Monday, September 11, 2006

Mondays with Maida - Whole-Wheat Squares


Page 158 in the old book / page 196 in the new book

These squares are similar to wheatmeal biscuits. They are hard, dry, and very plain... which may not sound like much of a recommendation, but they are actually quite good. They are very buttery, not so sweet, and have no salt. I thought they were wonderful with a little jam, so I brought a jar into the office along with the cookies (fig for me, strawberry for the office).

These are mixed without a mixer - the butter is cut into the dry ingredients (which for the quantities of flour and butter involved, requires a little muscle) and then you "break" the dough by smearing pieces of it with the heel of your hand across your work surface. Once again I had some trouble with the dough sticking when I rolled it out. I used the pastry cloth as recommended, but I'd be tempted to try rolling the dough between sheets of wax paper (using my tape trick) since the dough must be rolled into a rectangle.

Even though I enjoyed these cookies, I don't know that I'd choose to make them again. They're a bit of a bother to make and given a choice between these and Carr's Wheatmeal Biscuits, I'd probably pick the latter. Perhaps with a pinch of salt and maybe a touch more sugar, I'd be completely sold on these Whole-Wheat Squares. I'm sure that if they were just a little less trouble to make I would be.

Denny: "Nice little cookie with strawberry jam, not spectacular, just nice. Rating - 3.0"

Laura: "This cookie is less moist but still yummy! (Time to grab another cookie and a cuppa!) Rating - 4.0"

Terri: "This cookie is a cross between a graham cracker and a shortbread cookie! A bit on the dry side, but Cathy had a jar of jam if we preferred to add this for sweetness. These would be great with tea and jam. Rating - 3.0"

Overall rating by the panel - 3.3

Next Week - Whole-Wheat Honey Wafers

Nutrition Facts

6 comments:

Rowena said...

Wholesome cookies I'd say (which is what I should be eating instead of the kugelhopf I made yesterday. ;-)

Regarding your note on the food: And please show us the pastries and desserts!!...Ooops, we ate them before I had the chance to take pics! Goes to show you where my priorities are when on vacation. Have a good week!

santos. said...

i think the whole idea of making crackers at home is just crackers, so of course, i love it. i never hear of anyone saying their homemade saltines are so much better than store bought; in fact, every cracker-type recipe i've tried has been pretty good, but no better than something like carr's, like you've mentioned.

i've yet to try graham crackers, though.

Cathy said...

Hi Rowena - yes, definitely wholesome! Now, since you didn't even think to take a picture of those French goodies, the least you good do is show us your kugelhopf!

Hi Santos! I know exactly what you mean. I've always been fascinated with the idea of making food items that you typically think of as store-bought, and crackers top the list. These actually are closer to being cookies than crackers, but they do have a great look. Honey graham crackers are coming up soon!

Anonymous said...

Yikes, we ate one and the other went to my husband's office....without taking any photos either. I don't know what's up with me. It seems that the only thing on the camera these days is the dog! Which, btw, might just need her own blog. ;-)

Leigh said...

Hi Cathy, those WW squares look like my kind of cookie!

Do you have a Schacht Mighty Wolf loom too? I love mine. I haven't tried warping with the raddle on the castle yet but probably will my next warp.

The tip about the masking tape is great. Thanks!

Cathy said...

Hi Rowena - what, no kugelhopf either? :-( Oh well, pictures of Maddie touring France are even more fun, so I can't complain.

Hi Leigh - thanks! Yes, that's the one I have too. I love mine as well, though I'm afraid it's been sitting idle quite a bit lately. I've never tried weighting the warp while winding on, but it sounds like a great idea.