Stilton and Walnut Crackers

For my birthday my in laws got me Ina Garten's latest cookbook. Sadly, after a quick flip through upon receiving it, I haven't opened it since. I had a bit of extra time on my hands this past weekend and wanted to try a new recipe and remembered my new cookbook. I always opt for something from the dessert section (why wouldn't you?) so this time I decided I would venture out into the land of savory snacks.

I settled on the Stilton and walnut crackers. True to the book's title ("How Easy is that?") these crackers are dead simple to make.

rolling the dough into a log before
the egg wash

fresh out of the oven

Ingredients
1/4 pound unsalted butter (at room temp)
8oz crumbled Stilton (at room temp)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt (*I might omit this next time as I thought they were almost too salty)
1 teaspoon pepper
1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water (for the egg wash)
1/2 cup of walnuts whizzed in the food processor or chopped

Instructions
Cream the butter and Stilton together in your mixer (or with a hand mixer) for 1 minute
Turn the mixer to low add flour, salt and pepper
Continue to mix until dough begins to crumble
Add 1 tablespoon of water and mix until the dough comes back together

Remove dough and place on a floured surface
Roll the dough out into a 12 inch long log
Brush the log with the egg wash
Place the chopped walnuts a cutting board and roll the log through them, ensuring to coat all of the log
Refrigerate the dough over night (Ina says you can refrigerate for as little as 30 minutes)

Cut the log into 3/8 inch pieces.
Place onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake for 22 minutes at 350f or 180c

finished product

So simple and the best part is you can prepare them the night before you want to serve them. I can't wait to share more recipes from Ina!