We recently tried an experiment in the kitchen which involved dark chocolate, white chocolate and cinnamon graham crackers. How could that combination turn out bad? Not possible. Read on to see what we did.
The whole thing started with a box of Honey Maid graham crackers which were sitting in the pantry. Maybe we bought them to make a pie crust. Maybe we bought them because we had a hankering for graham crackers. I cannot remember now. But they were just sitting there, not being eaten. So I thought I could do something with them to make them more appealing. And I think I was successful.
When making my weekly list for market, I added a line to pick up melting chocolate. I was pleased to find both dark chocolate and white chocolate. I have used CandiQuik in the past and have been satisfied with it. The package label states "Premium Quality." Maybe, Let's be clear, this is not Belgian chocolate by any stretch. But it is suitable for use in items as pictured on the package - sipping strawberries, pretzels, that sort of thing. I decided we would dip graham crackers. And it was a good decision!
The directions are on the package and it really couldn't be easier. Remove the wrapping, place the tray with the chocolate in the microwave and set the time for one minute. At the end of the one minute, remove the tray and use a regular dinner fork to stir the chocolate until it is fully incorporated. If there are any pieces which are not yet melted, return the tray to the microwave for 30 second intervals until all the chocolate is melted. Now you are ready to start dipping.
Before I melted the chocolate, I prepared the graham crackers. As you are aware, they come four to a sheet from the box and each sheet is perforated so that you can easily separate the crackers. Well, in theory that works. In reality, it does not. You can never break them apart cleanly. So I found a large bread knife and set about slicing them apart with a gentle back and forth through the perforations. This way you have perfectly shaped graham crackers. It is worth the extra effort.
Here are our stacks of graham crackers, ready to take a dip. We did twenty graham crackers.
First up, dark chocolate. We laid down a sheet of waxed paper, melted the chocolate, stirred, and then set about dipping the graham crackers. Make sure you coat the entire cracker, top and bottom and sides. I placed each cracker in the chocolate, turned it once, then removed to the waxed paper. I then pulled the waxed paper onto a cooling rack and placed that rack with the chocolate coated crackers into the refrigerator. I left them in there for an hour. I was busy with other things, so I forgot about them. You probably don't need to leave them in the refrigerator for an hour, but why not. That way you are certain that they are completely set and ready to receive the next coating.
After an hour, I removed them from the refrigerator and placed them on the counter, still on the waxed paper. I melted the white chocolate and went through the same routine as we did previously.
And this is what we ended up with. These beautiful double-dipped chocolate graham crackers. The decoration on top was a last minute thought. I had some white chocolate left over. This is the simplest thing in the world to do. Just put your clean fingers in the melted chocolate and then move them back forth quickly over the grahams. And voila, you have decorative graham crackers.
I let them cool in the refrigerator for an hour.
Then it was time to clean them up. I used a large butcher knife to go around the edges and clean them up so they were a little more presentable.
In the end, we had a lovely tray of grahams to present to guests. If you make these as a treat for the family, you could do without cleaning them up. I'm sure the kids and their friends will not care about how they look, only about how they taste.
Inside you have the delicious cinnamon graham cracker center with two coatings of chocolate. They are exquisite. I hope you will try this recipe over the long Memorial Day weekend. These would be wonderful to serve to guests after their hamburger and hot dogs!!
The whole thing started with a box of Honey Maid graham crackers which were sitting in the pantry. Maybe we bought them to make a pie crust. Maybe we bought them because we had a hankering for graham crackers. I cannot remember now. But they were just sitting there, not being eaten. So I thought I could do something with them to make them more appealing. And I think I was successful.
When making my weekly list for market, I added a line to pick up melting chocolate. I was pleased to find both dark chocolate and white chocolate. I have used CandiQuik in the past and have been satisfied with it. The package label states "Premium Quality." Maybe, Let's be clear, this is not Belgian chocolate by any stretch. But it is suitable for use in items as pictured on the package - sipping strawberries, pretzels, that sort of thing. I decided we would dip graham crackers. And it was a good decision!
The directions are on the package and it really couldn't be easier. Remove the wrapping, place the tray with the chocolate in the microwave and set the time for one minute. At the end of the one minute, remove the tray and use a regular dinner fork to stir the chocolate until it is fully incorporated. If there are any pieces which are not yet melted, return the tray to the microwave for 30 second intervals until all the chocolate is melted. Now you are ready to start dipping.
Before I melted the chocolate, I prepared the graham crackers. As you are aware, they come four to a sheet from the box and each sheet is perforated so that you can easily separate the crackers. Well, in theory that works. In reality, it does not. You can never break them apart cleanly. So I found a large bread knife and set about slicing them apart with a gentle back and forth through the perforations. This way you have perfectly shaped graham crackers. It is worth the extra effort.
Here are our stacks of graham crackers, ready to take a dip. We did twenty graham crackers.
First up, dark chocolate. We laid down a sheet of waxed paper, melted the chocolate, stirred, and then set about dipping the graham crackers. Make sure you coat the entire cracker, top and bottom and sides. I placed each cracker in the chocolate, turned it once, then removed to the waxed paper. I then pulled the waxed paper onto a cooling rack and placed that rack with the chocolate coated crackers into the refrigerator. I left them in there for an hour. I was busy with other things, so I forgot about them. You probably don't need to leave them in the refrigerator for an hour, but why not. That way you are certain that they are completely set and ready to receive the next coating.
After an hour, I removed them from the refrigerator and placed them on the counter, still on the waxed paper. I melted the white chocolate and went through the same routine as we did previously.
And this is what we ended up with. These beautiful double-dipped chocolate graham crackers. The decoration on top was a last minute thought. I had some white chocolate left over. This is the simplest thing in the world to do. Just put your clean fingers in the melted chocolate and then move them back forth quickly over the grahams. And voila, you have decorative graham crackers.
I let them cool in the refrigerator for an hour.
Then it was time to clean them up. I used a large butcher knife to go around the edges and clean them up so they were a little more presentable.
In the end, we had a lovely tray of grahams to present to guests. If you make these as a treat for the family, you could do without cleaning them up. I'm sure the kids and their friends will not care about how they look, only about how they taste.
Inside you have the delicious cinnamon graham cracker center with two coatings of chocolate. They are exquisite. I hope you will try this recipe over the long Memorial Day weekend. These would be wonderful to serve to guests after their hamburger and hot dogs!!
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