice flour

¹/₂ cup cornstarch

¹/₃ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

³/₄ teaspoon xanthan gum

¹/₂ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¹/₂ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons (³/₄ stick) unsalted butter, sliced

5 tablespoons whole milk

¹/₄ cup honey

¹/₂ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Sweet rice flour

1. Combine rice flour, cornstarch, brown sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Blend for 5 seconds. Add butter to the work bowl, and process, using on-and-off pulsing, until mixture resembles coarse meal.

2. Combine milk, honey, and vanilla in a small cup, and whisk well. Drizzle liquid into the work bowl, and pulse about 10 times, or until stiff dough forms. If dough is dry and doesn’t come together, add additional milk by 1-teaspoon amounts, until dough forms a ball.

3. Divide dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Press dough into a pancake. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour or until firm, or up to 2 days.

4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.

5. Lightly dust a sheet of waxed paper and a rolling pin with sweet rice flour. Roll each half of dough into a rectangle ¹/₄-inch thick. Transfer dough to the prepared baking sheets, and cut each half into 8 to 10 rectangles with a pizza wheel. Prick dough all over with the tines of a fork.

6. Bake cookies for 15 to 17, or until browned. Allow cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheets placed on a wire cooling rack.

Variations

Substitute ground ginger for the ground cinnamon.

Sprinkle cookies with a mixture of ¹/₃ cup granulated sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon before baking.

When measuring sticky ingredients such as honey or molasses, first spray the measuring cup with vegetable oil spray. The sticky ingredient will slide right out of the cup.