Cream cheese is a very versatile ingredient that can be used in breads, biscuits, desserts (of course!) and frostings. It carries the flavour of whatever ingredient you add along with it. It provides that light, fluffy texture to savoury dishes without having to add too much butter/oil. It is, however, difficult to store for too long in the refrigerator. I have seen that securing the lid with a cling wrap works well and the cheese keeps fresh for about 10 days. I have a huge tub of cream cheese sitting in my fridge and you will see that I will be using it in everything I make the coming fortnight!
These lovely cheese bars can be flavoured as per your desire. You could use other combinations: garlic/thyme, grilled paprika/rosemary, curry leaves/asafoetida etc. Make them sweet with chocolate chips, cinnamon, apples etc; the choices are endless. They are very quick to make with no fuss and no mess. Store them in an airtight container to keep them crisp and fresh.
Portion: Makes 50 crackers
Ingredients
110 g all purpose flour
50 g salted butter
100 g mascarporne or Philadelphia cream cheese (room temp)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Fresh chopped coriander
1/2 tsp carum (ajwain) seeds
1 egg white
Dried onion seeds (kalonji) and sesame seeds for decorating
Method
Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, carum seeds, fresh chopped coriander along with the butter and cream cheese to make a soft dough; do not work the dough too much. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly floured surface and roll it out into a flat rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick. Use cookie cutters or a pizza cutter to make 1.5 inch wide and about 4 inch long crackers. Transfer very carefully to a tray lined with a baking sheet and greased well. Give the crackers a light egg wash with a soft, silicone brush. Sprinkle the sesame and onion seeds on top.
Bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Enjoy with a steaming cup of masala chai!
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