I love graham crackers. Are they a cracker? A cookie? Who knows, or cares. They are just so good that it doesn’t matter. And believe it or not, the original graham crackers were whole grain! Some still are, you just have to push aside the big names like Nabisco and Keebler to find the winners like Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Grahams.
Graham flour was named after Sylvester Graham, who was adamantly opposed to refined white flour. He wasn’t a nutritionist, he was a pastor. But regardless, he knew what was up. He actually believed that bran was the panacea for all bad eating habits. So, he created a unique whole grain flour, with the bran included.
Graham flour is always whole grain; also known as whole wheat pastry flour, it is a little different than regular whole wheat flour. Instead of grinding the whole kernel together, all the components of the grain are ground separately, and then recombined at the end. This creates a courser flour, that bakes exceptionally well (think: pie-crusts, breads, and true graham crackers).
To make sure your grahams crackers fall into the old school health-food category, check the ingredient list. If the flour is graham or whole wheat- they are legit graham crackers. If not, well then your crackers are a very tasty farce.
Graham crackers by any other name…
