Reeling through the intense madness at office from past two weeks, I somehow managed to complete the part one of my first ever Daring Baker’s challenge, for which I chose to make Graham Crackers. I paired them with homemade marshmallow fluff and Nutella. Kids back at home loved them a lot and I was satisfied that I had won half of the battle.

As last day of completing the challenge was nearing, I started feeling the pressure to finish it, as if the pressure at work wasn’t enough to deal with. And as rolling of crackers was done, it was about freezing the dough in an icebox {read refrigerator here}, which was yet to be taken over. I was desperately looking for ideas through various cook books, news papers, and internet of course, and surprisingly I couldn’t find a single recipe which could bowled me over. And then I resorted to the suggestions, which Dana McFarlane has given as part of the challenge. Out of the icebox cracker recipes, posted in there, I picked up the one with Cheddar and walnuts, which I adapted as per my taste and the ingredients I had at hand.

Our July 2012 Daring Bakers’ Host was Dana McFarland and she challenged us to make homemade crackers! Dana showed us some techniques for making crackers and encouraged to use our creativity to make each cracker our own by using ingredients we love.

Time was running out and I couldn’t afford to wait for the weekend to come {my regular but favorite time to bake}. So after I came home from work on Monday, I finished the dough part and popped that into fridge to rest for one day and then bake them up next evening. I also made Tzatziki, mixing hung yogurt, dry dill and bits of cucumber, to go along with the cheese crackers. And it summed up as really a great make-ahead party appetizer. Third day morning was time to shoot them up. In the end I felt so relieved that I could live up to taking this challenge midst my busy work schedule. After all this is Daring Baker’s challenge, and it was indeed daring for me.

Graham Crackers {recipe adapted from Martha Stewart}

Ingredients

1 all-purpose flour, plus more for working
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup ground oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
100 gm butter
2 tbsp milk
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 tbsp honey

Instructions

1. Mix all the dry ingredients except sugar in a bowl and set aside.
2. Beat butter with sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. Add flour mixture and rest of ingredients to butter and sugar mixture and mix well to make two dough balls.
4. Wrap them up into cling wrap and let rest in fridge for about 20-30 minutes.
5. Taking one ball at a time, roll the dough into 1/8 inch thickness. Cut the crackers using cookie cutter of your choice.
6. Line them onto baking sheets and bake in a 180 degree Celsius preheated oven for about 10 minutes.
7. Let them cool on a wire rack completely.

Cheddar Hazelnut Rosemary Icebox Crackers {recipe adapted from The American Culinary Institute}

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp bengal gram or chickpea flour
1 1/4 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts

Instructions

1. Combine flours, salt, cayenne pepper, rosemary and butter in a food processor until it resembles coarse bread crumbs .
2. Add cheese, milk and nuts and knead to make a dough ball.
3. Roll the dough into a cylindrical log, cover with cling wrap and let rest in fridge for at least 24 hours.
4. Cut the thin slices of around 5 mm thickness and bake them on a baking sheet in a 160 degree Celsius preheated oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown.
5. Let cool on wire rack completely before serving.