Cheese straws
- Total Time: 45 Minutes
- Yield: 20 1x
Description
Cheese straws are a tradition, especially when I bake them at Christmas. I don’t care how old the recipe is, I still love them. In fact the recipe is so old you have to buy lard… Yep, I have just taken you right back to the 70’s and 80’s! I use parmesan because it has a strong cheese flavour, but you could use Gruyere or a real strong cheddar if you prefer. Either way you have to have a strong cheese, otherwise the flavour will be lost in the pastry.
A few people use puff pastry, but this shortcrust pastry method is my preferred way. I find this recipe quick and easy to follow. Plus you can make the dough ahead and freeze. I have mentioned this below.
A few people have asked a few questions over the years of me making them, so I hope that I have been able to answer them below the recipe card.
Ingredients
- 150g Cold lard cubed
- 150g Cold butter cubed
- 450g Plain flour
- 150g Parmesan, grated
- 1/2 Tsp Mustard powder
- 1 Egg, beaten
- Extra 3 Tbsp Parmesan grated
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade.
Place the lard, butter and flour into a food processor and whizz until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, then stir in the 150g parmesan cheese and the mustard powder.
Add around 3 tbsp of iced water to bring it together into a firm dough, then wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Roll out the pastry to ½cm thick, then brush with egg and sprinkle with the 3 tbsp of parmesan. Cut into rectangular strips 1cm wide and arrange on a lightly greased baking tray, making sure they have room between each other. If you don’t give them enough space they will steam and not crisp up enough. I even twist them and make them curly, or you can leave them straight.
Bake for about 15–20 minutes, then cool briefly on a rack to cool and go firm.
Notes
You can sprinkle sesame seeds or poppy seeds on them for additional crunch.
Use them to dip into sauces.
- Prep Time: 25 Minutes
- Cook Time: 20 Minutes
- Category: Lunch
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: British
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/20
- Calories: 238
- Sugar: 0.2g
- Sodium: 144.8mg
- Fat: 16.3g
- Saturated Fat: 8.3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 17.5g
- Fiber: 0.6g
- Protein: 5.8g
- Cholesterol: 38.5mg
Can I freeze cheese straws?
Yes you can, however I leave them as the raw cheese dough, place them spaced apart in a loose freezer bag, and then place in an airtight freezer container. When I want to bake them, I defrost completely and bring to room temperature, before cooking as above.
How do you keep cheese straws crispy?
You need to put them in a good airtight container. Some people keep them for up to a week, but I think after three days they start to spoil slightly.
Published by