Shauna’s Graham Crackers with Homemade Nutella

I haven’t had a graham cracker in about 8 years. I really didn’t realize I was missing them until we were camping in Minnesota with friends last summer and s’mores became a daily ritual. I’d brought along some gluten-free “graham” crackers, but they were pretty horrible and the chocolate and marshmallow served to mask the dirt-like flavor of the crackers.

When Shauna posted on Twitter that she was working on a gluten-free graham cracker recipe, I knew my graham-less days were over. Shauna’s recipes are always amazing, and this one is no different. Not only do these have the honey and cinnamon flavor of the grahams of yore, they are better than anything you can buy in the store!  The texture of these is divine – somewhere between mom’s pie crust and a light shortbread, with just a touch of sweetness from the honey. The dough comes together very easily in the food processor in just a couple of minutes. I am definitely not a gluten-free baking expert, so if I can do it – so can you.

As the crackers were baking, Mark mentioned that he wanted s’mores. We didn’t have marshmallows in the pantry and I didn’t want to change out of my jammies and leave the house, so we compromised and I whipped up some homemade nutella. Slathering a homemade graham with freshly made nutella makes for a very adult graham treat. And if you forget about making lunch as you’re snacking on chocolate smothered grahams, you won’t be the only one…

Go to Shauna’s Gluten-Free Graham Recipe

Makes about 24 crackers (plus a few scraps to nibble on)
160 cal/2 crackers, 70 cal from fat, 8g fat, 20mg cholesterol, 80mg sodium, 10mg potassium, 22g carbs, 1.6g protein

Homemade Nutella
Makes about 2 cups
87 cal per tablespoon

1 1/2 cups raw hazelnuts
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup good quality dutched cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup walnut oil (or other neutral flavored oil)

1. Preheat the oven to 325. Place the hazelnuts in a baking pan and toast for 15 minutes. When they’re nice and toasty, remove them from the oven, and pour them into a metal colander and place the colander in the sink (very important unless you want hazelnut skins everywhere).
2. Let the nuts cool for a couple minutes, then fold up a tea towel and put it on top of the nuts. Then, use the tea towel as a heat barrier between your hand and the hazelnuts, and swirl them around the colander against the sides. The skins of the nuts should start to slip off in bits and pieces. After 2-3 minutes, most of the skins should be gone…if you don’t get all of them off, that’s fine too.
3. Pour the hazelnuts into the food processor and let it run for 5 minutes – seriously. It takes quite awhile to turn the nuts into a smooth butter, and you think it’s not going to happen and then – boom – you’ve got butter. You may need to scrape the bowl down midway through processing.
4. Once you’ve got a nut butter consistency, add the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and run for another minute to incorporate. Then, while the machine is running, slowly stream in the oil until you have a spreadable consistency, and enjoy!  Store the finished hazelnut spread in the fridge. You’ll need to let it come to room temperature for it to be easily spreadable again.