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Cheese Straws- an old family recipe

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Picture will be updated when I make them again this week.

Cheese Straws, as mentioned in my previous post are a family favourite and a type of currency our family is encouraged to use outside of the home. Many of our friends and other family love these snacks, and requests are often made for us to bake up a batch. I’ve actually faced a lot of pressure to get these up on the blog but I just haven’t gotten around to baking any, fortunately that’s where my mom comes in. She baked up the pictured batch about a month ago and I’ve just gotten to posting about them. I am going to make some myself in the next few days and I will be sure to take some more pictures to share. They aren’t the prettiest treat, but they sure are tasty. In my opinion, the darker ones are the best, as they have that crispy cheese flavour. These are great for dipping and sharing, but they are also great to horde all to yourself.

This recipe was passed down to my mom from my Grandma Audrey and from her mother and possibly from her mother, etc. We are not sure how far these go back, but the love for them runs deep. My Grandma Aud is thrilled that the tradition of making these is being passed along, and I’ve included her note about rolling them in with my mom’s recipe. Mom took a ton of pictures, so there is a photo tutorial following the directions. You can tell it is an old family recipe because the measurements are not quite exact. Try it out with what I wrote and see how they turn out, adjust as necessary and bake these again and again!

What to eat with these? Anything! My mom especially likes equal parts salsa and sour cream mixed together as a dip. A good rule of thumbs is that your dip has to be on the lighter side, as these can be delicate. My Grandma eats them with dill pickles. I eat them plain mostly. My brother-in-law, husband, and father all like them sprinkled with some cayenne for a kick. They freeze really well too, so making a big batch is not usually a problem, if they even make it to the freezer.

Cheese Straws

INGREDIENTS

  • 3/4 cup less one tbsp margarine (or butter. **Mom’s recipe reads 1 1/3 squares of marg. — 1 square is 1/2 cup)
  • 2 cups old/sharp cheddar, grated (more if you want, more is always good)
  • 6 tbsp milk (you might need more to make a soft dough)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 rounded/heaping tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/3 cups flour

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, or lightly grease.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
  3. Using a pastry cutter (or your fingers), cut in the margarine until you have small, pea-sized pieces throughout.
  4. Add grated cheese and mix well.
  5. Using a fork, combine egg with milk in the measuring cup.
  6. Add the milk and egg to the flour mixture, stirring until a soft dough forms, DON’T OVER MIX.
  7. Place on a lightly floured counter and roll out until quite thin, though not transparent (Grandma’s note: if you don’t have a giant counter, separate dough into three chunks and do it in batches).
  8. Cut into strips and carefully move them onto baking sheet.
  9. Bake for about 10 minutes, until browned… or a minute or two long until really browned, if you are like me!

STEP-BY-STEP: Brought to you by Not Crocker’s Mom.

  1. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, or lightly grease.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

    Cutting the margarine into the flour mixture.

  3. Using a pastry cutter (or your fingers), cut in the margarine until you have small, pea-sized pieces throughout.

    Cheesed.

  4. Add grated cheese and mix well.
  5. Using a fork, combine egg with milk in the measuring cup.

    Stir in your milk.

  6. Add the milk and egg to the flour mixture, stirring until a soft dough forms, DON’T OVER MIX

    Lump of dough on my mom’s very long counter.

  7. Place on a lightly floured counter and roll out until quite thin, though not transparent (Grandma’s note: if you don’t have a giant counter, separate dough into three chunks and do it in batches).

    Cut long strips and cut across for perfectly sized

  8. Cut into strips and carefully move them onto baking sheet.

    Ready for browning. The dough is worth eating too…

  9. Bake for about 10 minutes, until browned… or a minute or two long until really browned, if you are like me!