Daring Bakers: Graham Wafers (and what was suppose to be Nanaimo Bars – oops!)

January 27, 2010

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

Ok first of all, a thousand apologies, especially to the fabulous Lauren of Celiac Teen (our gracious host) for not giving this month’s challenge the full attention it deserved. I so didn’t realised how late in the month it really was so I failed to finish the second part of the challenge. BIG OOPS!

Allow me to fire off the excuses in quick succession: post-New-Year-mayhem, the lack of mood to use the oven due to constant scorching hot and humid days (my bad) and a month full of social engagements (double bad). And just my luck… on the final day that I could’ve churned out a complete Nanaimo Bar, it was a public holiday (Happy Australia Day!) and I happened to fall sick.

Forgive me?

What I did complete was part one of the challenge – Graham Wafers, which I did early in the month (see? I had good intentions!). Us down here in Oz are use to seeing these biscuits in a lot of North American and Canadian recipes but they don’t exist here. So our usual alternative were always Digestives or any Armotts branded sweet, plain cookies. So I was happy that I was finally going to have my first taste of these much-loved cookies.

Either way, these crackers tasted damn good. But then again, it isn’t very hard to get me happy if honey and brown sugar are involved! In any case, part 2 was suppose to be using these wafers to make the Canadian favourite Nanaimo Bars. Instead I found myself polishing off a whole tin of Graham Wafers all by my lonesome with a glass of milk, lamenting on what things could’ve been. Ah well, I’ll do better next month, promise.

Gluten-free Graham Wafers

2013-03-09 05:43:37

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Cook Time

25 min

Cook Time

25 min

Ingredients

1 cup (138g) glutinous rice flour

3/4 cup (100g) tapioca flour

1/2 cup (65g) sorghum flour (can be replaced by brown rice flour or millet flour)

1 cup (200g) dark brown sugar, lightly packed

1 tsp of baking soda

3/4 tsp of kosher salt

100g unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes and frozen

1/3 cup (80ml) mild-flavoured honey like clover

5 Tbl (75ml) whole milk

2 Tbl (30ml) pure vanilla extract

Instructions

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.

In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.

Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.

Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.

Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).

Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.

Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.

Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster.

When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

Notes

(from Celiac Teen) If making the graham crackers with wheat, replace the gluten-free flours (tapioca starch, sweet rice flour, and sorghum flour) with 2 ½ cups plus 2 tbsp of all-purpose wheat flour, or wheat pastry flour. Watch the wheat-based graham wafers very closely in the oven, as they bake faster than the gluten-free ones, sometimes only 12 minutes.

(from me!) Rolling and making cookies out of the dough was tedious with this type of dough. So instead, I made a large sheet cookie seeing as it was going to be decimated into crumbs anyway (as in rolled it out into one large rectangle over the tray and baked). Of course that sheet cookie ended up in my mouth due to Nanaimo laziness! With the rest of the dough, I rolled it over a baking sheet, cut shapes out of it, then peeled away the excess. Far, far easier than cutting it out and trying to transfer the soft and sticky shapes onto a another tray.

Citrus and Candy http://www.citrusandcandy.com/

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{ 64 comments… read them below or add one }

Lauren January 26, 2010 at 16:41

I hope you're feeling better Karen! Even if you didn't make the Nanaimos, I'm thrilled you loved the wafers (an entire tin isn't too shabby ;D).

Suz January 26, 2010 at 19:30

Wow, your graham crackers look so pretty! This was my first time too, and I really loved them. (Not sure if they taste how they're supposed to, but I don't mind when they taste that good.)

Tangled Noodle January 26, 2010 at 19:58

So sorry that you weren't able to complete the Nanaimo Bars for DB but your graham wafers are outstanding! Look how perfectly aligned the little pinpricks are and the color so golden . . .

Hope you are feeling much better!

chef_d January 26, 2010 at 20:00

your graham crackers looks yummy, i still have some left overs from my nanaimo bars and im nibbling them as i write :)

Steph January 26, 2010 at 21:16

Aww Karen! I hope you're feeling better. Don't worry, I actually preferred eating the biscuits on their own rather than the slice! And yours look so cute with their crinkled edges :)

Gala January 26, 2010 at 22:14

Funny to see the time difference, here it's still the 26th. I'll be posting mine tomorrow.

Too bad you didn't make the nanaimo bars (I didn't either) but I really like the shape you used to cut out the wafers. :)

Su-yin January 26, 2010 at 22:38

These wafers look beaufitul! I love how you pricked holes in the crackers, makes it look so pretty.

Great photos as well – I love that bowl! :P

shaz January 26, 2010 at 22:47

Ah well, life gets in the way sometimes!, Your graham crackers look so pretty though. I really liked them too (made the GF version). Hope you're feelign better.

billy@ATFT January 26, 2010 at 23:04

excuses, excuses… tsk tsk tsk… j/k! Man you are so close! I think the next part is the more tastier part, for me anyway. But good job though, the bikkies looks good, mine was crap so didnt bother to take any photos in bickies form! LOL

@grabyourfork January 27, 2010 at 00:27

A shame you didn't get a chance to complete the challenge but on the other hand, those Graham wafers look pretty good to eat on their own anyway. Love the pics :)

pommiefoodie January 27, 2010 at 02:15

Looks great – my gluten free nieces will love this!

