Time 35m Yield 2-1/2 dozen. Number Of Ingredients 5 Steps:
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. Beat in cheese until blended. Combine flour, salt and cayenne; stir into cheese mixture until a dough forms. Roll into a 15x6-in. rectangle. Cut into thirty 6-in. strips. Gently place strips 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets., Bake until lightly browned, 15-20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Number Of Ingredients 5 Steps:
Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, water, and salt together to make an egg wash, and set it aside. Lightly flour a work surface and set the puff pastry on top. Roll it to form a 15-by-10-inch rectangle with a long edge facing you, flouring the bottom and top of the dough as needed so it doesn’t stick (don’t overflour the pastry or it will toughen-you just want a light coating so it doesn’t stick to the work surface). Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the entire surface of the rectangle with the egg wash, and then sprinkle half the cheese evenly over the entire surface. Press lightly on the cheese with a rolling pin to smash the cheese into the dough (try to do this without further rolling or flattening the dough-you just want to get the cheese to stick). Use the rolling pin to lift and flip the dough over. Egg-wash the second side, cover it with the remaining cheese, and press it in. Use a pizza wheel, chef’s knife, or bench knife to divide the dough in half lengthwise so you have two 5-by-15-inch strips. Then slice each strip crosswise into 1½-inch-wide strips (you’ll end up with 20 strips). Hold the ends of a strip and twist it like the threads on a screw. Place the twisted strip on the prepared sheet pan, and repeat with the remaining dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or up to overnight. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake the cheese twists, rotating the sheet pan midway through, until they are golden brown and the cheese is nicely melted, 12 to 15 minutes total. Remove from the oven and let them cool on the sheet pan before serving. Note: Freeze some or all of the unbaked cheese twists on the sheet pan. Once they are frozen, transfer them to a resealable freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 month. When you want to serve them, they can go directly from the freezer to the hot oven to bake (they may need a few extra minutes to brown). You can also cut them into thirds crosswise to make mini hors d’oeuvres-size twists.
Time 1h30m Yield 4 dozen cheese straws Number Of Ingredients 8 Steps:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Put the softened cheese and butter in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer. Using the heaviest mixer paddle attachment, beat until the mixture has the consistency of whipped cream, 15 to 30 minutes. In a large bowl, sift 3 cups of the flour with the salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Gradually add the seasoned flour to the cheese mixture by large spoonfuls, beating well after each addition. Add the remaining 1 cup unseasoned flour incrementally until the dough is somewhat stiff but still soft enough to be pushed through a cookie press; you may not need to add all the flour. Lightly spray 4 cookie sheets with cooking spray. Put a portion of the dough into a cookie press fitted with the star tube and press the dough onto a cookie sheet in long strips that run the length of the pan. Repeat until the pan is full. Bake until straws are golden brown and crisp, about 20 minutes. With your hands or a sharp knife, break or cut the long strips into 3-inch lengths. Use a flat, thin spatula or an egg turner to remove the cheese strips from the pan. Allow them to cool on a wire rack. When they are completely cool, serve or store in a tightly covered container.
Time 8m Yield 5 dozen Number Of Ingredients 5 Steps:
Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Sift together the flour, cayenne and salt and set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and cheese until blended. Add the flour mixture slowly, beating at low speed, then continue to beat for 5 minutes, until very creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times. Using a cookie press with a star tip, make 3-inch-long cheese straws, leaving at least 1/2 inch between each on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to racks to cool. Makes approximately 5 dozen cheese straws.
Time 1h Yield About five dozen Number Of Ingredients 6 Steps:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grate cheese. In a food processor, pulse dry ingredients until combined, then add cheese and butter. Process until dough becomes smooth and has the texture of Play-Doh. Alternately, make the dough in a stand mixer by creaming cheese and butter until smooth. Then combine dry ingredients in a bowl and combine with butter mixture at low speed until smooth. Shape the dough into a cylinder, wrap with plastic wrap or parchment and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Or store in the refrigerator until ready to bake. Bring dough to room temperature and pack it into a cookie press fitted with a star disk. Pipe long ribbons of dough across the baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat, about an inch apart. Then cut into six-inch lengths. Repeat with remaining dough. Dough may also be hand-rolled into long ropes and cut to size, or shaped into a cylinder and sliced into rounds and baked. Bake for about 13 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown. Store between sheets of parchment or waxed paper in an airtight container. Will keep for up to three weeks.
Time 30m Yield 36 Number Of Ingredients 5 Steps:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet. In a large bowl cream butter and cheese. Stir in flour and salt; mix well. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/2 inch in thickness. Cut into 2 inch strips and sprinkle with ground red pepper. Place strips on prepared cookie sheet(s) 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crisp.
Time 1h5m Number Of Ingredients 6 Steps:
Unfold the puff pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water; generously brush on the pastry sheets (reserve the remaining egg wash). Combine the cheddar, parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over 1 pastry sheet, then place the other pastry sheet on top, egg wash-side down, lining up the edges. Lightly dust the pastry with flour; firmly press the top sheet down, then roll out the sandwiched pastry sheets into a 10-by-12-inch rectangle. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut the puff pastry rectangle in half lengthwise. Cut each half crosswise into 18 strips. Twist each strip a few times and arrange 1/2 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Brush with the reserved egg wash. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes or up to 1 day. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Bake the cheese straws, switching and rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until puffed and golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Slide the straws (on the parchment) onto a rack and let cool completely.
Time 30m Yield 20 cheese straws Number Of Ingredients 8 Steps:
Sift the flour and add the salt, paprika and cayenne. Rub in the butter until the mixture is like oatmeal. Add the cheeses, Tabasco sauce and egg yolk. Make into a smooth dough, adding water as necessary. Roll out onto a floured board and cut in narrow strips, about one-fourth of an inch wide and three-inches long. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for seven to eight minutes, or until golden.
