The Daring Bakers Challenge, January 2009: Graham Crackers and Nanaimo Bars

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 http://www.nanaimo.ca/.

I was really excited about this challenge when the recipe was revealed. I was in Canada at the time, skiing at Whistler and getting completely swept up in Olympic fever. Learning to make a Canadian speciality like Nanaimo Bars seemed timely and appropriate.

For the graham crackers, I decided to go with the non-gluten-free (or glutenous?) version as I had a lot of whole wheat flour on hand. Let's just say that now I understand why graham crackers come in sheets that you have to break into individual crackers. When I started making the dough for my grahams, I had a beautiful vision of lovely round biscuits in my mind - something similar to a British disgestive. Then I discovered that graham dough is STICKY! I rolled out the dough on a silpat carefully, making sure that all sections were of even thickness and then cut circles into the dough with a biscuit cutter.

Everything was going according to plan until I tried to pull away the excess dough and line the circles up on a cookie sheet for baking. What a mess!  The dough stuck so badly that I had to scrape it up with my nails. The majority of the dough ended up in a scrap pile to be rerolled, though I did manage to salvage a few of the round crackers.

After baking, the graham crackers did not get as crisp as what you would buy in a store. The exterior was hard, but inside they were chewy. They were delicious to snack on, but not ideal for making the crumbs for the Nanaimo Bars.

The Nanaimo Bars were easy enough to make, but the end product was VERY rich and not something I think I will make again. The creamy filling tastes almost like an american buttercream that you might use for icing a birthday cake. The entire thing was too sweet for my taste and reminded me of something that children would go crazy for (behaving even crazier after eating from the sugar high!). Both A and I were only able to nibble a small square before pushing them away and running for a glass of milk.

 

Though the challenge recipes won't make it into my regular rotation of desserts and baked treats, they were a lot of fun to make and got me to try something I might not have otherwise tried. With hindsight, I wish that I had tried the gluten free version. I just started a new job and learned that one of my team mates has celiacs, which means that a few gluten free recipes could make their way onto this blog in the future.

Recipes after the jump!

Graham Crackers

2.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (4 mL ) Kosher Salt
7 tablespoons (100 g) (3 ½ ounces) Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
1/3 cup (80 mL) Honey, Mild-flavoured such as clover.
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Whole Milk
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Pure Vanilla Extract

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.

Nanaimo Bars

Bottom Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)
1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

Middle Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar

Top Layer
4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.

For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.

For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.