Honey Soy Sesame Graham Crackers

A pantry staple, the humble graham cracker, is transformed into Honey Soy Sesame Graham Crackers, with a salty-sweet coating of honey, soy sauce, and toasted sesame seeds, and a satisfying, crunchy-chewy texture.

Honey Soy Sesame Graham Crackers combine soy sauce, honey, toasted sesame seeds, and graham crackers for a satisfying light breakfast treat or snack.
Photo: Cynthia Dalton

These addictive morsels came to me early one morning while I was lying in bed half asleep thinking ( or was it dreaming?) about different tastes and textures that I love.

What could I do, I asked myself, to create something totally different out of something I always have on hand — graham crackers?

I got to remembering something my parents used to love with their evening coctail. It was an Asian party nibble that was like an airy pretzel with a shiny, sweet, soy sauce coating.

That got me to thinking about the fried sesame sticks my parents also noshed on at cocktail time. These were sort of like straight, short, crispy little versions of the fried noodles in a can people enjoy with chow mein, only these seemed covered in toasted sesame seed dust.

You can see where all this thinking was going, and later that day, I experimented with all those flavors and textures. The result is something that exceded my expectations. These are somewhat unique in that they never acheive total crispiness, nor to they become totally chewy.

For me, these Honey Soy Sesame Graham Crackers satisfy a hankering for several different things all-in-one. The sweet chew of a granola bar, the familiar honey and vanilla comfort of a graham cracker, and even the salty, toasted nut, and nougatiness of my favorite peanut, milk chocolate, and nougat candy bar, minus the chocolate of course (and I don’t miss it with these).

Honey Soy Sesame Graham Crackers are glazed with a mixture of honey and soy sauce and generously sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.
Photo: Cynthia Dalton

You’ll want to line up all your ingredients in advance.

Honey Soy Sesame Graham Crackers receive a coating of soy sauce and honey before they get a liberal sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.
Photo: Cynthia Dalton

You break each cracker sheet in two, dip the tops in a honey and soy sauce mixture, and while the top is still slick with the honey mixture, “cement” toasted sesame seeds* to the top of each cracker.

Honey Soy Sesame Graham Crackers dipped in a honey and soy mixture, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds ready for the oven.
Photo: Cynthia Dalton

It’s important to do one batch of 9 crackers at a time (the recipe makes 18 cracker halves — which is 1 wrapped sleeve of graham crackers). Doing more at once, could result in a cracker more chewy than crunchy and you want each cracker to sport both textures. By the way, ideally, the crackers should be baked farther apart than the picture above might suggest. Give ’em about 1 1/2 inches of space between one another.

I hope you find this recipe for Honey Soy Sesame Graham Crackers a nice change of pace — fun and  a little different. Please use the Comments section below to share your thoughts.

 

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Honey Soy Sesame Graham Crackers
This recipe makes a nice, light, on-the-go snack, a coffee-break nibble, or a different dessert offering. FYI, I haven't tested this recipe with any other brand of graham crackers — just the brand mentioned in the ingredients list below.© The Working Lunch Project
Honey Soy Sesame Graham Crackers combine soy sauce, honey, toasted sesame seeds, and graham crackers for a satisfying light breakfast treat or snack.
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Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Fusion
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Passive Time 24 minutes
Servings
servings (3 halves per serving)
Ingredients
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Fusion
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Passive Time 24 minutes
Servings
servings (3 halves per serving)
Ingredients
Honey Soy Sesame Graham Crackers combine soy sauce, honey, toasted sesame seeds, and graham crackers for a satisfying light breakfast treat or snack.
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325° F.
  2. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with a silicone baking mat each.
  3. Break each cracker sheet in half (to create two 2 1/4" X 2 1/4" squares). You will wind-up with 18 of these. It's easier to break the cracker sheet in half top-side down (holes down) — I don't know why, but it is — you'll get fewer ragged edges. Set aside on a plate.
  4. In a large, shallow bowl, thoroughly combine the honey and soy sauce.
  5. In a small bowl, combine the sesame seeds.
  6. Working quickly, dip half the cracker halves (9) top-side down in the honey-soy mixture (you're coating the tops only), place top-side up 1 1/2 inches apart on one baking mat, and sprinkle with half the sesame seeds. The point here is to get the seeds on top of the cracker halves while the honey mixture is still wet on top of each cracker half. The honey will then act as 'glue' to 'set' the seeds during baking.
  7. Bake the 9 crackers for 10 minutes. Remove rimmed baking sheet from oven and let the crackers rest 2-3 minutes on the hot pan before gently removing them, with a cake-turner, to a wire rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes. Be careful with them while they're hot as they will be soft and almost cake-like until they cool and harden.
  8. Once you remove the first pan from the oven, and have the first 9 crackers cooling on a wire rack, Repeat the same process with the other 9 halves.
  9. Don't be tempted to coat and bake all the crackers at once because the end result will be more chewy than crunchy. The idea here is crunchy around the edges and chewy toward the middle of each cracker.
  10. Store at room temperature in an airtight container. These will probably keep a week or two, although they've never lasted that long in my house.
Recipe Notes

Nutritional facts per serving:

148 calories

4g fat

286mg sodium

28g carbs

1g fiber

2g protein

 

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Outrageous Chocolate Cookies

Chocolate, chocolate chip cookies.
Photo: Cynthia Dalton

It’s Valentine’s day, and that means I’m thinking all things chocolate.

