For my freshman year of college, I lived in a three-bedroom suite on the second floor of one of my university’s dormitories with four other girls, sandwiched between two similar suites each housing five boys. During our first quarter, one of my roommates developed a crush on one of those guys, and when we found out his birthday fell shortly after our winter break, she wanted to bake him a cake.
The rest of us girls pitched in to make it feel less awkward for her. We piled into our dorm’s itty bitty communal kitchen, stirring together a store-bought cake mix (it’s the best we could do while living in the dorms without a pantry!) to pop in the oven and topping it with canned vanilla frosting once it cooled.
That evening, we knocked on the door of the suite to our left, and when the boy pulled it open to answer, we held out the pan and exclaimed, “Happy birthday!” He looked absolutely shocked, staring down at the sprinkle-topped cake with nineteen candles peeking out of the frosting with his eyes as wide as saucers and his mouth slightly open, but he quickly recovered, smiled, and invited us inside while the rest of the boys wandered out from the bedrooms.
Because we baked a standard 13×9” cake and left it in the pan to deliver (we didn’t own a platter big enough to hold the entire cake!), we only decorated the top and skipped the sides, so we ended up with extra frosting. We placed the can in our mini fridge, knowing it’d last for a while, and figured we’d use it when we baked something else.
A few days later, we cracked open a fresh box of Teddy Grahams to snack on while studying for midterms. After a few bites, we remembered the vanilla frosting in our fridge and decided to dip the little bears in it for a sweet treat. We quickly fell into a routine, asking each other a few chemistry quiz questions and nibbling on a frosting-topped Teddy Graham as a reward for a correct answer…
And pretty soon, we ran out of frosting!
With our dorm located right around the corner from a pharmacy with a fairly extensive food section, we picked up another can of vanilla frosting and box of Teddy Grahams the next day on our way back from campus, and we fell into the same routine while continuing to study that evening. I absolutely loved that ritual of vanilla-frosted Teddy Grahams—they were the best midterm motivation!
Because school recently started in my hometown, those memories resurfaced multiple times throughout the past few weeks. Although I haven’t consumed much vanilla frosting since my freshman college days and don’t miss it too much, I still started craving those sweet little bears… So I baked these Healthy Homemade Chocolate Teddy Grahams! They taste like the ones sold in grocery stores, but they contain no refined flour, refined sugar, or artificial ingredients!
Which basically means… It’s totally okay to eat as many handfuls as I want, right??
Since not everyone lives in the US and grew up munching on them as after-school snacks like I did, let’s talk about them briefly!
Teddy Grahams are an American product shaped like itty bitty teddy bears about half the size of your thumb, and they come in multiple flavors: honey, cinnamon, chocolate chip, chocolate, and {the newest addition} birthday cake. They’re crunchy with a sweetness level somewhere between animal crackers or graham crackers and cookies, and they’re usually considered a snack food. (At least by the mainstream US population… Seeing as grocery stores stock them on their snack aisles!)
Teddy Grahams (and graham crackers, too!) earned their names because they include graham flour as an ingredient. Graham flour is named after Sylvester Graham, who developed a special method of grinding wheat to turn it into flour. Because graham flour still includes the wheat kernel’s outer bran layer and germ in addition to the endosperm (whereas white all-purpose flour only contains the endosperm), it has lots of health benefits, like extra fiber and nutrients!
Since most grocery stores don’t stock graham flour, we’re going to use white whole wheat flour in this copycat recipe. It also contains the outer bran, germ, and endosperm, so it has a very similar flavor.
White whole wheat flour is made from a special type of white wheat, whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. This type of wheat gives white whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture, similar to that of all-purpose flour, and it allows the sweet, chocolaty flavor of our homemade Teddy Grahams to shine!
Note: Whole wheat pastry flour would be a great substitute! My taste testers found that homemade Teddy Grahams made with regular whole wheat flour had a more pronounced “wheat-y” flavor that masked some of their sweetness.
Next, you’ll need unsweetened cocoa powder. That’s right, just regular ol’ cocoa powder! We’re adding enough to the dough to give these cute little bears a rich chocolaty flavor, so no need to use Dutched or special dark cocoa powder. This is the type that I use, and I always keep at least two of the jumbo-sized containers in my pantry. I’m a huge chocoholic (that’s why I published my Healthier Chocolate Treats cookbook!) and go through it really quickly!
