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Snack & Appetizers

Cheese Straws

Cheese straws are crisp sticks of short cheese pastry made with mature Cheddar, Parmesan, mustard and cayenne, a British Christmas nibble with drinks.
Recipe Cheese Straws
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Preparation 25 minutes
  • Cooking 18 minutes
  • Servings for about 50 straws

Cheese straws are thin, crisp fingers of savory cheese pastry: a short dough of flour and butter packed with grated mature Cheddar and Parmesan, warmed with a little mustard powder and cayenne pepper. In Britain they are a classic nibble to serve with drinks before Christmas lunch and at parties over the holidays, and a homemade present packed in a tin.

They have been made in British kitchens for generations, and they are just as loved in the American South, where the dough is often piped through a cookie press into ridged ribbons. This is the British version, rolled out and cut with a knife; a spoonful of semolina in the dough makes it extra crunchy.

Ingredients for about 50 straws

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Method

  1. Put the flour, semolina, mustard powder, cayenne and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs; you can also pulse everything in a food processor.
  2. Stir in the Cheddar and the 75 g of Parmesan. Beat the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of the ice-cold water, add it and bring everything together into a firm dough, adding a few more drops of water only if it stays crumbly. Flatten it into a block, wrap it and chill for 15 minutes.
  3. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F) and line two baking sheets with parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle of about 30 x 20 cm (12 x 8 inches), about 8 mm (1/3 inch) thick.
  4. Brush the dough with the milk and sprinkle it evenly with the 2 tablespoons of Parmesan. Cut it in half lengthways, then cut each half across into strips a little over 1 cm (1/2 inch) wide, to make about 50 straws of 10 cm (4 inches).
  5. Lift the straws onto the baking sheets with a palette knife, leaving a little space between them; you can twist them gently if you like. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, swapping the sheets halfway through, until crisp and deep golden.
  6. Let the straws cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, until firm, then move them to a wire rack. Serve them warm or cold, standing in a glass or piled on a board. Finally, remember to download our App with exclusive content and fewer ads!

Variations and Alternatives

For a quick version with puff pastry, sprinkle a ready-rolled sheet with grated cheese, fold it in half, roll it out again, cut it into strips and twist each one before baking. Sesame seeds, poppy seeds or a pinch of smoked paprika can go on top instead of some of the Parmesan. Southern cheese straws from the United States are made with softened butter, sharp Cheddar and flour, piped through a cookie press. For vegetarian guests, use a vegetarian hard cheese in place of the Parmesan.

Tips

Use cold butter and handle the dough as little as possible: overworked, it bakes hard instead of short and crumbly. A strong, mature Cheddar gives the best flavor. Bake the straws until they are an even deep golden color, as pale ones stay soft in the middle, and leave them on the tray until firm, because they break easily while hot.

Storage

Keep the cooled straws in an airtight tin for up to 5 days, and crisp them up in the oven at 180 °C (350 °F) for 3 to 5 minutes before serving. The cut, unbaked straws freeze on a tray, then in a box, for up to 3 months: bake them from frozen, adding 2 to 3 minutes.

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