Blue Cheese And Candied Walnut Crackers
When I started blogging a little over a year ago I saw this endeavor as a solitary hobby. I figured I would just bake something delicious, take photos of it, post it, and maybe someone out there in this vast internet universe would see it. I hadn’t realized that a big and wonderful part of blogging is making connections and friendships with other bloggers. It’s one of the nicest communities I’ve ever been apart of. Now, thanks to my blogger friends Kathie from the beautiful Home Spun Seasonal Living, and Wendy from the very delicious The Monday Box, I am connected to an awesome group of bloggers and an amazing farm in Montana. This farm, Granite Mill Farms, produces sprouted grains that is 100% organic and GMO free. Our group has been challenged to pick a sprouted grain flour from Granite Mill Farms and make something wonderful with it for World Baking Day. This whole week (May 11-15) we will be posting our creations. I chose to work with spelt flour, and I made blue cheese and candied walnut crackers. They are delicious, they go great with a nice, dry white wine, and I wish I could have shared them with the rest of this wonderful group.
I chose to work with spelt flour because I read that it had a sweet, nutty taste, and it worked well in baking. I am so glad I did! In fact, I didn’t miss good old all-purpose flour at all. These crackers are like a savory shortbread. They are a bit biting thanks to the blue cheese, which is softened a little by the sweetened walnuts.
First, I mixed butter and blue cheese together until smooth. Then I added the spelt flour, salt, pepper and a little water. I chilled the dough for 30 minutes before rolling it out.
I used a 2-inch biscuit cutter to cut out the crackers.
Then I rolled the sides in the egg wash,…
…and the chopped candied walnuts.
I baked the crackers for about 16 minutes, or until they appeared lightly browned.
- 1 stick (113 g) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 7.5 oz. (212 g) Gorgonzola, crumbled and at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (187.5 g) Spelt Flour or All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp. Kosher Salt
- 1/2 tsp. freshly Ground Pepper
- 1 Large Egg with 1 TBS Water for egg wash
- 1 cup Candied Walnuts, roughly chopped (recipe follows)
- 1 cup (100 g) Walnuts
- 2 TBS Corn Syrup
- 1 TBS Sugar
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 1/4 tsp. freshly Ground Pepper
- a pinch of Cayenne Pepper
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and Gorgonzola together for 1 minute, or until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add the spelt flour, salt and pepper and mix until it's in large crumbles, about 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon of water and mix until combined.
- Dump the dough onto a lightly floured board, press it into a ball, wrap it up and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to 1/3 inch thick. Using a 2-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut out the crackers. Roll the sides into the egg wash, then gently roll into the chopped candied walnuts.
- Place each cracker on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until very lightly browned. Rotate the pan once during the baking process. Cool and serve at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix the walnuts and the rest of the ingredients together. Spread the nut mixture on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until nuts are golden brown and bubbling.
- Cool completely on baking sheet, then roughly chop the nuts with a knife or a food processor. Set aside.
- 2-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter
- Standing mixer with paddle attachment
- Food processor (optional)
