Graham Cracker Houses and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Graham Cracker Cookies

Making and decorating mini Graham Cracker Houses and enjoying Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Graham Cracker Cookies is a holiday activity the whole family is sure to enjoy, and is part of a shop that has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are as always mine alone. #PBandG #CollectiveBias

I’m baaaaaack! If you’re wondering what I even mean by that, I’m referring to the fact that last week my computer went on the fritz, and in the process I lost all of my  photography for recipes that I had planned through the month of December (thank you for all the outpouring of support and understanding, and a special thank you to my bestie Lynn for stepping in last minute and guest posting…did you see her Gingerbread Candied Bacon she posted for Five Ingredient Friday?) Instead of focusing on everything that was lost, I’m going to view it as an opportunity to rephotograph some pretty amazing recipes that I am very excited to share with you!  Caught up in the whirlwind of having to redo everything, I did about a bazillion-and-a half things this weekend.

The reason I’m prefacing this post with sharing that I was doing ALL-the-things this weekend is that throughout the graham cracker house making process, I did just about everything out of order and needed my husbands’ assistance (I’m just going to gloss over the fact that even though I ‘thought’ I was the creative one, I definitely learned that he has some mad skills in the crafting department.)

Things started off great: I cut all the house pieces and made frosting using peanut butter.  The frosting I made was amazing, I’d call it more of a ‘glue.’ I had heard horror stories of frosting not drying or being sticky enough, so I wanted an adhesive that really worked and dried quickly. Done and done. The frosting I made dries in 10 minutes! It is smooth and creamy yet stiff and holds it’s own! Good thing, because after I had cut all the graham cracker pieces, things started breaking. But as my husband joked “things not lining up? just use more frosting and cover it up.” And a little tip for when you’re cutting the graham crackers – gently run your knife along the line you want to cut first, and then gently cut down with a sharp knife. Start cutting the pieces for each house (one box of graham crackers made parts for 5 finished houses).

One would think that making graham cracker houses was enough in and of itself, but being a food blogger I just couldn’t throw away the pieces of the graham crackers that were left over from making the houses, and since everything is just better with cookies, I made peanut butter chocolate chip graham cracker cookies that could be eaten while decorating the graham cracker houses. The cookies came out absolutely amazing, subtle hints of peanut butter and graham cracker and rich chocolate chips, everyone loved them!

So after we had our little houses made, we went to my in-laws’ and all of us decorated them. The toppings I had were gumdrops, peppermint bark covered pretzels, mini cookie wafers, sixlets and mini candy canes (but any decorations you have on hand or that you like to use would work!)

What a seriously fun holiday activity it was to decorate these houses, I would highly recommend stopping by Walmart and picking up some Honey Maid graham crackers (save $0.50 when you buy one (1) Honey Maid Grahams (12.2 oz. or larger)) and Skippy peanut butter (along with other fun decorating accessories).

Have you ever made gingerbread houses or graham cracker houses? This was my first time making them and and I am definitely going to do this every year!

Graham Cracker Houses and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Graham Cracker Cookies

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Author: Sweetphi

Serves: 24 cookies

Ingredients

• For the graham cracker houses-
• 1 Box Honey Maid graham crackers
• 1 Batch peanut butter gingerbread house frosting/glue (recipe below)
• toppings (gumdrops, mini candy canes, cookie wafers, sixlets, peppermint bark pretzels)
• For the peanut butter frosting/glue-
• 3 Tbs Meringue Powder
• 3¾ Cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tbs Skippy peanut butter
• 5 Tbs cold water
• For the peanut butter chocolate chip graham cracker cookies
• ¼ Cup butter (unsalted)
• ¼ Cup Skippy peanut butter (creamy)
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ Cup Sugar
• ½ Cup brown sugar
• ½ Cup Honey Maid Graham Cracker crumbs
• 1 Cup Flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¾ Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Instructions

1. For the graham cracker houses-start by cutting each graham cracker for the houses and put like-pieces with like in piles. Then line each side wall with frosting and lean it up against something and wait for it to dry, then put the house together and then add the roof, then wait for it to dry for 10 minutes and decorate as desired.
2. For the frosting-glue: Start by beating together meringue powder, peanut butter and water (it's ok if there are a few little clumps. Mix for 3 minutes, ten add the powdered sugar and beat for 5 minutes, or until the frosting holds a peak. Put into a plastic bag and cut the end off one corner and use it as a piping bag.
3. For the cookies- Preheat oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
4. Cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated and brown sugar. After it is creamy, add in the egg, vanilla extract and salt and beat to combine. Then add the graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking soda and stir until combined, then stir in chocolate chips. Scoop cookies onto baking sheet (12 per sheet about an inch or so apart). Bake for 10 minutes and then allow to cool on a wire rack, then enjoy!

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