Cheese Straws - 350° F

Author Lisa Fain

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded white cheddar cheese
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons half and half

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Using a food processor or your hands, mix the butter and cheese. Add the flour, salt, cayenne and half and half and stir until it becomes a ball. Taste and adjust seasonings.
3. Roll out the dough into a rectangle that is 1/4 inch thick, and using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into rectangles 2″x1″ rectangles. Alternatively, you can form dough into marbles and press with a fork.
4. Poke 4 holes in the top of each cheese straw with a fork.
5. Bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 15 minutes. Cool and then serve.

[Taken from https://www.homesicktexan.com/2008/12/grasping-at-cheese-straws.html]

Aug. 2019. I used my little star-shaped cookie cutter and called them Cheese Stars.

Dec. 2023. I used salted butter, sharp cheddar cheese, Gold Medal flour, kosher salt, ½ tsp each of ancho (pasilla) and New Mexico chili powders, and 2 tsp of 2% milk. I mixed it all in my stand mixer and rolled it out in a 12"x17" pan. Once it was baked I cut them into rectangles. Next time I'll try a smaller pan.]