Recipe: Walnut Cheese Crackers

This recipe was in the latest issue of Bon Appetit, as opposed to the last issue of Gourmet. Sorry, still bitter. I thought they sounded delicious and have a friend who is a cracker fiends, so I made them for her birthday instead of cupcakes! Birthday crackers. I think were delicious and I'll definitely make them again.

Recipe: Walnut Cheese Crackers
3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
12 ounces finely grated Swiss cheese (preferably Gruyere)
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of flour
1 cups chopped walnuts

In a big yellow bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the cheese and salt, beat until combined. Add the flour and walnuts, continue to beat on a low speed until the dough comes together. Add cold water by the teaspoon if it's dry. Divide the dough in half and shape into two, 14-inch rectangular logs. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least four hours. Alternatively, you can wrap in wax paper, then foil and freeze.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper of Silpat. Cut the logs into 1/4-inch slices, arrangea bout 1/2 inch apart. Bake until a deep golden brown, for about 20 minutes. Then let cool completely.

You can always bake one log and freeze the other to bake for later. It should keep frozen for at least two months.

Scones Can Make Monday's Bearable

I made some scones to take to work on Monday. This is one of my favorite recipes, and a favorite of my Pap-pa, so I was a little out of practice. I guess they turned out alright, because when I was out for lunch the custodial staff helped themselves to the delectables. They are picky too and don't just eat anything. I took it as high praise.

Recipe: Apricot-Cream Cheese Scones*
I'm not sure where I found this recipe, but the addition of cream cheese makes the crumb especially light and moist.

2 ¼ cups cake flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, chilled
8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, chilled
1 cup diced or slivered dried apricots
1 large egg
½ cup buttermilk plus more for brushing (it took about ¼ cup milk for brushing)
2 tsp. pure vanilla

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the cream cheese and butter, using your fingers, a pastry blender, a fork or a miser, until the mixture resembles coarse meal.^ Stir in the dried apricots. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, ½ cup buttermilk and vanilla. Combine the liquid and dry ingredients and stir until the dough becomes cohesive. Don’t mix and mix and mix: the more your work the dough, the tougher it will get.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and fold it over several times until it holds together. Pat the dough into a ¾ inch rectangle. Cut it eight rectangles and then cut each of those in half diagonally. Brush the tops lightly with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Place the scones about 2 inches apart on an ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Turn the oven off, leave the door closed, and bake for 8 minutes more, or until the scones are light golden brown. Serve warm. (It may take a little longer, just watch and make sure the bottoms don't burn.)

Mangez!

*I've tweeked this a little and the recipe now reflects changes as of June 2009.
^ I use a food processor: combine the dry ingredients in the bowl of the food processor and give a whirl to combine. Add the cream cheese and butter, then pulse until it resembles meal. Then dump into a big yellow bowl and proceed.