Zoiks! Halloween is just around the corner, and since it’s one of my favorite holidays, I always like to do a spooky menu here on the blog for October (check out my Edgar Allan Poe and Phantom of the Opera menus from previous years!). This year, I’m making a Scooby-Doo menu, starting with Scooby’s favorite treat: Scooby Snacks!
According to the creators of Scooby-Doo, Scooby Snacks are a sort of caramel-flavored cookie. However, Keebler’s boxed version and most of the homemade versions I’ve found online are honey or cinnamon graham crackers. Since I have something else in mind for our dessert recipe this month, I’m gonna stick with the honey graham cracker version.
The recipe I’m sharing today originally appeared on the Brown Eyed Baker Blog, though I made a few changes just to mix things up a little bit (I added cinnamon and vanilla and caramelized the honey). I LOVE Michelle’s recipes. They’re always reliable and delicious, and these grahams are no exception. They’re rich, crisp, and buttery—with an extra nuttiness from the caramelized honey. I caramelized it using a technique I found on Bee America. It’s a quick, super easy way to make honey-flavored bakes a bit more special, and I definitely plan on trying it with other recipes in the future. Maybe I should caramalize my honey-glazed grilled peaches next time I make them!
P.S. The Little Mister LOVES these. I’ve already started saying, “You don’t want to put your socks on? Will you do it…FOR A SCOOBY SNACK?” XD
A
Scooby Snacks
“And, Scooby-Doo, if you come through,
You’re gonna have yourself a Scooby Snack!”
— “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?”
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 tsp water
- a couple drops of lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- You will also need a 3-inch bone-shaped cookie cutter or stencil.
Makes about 60 3-inch graham crackers
INSTRUCTIONS:
- In a small saucepan, whisk together the honey, water, and lemon juice until combined. Place over low heat, stirring constantly. When the honey mix begins to simmer and tiny bubbles form along the edge of the pan, stop stirring. Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes without disturbing it (stirring at this point would cause it to crystallize). When the honey becomes a golden brown color and smells nutty, remove from heat, gently stir, and transfer to a room temperature bowl. Allow to completely cool (you can pop it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to speed up the process, if you like). The mixture will thicken as it cools.
The key to caramelizing honey without burning it is not to rush. Do NOT turn the heat up, even if it seems like it’s taking a long time (that shouldn’t be much of an issue here, since we’re not making a lot, but it can be with larger batches). Also, be sure to transfer from the pan to a room temp bowl right away. Once you reach that simmering, nutty-smelling stage, a handful of seconds can be the difference between finished and burned. Since this was my first time, I played it safe and removed from heat as soon as I caught that strong nut smell, even though it hadn’t darkened much. I think I could have let it got just a BIT longer, but better safe than sorry. It still worked great! 🙂 - In a medium bowl, whisk together both types of flour with the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and cooled caramelized honey for about 2 minutes or until fluffy. Scrape bowl if necessary. Beat in the flour mix on low speed until just combined. It may look a little crumbly, but you should be able to gather it together into a ball with ease.
- Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape into a 7-inch square and tightly wrap. Chill for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch bone-shaped cookie cutter or stencil, cut out bones. Transfer bones to the baking sheets, placing them about 1 inch apart.
You can fit 16 bones on a standard baking sheet and 20 on an 11×17 sheet. I recommend cutting just enough to fill your pans, then cutting the rest as the first batch bakes. - Gather and re-roll scraps, cut out more bones. You should be able to get about 60 bones from a full batch of dough. That’s a LOT of crackers, but one of the things I love about this recipe is that it’s easy to cut in half.
- Bake 5 minutes, then flip and rotate the pans. Bake for another 5 minutes, until the crackers are golden brown and firm. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack for about 15-25 minutes to cool completely.
- Serve to your trusty canine sleuthing companion whenever he’s especially brave or clever!
You’ll want to store these in an airtight container, since they can lose their crispness if left out overnight.
This is awesome. Scooby Doo was a big part of my childhood!
For gluten free, would I substitute equal parts gluten free flour?
I don’t do much gluten free baking, but from what I’ve read you’d sub equal parts. You’ll want to check the packaging on your flour to make sure that’s true for the specific brand you’re using (there’s usually substitution advice somewhere on the bag). Just be aware that your graham crackers may wind up with a different texture, probably more delicate and crumbly than crisp.