This is a great “base” recipe for experimenting on top of. It’s ridiculously easy to make the simple version, and mild enough to be a blank canvas for personalization. And with only four ingredients, there’s a good chance you’ve already got what you need to make them.
Ingredients
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt (see below)
Directions
I figured out when I was doing baked macaroni and cheese that you’re better off not using the pre-shredded cheese. It has “anti-caking agents” in it, which means powdered cornstarch to prevent the pieces from sticking to each other. It doesn’t change the flavor enough to notice, but it doesn’t melt together as well when that is what you want.
Same story here. Get a solid block of cheese you like and shred that.
Then add the butter, flour and salt.
You might have noticed that’s not salt in the picture. Nope. It’s paprika, which is what the recipe I was starting from said to use. Only 1/4 teaspoon, which I think wasn’t enough to taste. And the whole time I was adding it, a little voice in the back of my head was telling me I should be adding some salt, too. But I figured I’d follow the recipe the first time. Mistake. I should have added a teaspoon.
So, once all your ingredients are together, cut the butter into the dry ingredients same way you would when making pie crust.
Once it resembles coarse meal, get in with your hands and mix everything together until it forms a ball of dough that holds together.
Pull off pieces of dough and roll them between your hands into balls about an inch across. You should get about 30 of them from this amount.
Now here’s where I’ll be adding another step next time. Roll the balls in grated Parmesan cheese. I can almost taste the difference now.
Extra cheese or not, place the balls on an un-greased baking sheet with a little room between them.
Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes. They’re done when the top starts to turn a little golden brown.
There is so much butter in these, I don’t think even the extra dusting of Parmesan I’m planning for next time will make them stick. They popped right up with almost no effort.
And had a nice, crunchy bottom to them.
Since I didn’t make them with salt, they were a little bland. So I hit them with a bit of popcorn salt and they were just right. My wife liked dipping them, still warm, in plain sour cream. The girls thought they tasted sort of like Goldfish crackers, but with a different texture. Everyone agreed they were a great quick snack.
But like I said — about four or five times now, I think — I’m going to roll them in Parmesan before baking next time. And I’ll add salt before rolling them out. And maybe I’ll try them with half cheddar and half feta. Maybe add a little chipotle powder next time.
Lots of seasonings to try, lots of cheeses to try. These are going to be showing up at lots of parties from here on out.
28 Comments
I could see rolling the dough thin and cutting it to make cheese straws. Or even just regular square cracker shape. And you could use whichever kind of cheddar, like extra sharp….mmmm
Hi Drew,
These look fantastic and I am going to make them, but I have a question: do you think they would be as good using either wheat or soy flour?
this looks easy and delicious! Yum!
Stephanie, I'm already thinking of what I need to do to make them harder, like Cheetos. Man, I'd love to do a … well, not "healthier" but maybe "less horrible" version of my personal guilty pleasure.
Jennifer, I would go half-and-half with whole wheat the first time, just like with bread. I've got no experience at all with soy flour, so sorry, can't help you there.
Mom2Be, yes and yes.
I would add some Parmesan cheese along with the Cheddar when mixing up the dough. It would only take a minute or two to use a microplane to grate the Parmesan. Bet it would be over the top then if rolled in Parmesan before baking.
We use this same (or similar) dough and make thumbprint cookies with jalapeno jelly. They go really fast with a glass of wine.
Ooh, or just a slice of jalapeño. There's an idea.
Last night I was prowling the kitchen trying to think of an easy snack I could whip up – tonight I'm making these! Brilliant!
Looks so good and so simple! I'll be doing this over the weekend…
Question, salted or unsalted butter? Could make a difference in the salt level as well. How about using pepper jack cheese for more flavor?
That easy? I can't believe it. What a perfect party food.
Becca, I used salted but they still needed more.
Oh lordy. Just how many ways to I need to get chubby? Sigh. These are just dandy. I didn't make these exactly the way you did – always been rebellious.
I put the grated (sharp this time) cheddar into my food processor, dumped in the softened butter and flour. Added slightly less than a teaspoon of (Kosher) salt, 2 teaspoons of Smoked Paprika and a pinch of granulated garlic. Pulsed everything a bit and then rolled the ball shapes. Because patience isn't one of my virtues, mine were a bit larger than yours. I think they'd be better if I developed patience and rolled them smaller like you did. Still, they are really terrific and sadly, very easy to pop into my mouth. (Excuse me. I'm chewing right now.)
Any weight I gain today is completely your fault. Yum.
I hereby disclaim the blame for anything you do after reading my blog. So there.
It was very easy and yummy!!
I had lots of pizza cheese left over so I chopped that up , some grated parmesan went in so I didn't have to add salt at all.
My 2 year old loved putting the rolled balls in rows on the baking sheet and she's crazy for cheese. I think this is going to be a family thing on the weekends form now on.
Trisha, I'm trying to teach my girls to make a few things. The sooner I can get them cooking for me the better.
I like cheesy poofs
You like cheesy poofs
If we didn't like cheesy poofs
We'd be LAME!!!
Arrrggh! Now it's stuck in my head!
We make these for parties, but wrap the dough around a small, green stuffed olive. So, when you bite into it, you get this salty burst with just enough extra moisture to make it perfect.
Beth, someone else suggested the olives. I'm not really an olive fan, but I bet my father-in-law would love those.
@jennifer, you can use half whole wheat pastry flour in these. and try sticking a pecan half on the top for extra goodness!
I use a similar recipe, but whip the butter, adding cayenne, or whatever additives to the butter. (1# Cheese, I cup flour, 1 Stick butter) After making the dough I crumble it and mix it with about the same amount of rice crispies. Make smooshed balls and bake on parchment paper. Rice crispies make them very crunchy without changing the cheesy flavor. You can also add rice crispies to cookie recipes, especially sugar cookies. Works best with thin crispy cookies. They keep well in airtight tins.
Susi, a little extra crispiness would be good. I'll keep the Rice Crispies in mind, thanks.
This recipe is almost exactly like my mom's cheese straw recipe. (She makes little balls of dough instead of actually forming it into straws.) However, most of the time she adds pecans in. Either chopped mixed into the dough, or one pecan half pressed into the top right before putting in the oven. I think the former tastes better, but the latter is prettier. The pecans add just a little bit extra.
Bazile, whenever it's a choice between "tastes better" and "looks prettier" I always go for taste.
add crisp, crumbled bacon and scallions to the dough… and maybe blue cheese…. my mouth is watering just looking at these!!
I can't believe you're the first one to mention bacon. Oh. My. God. That's perfect. Let's see, do I have any cheese left from last night's tacos …
These just saved my ass one hour before a forgotten potluck! Made them with a leftover stick of store-bought garlic butter and strong cheddar, rolled in parm, chili flakes and oregano as part of a thrown together cheese plate.