Cheese Straw Heavenliness December 23, 2009
Posted by Teresa in : Snacks/Party Food , trackbackOh, these are the best things ever! I am making a batch at this moment, and realized I haven’t posted them here! Oh, they are so delicious! The recipe comes from 101 Cookbooks. My notes are in blue.
Buckwheat Cheese Straws
The buckwheat flour here gives these cheese straws a depth that others made from all-purpose flour don’t have. That being said, you could certainly give these a shot using all whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, or unbleached all-purpose flour. Or experiment with other flours in place of the buckwheat flour.
1/2 cup buckwheat flour — Of course, I don’t have buckwheat flour, so I run buckwheat (easy to get in grocery stores) through my food processor for a couple of minutes. The crunchy bits left just add to the flavour!
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour – I use the “best for bread” kind we can get in Canada.
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped – I also made these with rosemary once – yum!
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
3/4 cup (2 1/2 ounces) white cheddar, shredded on a box grater — I used aged cheddar
1/2 cup ice cold water
Combine the flours, salt and thyme in a bowl of a food processor. Put the 1/2 cup water in the freezer. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles little pebbles in a beach of sandy flour (about 20 quick pulses). Alternately, you can cut the butter in using a knife and fork. Transfer to a mixing bowl and toss in the cheese. Sprinkle with ice water and use your hands or a spoon to stir it through and bring everything together into a ball of dough. Flatten the ball into a 1-inch thick square patty, wrap well in plastic, and place in the freezer for thirty minutes (or outside in a Canadian winter for five). 
In the meantime, preheat your oven to 400F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat, and place a rack in the middle of the oven.
I find it easiest to work with one half of the dough at a time. Remove the dough from the freezer, cut in half, re-wrap the half you won’t be using immediately, and place it back in the freezer. If the dough gets too warm it is difficult to work with. On a well-floured surface roll out the remaining dough into a rectangle roughly 6×12-inches and 1/4-inch thick. Use a knife to cut 1/2-inch wide strips, each about 6-inches long. Now take a strip of dough and gently pinch it all along its length so that it is easier to roll out into a straw shape roughly 12-inches long. If the dough is giving you trouble, consider chilling it a bit longer. Place each straw on the prepared baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining strips, leaving at least 1/2 inch between each straw.
Bake the straws one pan at a time for about 8-10 minutes, or until the straws look set, and the cheese is golden where it is touching the pan. Flip each straw and bake for another 2-3 minutes on the other side. Keep in mind if your straws are on the thin side, they’ll bake in a flash, if they are slightly thicker they will need to go longer. Remove from oven and let cool, they will crisp more as they cool.
Sometimes I bake off half the dough, and keep the other half in the freezer for another day, but feel free to bake all of it – repeating the process with the second half of reserved dough.
Makes about 4 dozen straws.
Thank you, Heidi, for such a delicious recipe!!
Comments»
no comments yet - be the first?