Instead of refined sugar, you’ll sweeten your Teddy Grahams with pure maple syrup. Be sure to buy the good stuff! Skip the pancake syrups or sugar-free syrups; those contain corn syrup or artificial ingredients, which we’re avoiding in this healthier recipe. The only ingredient on the label should be “maple syrup.” It’s generally sold in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs, and I’ve also bought it in bulk online.
Once you’ve mixed up the dough, it’s time to roll it out and cut it into those adorable bear shapes! I highly recommend using a silicone baking mat and a silicone rolling pin. (← Those are the inexpensive ones that I own {a black color for the rolling pin instead}, and they’re worth every penny!) The silicon material prevents the dough from sticking to both your work surface and your rolling pin, and it makes the whole process go so much faster!
I bought my itty bitty teddy bear cookie cutters online here, and they were so inexpensive. I absolutely love them! I used the middle-sized bear, which was almost exactly the same size as the original Teddy Grahams. (It yielded a lot more bears from the dough than I expected, too!)
Then transfer those little cut-outs to a fresh baking sheet, pop them in the oven, and…
Enjoy! And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees that I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your copycat Teddy Grahams and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Healthy Homemade Chocolate Teddy Grahams | | Print |
- ¾ cup (90g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- ¼ cup (20g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp (45mL) pure maple syrup, room temperature
- 2 ½ tbsp (37mL) water, room temperature
- 1 tsp coconut oil, melted
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Make a well in the center. Pour in the maple syrup, water, and coconut oil (in that order). Stir until all of the ingredients are fully incorporated. (It will take some extra effort at the end!)
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured silicone baking mat, and roll it to be 1/16” thick with a silicone rolling pin. Carefully cut out teddy bear shapes with a miniature bear cookie cutter. Transfer the cut-outs to the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake the teddy grahams at 350°F for 15-20 minutes or until crunchy. Cool completely to room temperature on the baking sheet before transferring to an airtight container.
It’s very important to measure both the flour and the cocoa powder correctly, as outlined in the links above. Too much of either will dry out the dough. If the dough won’t come together after a few minutes of stirring and working in the ingredients, add additional water ½ teaspoon at a time until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour. In a pinch, regular whole wheat flour may also be substituted, but the teddy grahams will have a more distinct “wheat-y” flavor.
Honey or agave may be substituted for the pure maple syrup. For a sweeter flavor, substitute additional pure maple syrup (or honey or agave) for some of the water.
Melted butter or any oil may be substituted for the coconut oil.
I highly recommend using a silicone baking mat and a silicone rolling pin. (← Those are the inexpensive ones that I own {just the rolling pin in black}, and they’re worth every penny!) The silicone material prevents the dough from sticking to both your work surface and your rolling pin, and it makes the whole process go so much faster! Instead, you may use any clean surface for rolling and a regular wooden rolling pin, but you'll need to use a lot more flour to ensure the dough doesn't stick to either.
I bought my itty bitty teddy bear cookie cutters online here, and I absolutely love them! I used the middle-sized bear, which was almost exactly the same size as the original Teddy Grahams.
If you prefer, you may slice the dough into squares instead after rolling it out. The squares generally take longer to bake. This is because the bear cut-outs sit on the countertop for a longer period of time while you punch out the rest, so the dough begins to dry out a bit. (That’s perfectly fine! It just means they don’t bake as long in the oven.)
The leftover dough may be recombined and rolled out to cut out more bears. If it’s too dry to stick together, moisten your hands with a little water before kneading it back together.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
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You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Chocolate Flax Crackers
♥ Healthy Homemade Wheat Thins
♥ Simple Quinoa Crackers
♥ Apple Pie Granola Bar Bites
♥ Fudgy Triple Chocolate Cookies
♥ Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies
This mixture was a joke, I should of just measured my flour as usually. Had I done it my way, it may not of been impossible to mix, not to mention it cannot be rolled w/o springing back and it looks like I may actually get 5 cookies out of it.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Marlene! That sounds disappointing and not like how this recipe should turn out at all, so I’d love to work with you to figure out what happened. 🙂 How exactly did you measure the flour and cocoa powder for this recipe? Also, did you make any modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
Ah Marlene, such a sweetheart.
I know it’s been 1.5 years but shame on Marlene. What a jerk.
Stoked to try your recipe 🙂
It means a lot that you’re excited to try making these homemade Teddy Grahams! I can’t wait to hear what you think of them! 🙂