One of my biggest regrets has been that while I started Ovenderful as a baking based blog, I didn’t really carry it through. Despite the fact that I love writing and baking both, it seems like somewhere down the line I forgot to take out time to combine them. Priorities shifted to some extent and some things became more important than the rest.

But then revisiting your core is important because without that everything else that was created around or above it becomes meaningless. So 2016 is about revisiting the core –that which has remained strong despite the layers getting added on top. The beauty of the core is understated and downplayed, quintessential and versatile.

So here’s to reaching inside oneself in 2016 with a sense of promise and excitement, and uncovering small and yet powerful Ovenderful stories to share !

And since we are talking about core, a basic recipe of the Wholewheat cheese sticks that I kind of turned into cheese crackers to be used as the core of a canapé .

The topping can be of your choice. I wanted to use a freshly baked cheese cracker for the base because the intense taste of cheese and the spice mix are a perfect base instead of the store bought bland biscuits, which tend to shift the focus away from the base and onto the topping !

I wanted the flavours in the base cracker to be predominant rather than the toppings.

Wholewheat Cheese Crackers

130 g wholewheat flour , 143 g shredded cheese, 87 g butter, Salt as per your preference, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp paprika powder, 60 ml water for mixing.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the flour, pepper, salt, grated cheese and butter in a bowl and mix until well combined. Add water a little bit at a time to make a very stiff dough.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and cut the crackers out using a cookie cutter. Arrange the pieces on the baking sheet. Bake at 180 degrees C for 10 minutes or until browned.