These cookies were first published in Everyday Food in September 2003. This is my adaptation, using both semisweet chocolate and dark chocolate as well as instant espresso coffee.

The cookies travel well, making them ideal to take to the office to celebrate a special occasion, pack in a lunch for a welcome self-indulgence, or to take to a meeting to sweeten dispositions.

Like the brownies I shared in my previous post, these are even more pleasing with a big glass of ice-cold milk, or hot, black coffee.

Enjoy!

 

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Outrageous Chocolate Cookies
It's important not to over-bake these — they're supposed to be soft and chewy. They store nicely for several days in an airtight container at room temperature, although I do like to give them a few seconds in the microwave to bring them back to 'just-out-of-the-oven' perfection. Adapted from, Everyday Food, September 2003. © The Working Lunch Project
Chocolate, chocolate chip cookies.
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Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 12-15 minutes
Servings
servings
Ingredients
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 12-15 minutes
Servings
servings
Ingredients
Chocolate, chocolate chip cookies.
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
  2. Line 2 baking sheets with a silicone mat each and set aside.
  3. In a saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate and butter.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
  5. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, instant espresso coffee, and vanilla on high speed until fluffy and light. Beat in melted chocolated mixture.
  6. Fold in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
  7. Drop by heaping tablespoons 2 to 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. You should have 12 cookie dough mounds for each sheet.
  8. Bake cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating sheets half way through baking time. The cookies should look crackly and shiny, with soft centers.
  9. Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store airtight, at room temperature, for several days.
Recipe Notes

Nutritional facts per serving:

174 calories

9g fat

71mg sodium

27g carbs

2g fiber

2g protein

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Basic Chocolate Brownies With Dark Chocolate Chips

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies
Photo: Cynthia Dalton

I love brownies. The darker and denser the better! But, I also like more cake-like versions, versions with nuts and other additions, or just unadulterated. I love them all.

This is a recipe from way back that I’ve continually tinkered with since I first got my hands on it, adding  dark chocolate chips and instant espresso coffee somewhere along the way.

The recipe is from Cook’s Country magazine,  the charter issue, and was republished in the San Diego Union-Tribune, in August 2005.

These cry out for either a cup of hot, strong, black coffee, or a tall, ice-cold glass of milk.

A truly grand afternoon snack!

With Valentine’s day coming up, it’s a good excuse to treat yourself to these timely indulgences, or surprise a special someone with an edible gift, and while your at it, you might want to share some with your coworkers — or not.

Here’s my adaptation of the original.

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Basic Chocolate Brownies With Dark Chocolate Chips
For chocolate lovers only, these brownies need to be cooled completely before cutting, but a single serving, run through a few seconds in the microwave, to warm, makes for some heavenly eating, right here on earth. © The Working Lunch Project
A chocolate brownie for a delicious snack or dessert.
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Rating: 0
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Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40-45 minutes
Passive Time 2 hours (cooling time)
Servings
servings
Ingredients
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40-45 minutes
Passive Time 2 hours (cooling time)
Servings
servings
Ingredients
A chocolate brownie for a delicious snack or dessert.
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F
  2. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with foil and grease with some butter. Set aside.
  3. In a sauce pan over very low heat, melt together the unsweetened chocolate, butter, and espresso. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
  4. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add to chocolate mixture in pan, along with the eggs and the vanilla extract. Whisk until well combined and beginning to look glossy. Fold in flour just until combined — do not over-mix.
  5. Stir in dark chocolate chips, and scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing top and making sure batter is level and smoothed into each corner of the pan.
  6. Bake on middle rack of preheated oven 40-45 minutes, until the top looks slightly crackled and glossy, and a toothpick inserted half-way between the edge of the pan and the center of the pan comes out clean.
  7. Using the foil, lift brownies from pan, place on a cooling rack, and cover loosely with additional foil. Allow to cool 2 hours before cutting into 16 servings.
Recipe Notes

Nutritional facts per serving:

221 calories

14g fat

68mg sodium

27g carbs

2g fiber

2g protein

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