Cheese Straws

Boy Bakes Treats - Cheese Straws

Crispy, cheesy with a little kick of spicy heat, these light pastry treats are eminently snackable - equally at home with a beer during the footy, or as part of a spread welcoming guests to your dinner party.

Your cheese selection needs to be pretty punchy here - full of flavour and with a relatively low moisture level. I go half parmesan and half aged cheddar, however I am not the boss of cheese - yet - so feel free to mix and match to your heart's content. It's not just the cheese you can experiment with either. There's paprika in here because I'm a big fan of the flavour, and it adds some extra colour, but you can go with your own herby and/or spicy preferences.

For the time- or effort-poor people out there you can forgo rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients and instead get a trusty food processor to complete this step for you. However, I definitely recommend using the knife to mix in the egg, just because it's fascinating to watch this process happen.

Oh, and scatter some extra grated cheese over the straws just before you slide them in the oven. It's going to crisp up real nice and give your straws some next level crunch.

MAKES

PREP

35 minutes plus resting

COOKS

12-15 minutes

Ingredients

110 grams plain flour
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
Pinch of salt
70 grams butter, cubed
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
70 grams medium-hard, flavorful cheese (e.g. parmesan or sharp cheddar), grated
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water

Directions

Heat oven to 190 degrees Celsius/375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2-3 baking trays with non-stick baking paper and set aside.
Sift the flour, cayenne pepper, paprika and salt into a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the butter cubes into the flour mix until they have almost disappeared into the flour and you have a crumbly mixture. Add the grated cheese and lemon juice and mix together.
Stir in the egg and the egg yolk with a butter knife, then mix until you have a stiff, pliable dough, adding just enough water to bring it all together (you may need to get your hands in the mixture to help bring it together). Wrap in cling wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead five or six times. Take half the dough and roll it out, forming a rectangle about 1 centimetre thick. Trim the edges to make it straight. Using a pizza cutter dusted with flour, slice it into thin strips, about 2 centimetres wide, and transfer them carefully to a prepared baking sheet. If the strips break, just pinch them back together. Repeat with remaining dough.
Sprinkle with extra cheese and black pepper, and bake one tray at a time for 12 to 15 minutes, or until just golden and fragrant - the straws will darken on standing. Remove from oven and leave on the baking tray for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
I could tell you that your best bet to crisp up any leftovers would be to throw them in a cool-ish (100 degrees Celsius) oven before re-serving, but honestly, how many are going to be left uneaten?

Ingredients

Directions

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Recipe notes