Cinnamon graham cracker cookies

This recipe has been such a labor of love, and it's all so worth it! During my baking and recipe development class this month we were encouraged to explore swapping in ingredients with our dough, swapping out types of sugar, including extracts, and finding replacements for flour. I had purchased cinnamon graham crackers and knew I wanted to incorporate them somehow.

I wound up going in a different direction with my "final cookie recipe" for the class, but I did test out a cinnamon graham cracker cookie dough and I knew there was something there! The initial batch spread too thin even after chilling and freezing the dough, but the taste was incredible.

After some tweaking of the recipe, I am excited to share this buttery, cinnamon packed cookie recipe. It is crisp on the edges, and so gooey and chewy in the middle. It is still a thinner cookie than I normally would bake, but it is the perfect thickness for a sweet and buttery treat and I know you'll love it.

I used a kitchen meat tenderizer to get the cinnamon graham down to a powdered state. You can also use a pan or get creative with this, it doesn't take much to break them down so don't worry if you don't have a food processor like me :)

For some cookie doughs, the chilling and freezing process is optional. In this case, I would HIGHLY recommend chilling and then freezing your scooped dough, and baking from frozen. You can of course bake one or two from your chilled dough, but just know that your cookie will come out thinner (though it will still taste incredible).

Though this recipe didn't wind up being my "final cookie" for my class, we will honor Christina Tosi's (founder of MilkBar) ten minute creaming process. It may seem unnecessary, but I guarantee you it results in an amazing cookie and you won't regret it!

Ingredients:

Batch of 10 cookies:

• 1 stick (half cup, 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature

• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour

• 3 sheets cinnamon graham cracker (about 1/2 cup) crushed to a powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Batch of 20 cookies:

• 2 sticks (one cup, 16 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature

• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 6 sheets cinnamon graham cracker (about 1 cup) crushed to a powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cooking time: 30-45 minutes (plus 2 hours of chill time, overnight/12 hours to freeze scooped dough before baking)

Cooking instructions:

Place your cinnamon graham crackers into a plastic bag. Use a meat tenderizer, mallet, or large pan to completely crush your graham crackers. You want them to be as close to a powdered state as possible since we're swapping them in for part of your flour. If you have a food processor, you can also use that but either way will work great!

Place your stick of butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar into your stand mixer with the paddle attachment secured. Note: if your butter is not at room temperature already, you can either place it first into the microwave for 5-10 seconds, or mix your stand mixer at a low speed for 30-60 seconds until your butter is softened.

Bring your stand mixer slowly from a low to high speed and allow it to combine the butter and sugar for 3 minutes. While this is mixing, grab your egg and vanilla extract (select the right amount based on how many cookies you're making).

Pause your stand mixer, and if needed, scrape down the sides of your butter and sugar mixture as well as your paddle attachment to ensure that no pockets of butter and sugar go unmixed. Then, add in your egg(s) and vanilla extract to your butter and sugar. Slowly bring your stand mixer back to a high speed and allow it to combine your mixture for 4 minutes.

Slowly reduce the speed again, scrape down the sides of your mixture and paddle attachment. Bring your mixer back up to a high speed once again, this time for 3-4 minutes. You'll notice already that your mixture is quite light and fluffy, but allow it to continue mixing so that everything is fully combined, and this will also bring some additional air into your butter mixture.

While you're on your last 3-4 minutes of mixing, combine your dry ingredients, flour, crushed cinnamon graham cracker, baking soda and powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Use a spoon or whisk to combine your ingredients.

When you are done with your final 3-4 minutes, slowly reduce your stand mixer speed and bring it to a pause. Scrape down your sides again as well as your paddle attachment.

Pour in your combined dry ingredients, and start your mixer at a slow speed. Bring it up to a medium speed, mixing until just incorporated. You can pause, scrape down, and mix again or I suggest finish combining this dough with a spatula, so that you can ensure it's fully combined without over mixing.

You can transfer your dough directly into plastic wrap, to a bowl with plastic wrap sealing it down, a container (anything airtight) and place into the fridge to chill. This is best to be done for at least 2 hours, or as long as 12 hours. Once your dough is fully chilled, use a large cookie scoop (or large spoon) to portion out your dough (it should make 10 or 20 cookies depending on what size you chose at the start), place them on a lined baking sheet, and put into the freezer. Your dough should stay in the freezer for at least 12 hours before baking.

When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Place your dough spaced out onto a lined cookie sheet, I used parchment paper. Note that these cookies do spread a good amount, so take that into account when placing your dough on your cookie sheet. Bake for 15-17 minutes and allow enough time to cool so that your cookie can set. Enjoy while it's still warm or within the first hour or two for the best experience!

If you choose to save some of your dough, once it's fully frozen you can transfer your scooped dough into a plastic or airtight container and bake any time.

I HIGHLY recommend fully freezing this dough before baking as it leads to a much better chew and texture. If you just can't wait, I don't blame you :) After you've at least chilled your dough for at least a few hours, you can bake one or two in the oven at 350 for 12-13 minutes. Again, I don't recommend baking from chilled because the cookies will spread a bit more and the texture is much better from the freezer, but I also know how delicious this dough smells so I don't blame you if you have to try one from the fridge!

Carb and serving info:

Servings: 10 or 20 cookies

Carbs per serving: 26.2

Carbs for full recipe: 262.1 (10 cookies), 523 (20 cookies)

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.