Graham cracker cookies

A no-fuss cookie that's simply delicious

What says childhood to me? A lot of things. Graham crackers are one of those things. We'd eat them with a bowl of milk for breakfast (sometimes still do) and help Grandma frost them with stovetop glaze for an easy little treat. The more ways I can find to use graham crackers in dessert, the better — in pie crust, in blondies, and now in cookies! This recipe from Real Simple barely needed any tweaking. 

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GRAHAM CRACKER COOKIES

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

2 cups flour

1 and 1/4 cups finely crushed graham crackers

1 to 1 and 1/2 cups broken graham cracker pieces

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

4 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate

WHAT YOU'LL DO

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together finely crushed graham crackers, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

2. In a large bowl, combine butter and sugars. Use an electric mixer to mix until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, and mix well.

3. Slowly add the flour mixture to the large bowl, mixing until just combined. Fold in the broken graham cracker pieces.

4. Scoop heaping tablespoons of batter onto prepared baking sheet (I got 8 cookies on each sheet). Use the back of a spoon to slightly press down each ball of dough. Bake at 325 for 7 minutes. Turn the cookie sheet, and bake for another 6 to 7 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool a bit, then place cookies on a wire rack to fully cool.

5. Optional: Once all cookies are baked, melt chocolate in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each. Pour the melted chocolate into a ziplock bag. Trim one of the bottom corners from the bag and pipe a drizzle of chocolate on each cookie. 

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These cookies won't all come out perfectly shaped. Without the chocolate drizzle, they surely won't be the talk of Pinterest. But I say the chocolate is optional because these cookies are yummy enough without it. They're basically sugar cookies (crisp edges, soft centers) with a little more depth — and they're especially "Mmmm" inducing right out of the oven. Sometimes that's all you need.