Anita January 27, 2010 at 05:16

These things happen. Glad you got to make the graham wafers though. I hadn't really heard of either of the recipes – it was a good challenge (esp gluten free)

Mary January 27, 2010 at 05:18

Your graham crackers look great–the shape and patterns are really nice! I found that I used so few for the nanaimo bars that there were still plenty to eat!

sheba January 27, 2010 at 05:49

Too bad ..would have loved to see how beautifully urs turned out. But the crackers are sure lovely

swerit January 27, 2010 at 05:51

well done on getting the first part of the challenge done! I agree, it was great to finally taste these crackers after seeing them in recipes so often!

Joy January 27, 2010 at 06:16

LOL – we should have got together for this challenge… you made the crackers, but not the Nanaimo – and I made the Nanaimo but not the crackers!! :)
I haven't posted yet… hopefully tonight – but your crackers look divine! :)

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:43

Aww thank you! :D And congrats on a great job on hosting this month!

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:44

Well if they don't taste the way that a Graham Wafer should, then you might be onto something new! Umm honey biscuits…

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:45

Thank you so much! xx

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:46

It's probably just as well I didn't make the bars because I'm sure I would've polished most of them before using them! :)

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:47

Thank you lovely! xx Yeah those biscuits were surprisingly addictive :)

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:48

LOL, I remember being worried that we weren't allowed to post so early in our timezone seeing as it's still early up North! :) Did you make the biscuits?

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:50

Hee, the bowl is from IKEA. As soon as I saw it, I had to have it!

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:50

Thanks Shaz! Dec and Jan are always the hardest months to get back in the swing of things!

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:52

Hehe but that's because you didn't see the initial 'sheet' cookie that I made purely for crumbs. Def didn't look as good!

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:52

Aww thank you Helen! Next month, no excuses for me!

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:53

Thank you so much!

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:53

I've still yet to make the GF version. I'm curious to see the difference in taste :)

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:54

And that is a great thing isn't it? There's something so wholesome about these biscuits and a glass of cold milk :)

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:54

Thanks so much. Next month, I promise to be good :)

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:55

Well at least I got one thing done that I was suppose to! I've still yet to try these biscuits for a cheesecake base to see if it's any different to using Digestives (which is what I always substituted with).

citrusandcandy January 27, 2010 at 08:56

LOL yes we should've! Then we could technically say that we both completed the challenge in full lol! :D

Monika January 27, 2010 at 10:19

Your crackers are stunning! Love them! :) I hope you're feeling better by now. Best wishes!

wic January 27, 2010 at 12:12

stunning crackers. hope you feel better.

citrusandcandy January 30, 2010 at 12:42: Thank you so much!

Reply

ap269 January 27, 2010 at 12:46

Too bad you didn't get to make the complete bar. You should try it soon, though, as they were really, really yummy!

Sophie January 27, 2010 at 15:57

Your post made me laugh! I'd love to have shared the bars with you, except I eated them. Your graham crackers look divine :)

Feeding the Saints January 27, 2010 at 15:59

Feel better, Karen! I think you should be more than forgiven for only completing half the challenge; what you did with the grahams and your photos of them are really lovely. I am envious. I'll echo other comments by saying that even though the challenge is over, you should still try the Nanaimos; they are good (esp if you try my coffee variation! ;-)
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by my blog to check out my first challenge. I am looking forward to seeing more of your recipes. (The goose, by the way, looks amazing.) ~ Allison

deeba January 27, 2010 at 16:47

Oh Karen, I'm sorry you fell sick, but you did make the best part of the challenge! The Graham Crackers were top of the world, and we couldn't get enough of them! Love your pictures too!

Cheri January 27, 2010 at 19:45

Beautiful. Your photos and crackers all look gorgeous! Perfection as always. :)

Laura January 27, 2010 at 23:11

I hope you are feeling better, Karen. Lovely graham crackers.

Jenny January 28, 2010 at 00:05

What a food stylist you are! Your photos are absolutely gorgeous. Nice work on the graham crackers!

Audax Artifex January 28, 2010 at 05:46

WOW those crackers look so delicious and so perfect and I hope you are feeling better and yes Australia Day was hot and the day before the reveal day bad timing. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

Lisa January 28, 2010 at 09:25

I just love those crackers, they are so beautiful they make up for the missing bars! Beautiful photos :)

Jill January 29, 2010 at 01:45

Your crackers look beautiful and in my opinion, these were the BEST part of this challenge–great job! :)

Michelle January 29, 2010 at 02:09

It's too bad you ran out of time, I'll bet your bars would've been just as lovely as your wafers!

Sara January 29, 2010 at 03:40

Your graham wafers look simply stunning!!!! Like you I went for the wheat option but am keen to try the gluten free ones in due course. Making the nanaimo bars was fun, but the wafers were the star I feel of the challenge

Natalie January 29, 2010 at 15:29

Gorgeous job on your graham crackers. Don't worry about not finishing the challenge…crazy things and getting sick has happened to us all at one time or another. Hope you feel better!

Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

citrusandcandy January 30, 2010 at 12:37