This homemade Cheese Straws Recipe is spicy, cheesy and delicious. These little savoury cheese shortbread straws are perfect as a cracker or snack, on a charcuterie board, or for gift giving.
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Why We Love This Recipe
- These are crispy, savoury, and cracker like. Perfect for snacking on, or adding to a charcuterie board.
- If you love shortbread, these are like a savoury shortbread with the same great texture and buttery flavor.
- They have a little spice to them.
- The sharp cheddar gives a wonderful cheese flavor.
- They're great as homemade gift.
I first tried cheese straws one day when I was at a West Indian bakery. My husband is from Guyana, and we would sometimes go there for some Guyanese treats. Guyanese cheese straws are like a savoury, spicy cheese shortbread. They are buttery and crisp like the best shortbread, but also cheesy tasting, and then they have a little heat to them too.
They're like a savoury cookie. These cheese straws are kind of perfect. They're basically cheese crackers, only better. They often make an appearance at family gatherings, and if you're Guyanese they bring the best childhood memories, just liek this no-cook hot sauce recipe.
The Perfect Homemade Gift
If you're looking for a savoury homemade gift for someone special, these spicy cheese straws are perfect. A homemade food treat is a great gift -since lots of people don't have time to cook or bake these days, it doesn't add clutter to anyone's house, and tastes delicious!
Ingredients
- Sharp Cheddar -This recipe is best with a sharp cheddar. It helps create the best cheese flavor. You want the sharpness of an old cheddar for the very best flavor. If you don't use a sharp cheddar you run the danger of the cheese flavor getting lost and not standing out.
- Real Butter -Since these crackers are very much like a shortbread cookie, real butter works best. The taste of the butter really comes through, so I won't recommend using margarine for this recipe. We make these with salted butter. If you are using unsalted butter for this recipe, increase the salt.
- Cayenne Pepper -This is my mother-in-law's traditional Guyanese cheese straw recipe. They always make them spicy. The spice works so well with the cheese for this little crunchy snack. I won't recommend leaving the cayenne pepper out of this recipe, because they might be bland without it. You can reduce the pepper if you want to make a mild version. And if you like things really spicy you can up the cayenne pepper to suit your taste.
Variations
- Herbs -You can add some fresh herbs to your cheese straws. Add 1 ½ tablespoons of freshly chopped herbs like rosemary and thyme to your dough for herbed cheese straws.
Equipment
Cookie Press: -A cookie press works really well to make cheese straws. I think this is the easiest way, since the dough is quite thick. You can also try using a piping bag to create the long strips -which you can see I used in the step by step photos below.
Fit your cookie press or your pastry bag with a open star tip to create the cheese straws. This pastry tip helps create the crunchy edges of the traditional star tube straw shapes.
If you don't have a cookie press or pipping bag you can alternatively roll out the dough on a floured surface with a rolling pin. Roll to about ⅛" thick and cut into long strips. Adjust your baking time to about 8-10 minutes or until just starting to brown on the edges.
How To Make This Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Grate cheese with the fine side of a box grater. In a stand mixer or using an electric mixer, cream together the room temperature butter and grated cheese, until the mixture is well mixed and fluffy.
3. In another large bowl combine the flour, salt, and cayenne pepper -¼ teaspoon if you don't like it too spicy, or up to a ½ teaspoon if you like a lot of heat. Using a whisk, whisk together the flour, salt, and pepper to remove any lumps. Then slowly add the flour mixture to the butter and cheese mixture in the stand mixer.
4. Beat the dough on high for about 5 min. until the dough is very creamy. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally.
5. Put your dough in a cookie press, and pipe about 3-inch long straws onto an ungreased baking sheet.
6. Bake 12-15 minutes in a preheated oven, until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.
Storage
Be sure to store your cheese straws in an airtight container to keep them nice and crisp. Store the cheese straws at room temperature, for 2-3 weeks.
Or freeze the cheese straws for up to 3 months. Alternatively, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container. When you're ready to make them thaw the dough, form into straws and bake.
Serving
I used some of my cheese straws for a beautiful charcuterie board. I love this style of entertaining over the holidays. Create an amazing cheese board with something for everyone, and let guests help themselves throughout the whole party.
Tip: These cheese straws make a lovely homemade gift. Wrap them in clear cello bags with some ribbon and add to a bottle of wine for a wonderful hostess gift, or thoughtful homemade Christmas gift.
Yes, make cheese straws a week ahead and store them in an airtight container, or the freezer a month ahead. Or freeze the dough ahead of time, and thaw, form, and bake later.
Yes, you can make these without a cookie press. Use a piping bag with a star tip. Or, roll out the dough with a rolling pin to about ⅛ inch thick and cut with a knife into long strips. Adjust your cooking time to 8-10 minutes, depending on their size.
Don't underbake your cheese straws. They should be firm to the touch and just starting to brown on the edges when they're done. Also, be sure to cool your cheese straws on a wire rack. Store the cooled cheese straws in an airtight container.
We don't recommend using pre-shredded cheese for this recipe. Pre-shredded cheese has added ingredients that keep it from incorporating well into the dough. This recipe is best with freshly shredded cheese.
More Appetizer Recipes
If you tried this Cheese Straw Recipe or any other recipe on my blog please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting today!
Recipe
Cheese Straws
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- ½ lb sharp cheddar cheese
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 cups all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Grate cheese with the fine side of a box grater.
In a stand mixer or using an electric mixer, cream together the room temperature butter and grated cheese, until the mixture is well mixed and fluffy. - In a another large bowl combine the flour, salt, and cayenne pepper -¼ teaspoon if you don't like it too spicy, or up to a ½ teaspoon if you like a lot of heat. Using a whisk, whisk together the flour, salt, and pepper to remove any lumps. Then slowly add the flour mixture to the butter and cheese mixture in the stand mixer.
- Beat the dough on high for about 5 min. until the dough is very creamy. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally.
- Put your dough in a cookie press, and pipe about 3 inch long straws onto an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake 12-15 minutes in a preheated oven, until golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.
Nutrition
With this Easy Cheese Straw Recipe, life really is a party!
Dannyelle Nicolle-Ramjist says
These crisp and spicy crackers are such a favourite of ours and I know you will love them.
dnr says
Rhonda, thank you.
Dannyelle
dnr says
Jennifer, thanks so much.
Dannyelle
dnr says
Krista, thanks so much.
Dannyelle
dnr says
Jo-Anna you do need to make these, they're a favourite of mine and so good!
Dannyelle
dnr says
Norma, thanks so much. They're a favourite of mine. 😉
Dannyelle
Norma says
This looks so yummy! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Jo-Anna says
I think I absolutely need these to appear on my charcuterie boards this Christmas! They look DELICIOUS
Krista says
The cheese straws look delicious and so easy to make. Thank you for sharing and being a part of the blog hop.
Jennifer Lifford says
These sounds delicious! My kids would love them! And your table setting and charcuterie board are beautiful!
Rhonda Hallstrom says
What a great idea! These look so yummy