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cheese straws in glass
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5 from 20 votes

Spicy Southern Cheese Straws

These spicy and delicious Cheese straws are ideal for a party snack. This recipe travels well, and it’s so easy to make. In fact, you’ll only need 6 ingredients that are probably already in your kitchen.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time18 minutes
Total Time28 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian
Servings: 40 straws
Calories: 29kcal

Equipment

  • Oven
  • food processor

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup All-purpose flour
  • 5 oz Mexican blend cheese Can use cheddar cheese or Monterey jack cheese. Read more on cheese choices in the ingredients notes above.
  • 4 Tablespoon Butter I use unsalted butter
  • ½ teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Crushed red peppers if using plain cheese
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning optional
  • 2 Tablespoon Milk

Instructions

  • Layer two baking sheets with silicon mats or parchment paper and keep them ready.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  • In the food processor bowl, add the flour, cheese, salt, and butter.
  • Pulse the processor a few times until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  • Now add 1 tablespoon of milk and run the processor for about 5-10 seconds until the mixture forms a soft dough.
  • Gather the ball and knead it again gently. If the dough feels too soft, then refrigerate it for 10 minutes before rolling.
  • Divide the dough into two and roll it into a rectangle. Make sure to liberally dust the rolling surface with flour.
  • Keep the width of the rectangle to the size you want the straws to measure. My straws were about 6 inches long. Roll the dough keeping the thickness to about 1 cm.
  • Using a pizza cutter or a fluted pastry wheel cut the rolled-out dough into 1 cm wide straws. This is a wonderful task for kids.
  • Transfer the cut dough carefully to a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
  • Bake for about 15-18 minutes, or until the straws are golden brown in color.
  • Cool entirely in a rack and then store in an air-tight container.

Notes

Storage instructions
Cheese straws can stay outside in an air-tight container for up to a week. It could become a little soft but we could crisp it up again in the oven.
Leftover cheese straws can be stored in the freezer for 3 months but they do lose a little bit of their flavor and texture. It is better to freeze the dough instead of baked cheese straws. So if making a large batch, make sure to bake just enough and then freeze the dough to bake as needed.
Expert tips
  • Use hard cheese to make the best cheese straws. Soft cheese does not work as well.
  • Use different flavored cheeses to make variations of Southern cheese straws. We love the jalapeno cheese or the habanero cheese.
  • If making a large batch of cheese straws for later, make the dough and freeze it, and bake as needed. Baked cheese straws do not freeze as well.
  • Cheese straws can be made as straws or can be made as crackers as well. Instead of cutting them as straws, we can roll and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes and bake.

Nutrition

Calories: 29kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Trans Fat: 0.05g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 67mg | Potassium: 9mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 73IU | Vitamin C: 0.002mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 0.1mg