Home Baked Cheese Sticks
Freshly baked homemade cheese sticks are always a party favorite and being so cheap and easy to make are but two of the many reasons that people are baking their own in these times of economic stress. We may have to tighten our purse strings but we do not have to give up our little luxuries.
Figure 1 Image Source: Cheddar Cheese
Depending on individual taste preferences, you can use any cheddar cheese from mild to the fully matured. Just be mindful that not everybody likes a fully flavored well-matured cheese. Colby is ideal in this recipe. It is also very easy to work with. Now for the recipe:
Ingredients
- 3 Ounces each of Flour and Cheese
- 2 Ounces of Butter
- 1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
- Freshly Ground Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper to Taste
- A little Milk to Mix with
Method
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet by lightly greasing it or spraying with a non-stick cooking spray. Although you can line the baking sheet with parchment paper, I never seem to be able to get the cheese sticks to come out anywhere as nice as when I use a spray or lightly grease the baking sheet.
- Finely grate the cheese and cut the butter into smallish chunks
- In a medium sized mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper then give this mixture a very quick stir. Now sift the dry ingredients thoroughly. I always give them at least two passes through the sifter.
- Now with the sifted dry ingredients in your mixing bowl gently rub in the butter using your fingertips
- Adding a little milk at a time mix until the mixture takes on the consistency of a stiff paste. Turn mixture out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently roll out to a sheet that is about 1/8 of an inch thick.
- Cut some of the dough out as small rings and the remainder as long thin straws the length of which is up to you
- It is important not to overcrowd your baking sheet so bake in batches. Place rings and straws on baking sheet and pop into oven to bake for about 5 minutes. When the cheese straws are ready remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer your rings and straws to a wire rack to cool. You can reload your baking sheet and cook the next batch.
- Once cooled you can transfer to container or to serving platter
Serving
These cheese sticks and rings are at their best when eaten fresh. However, they do keep well when stored in an airtight container.
If you want to add, that “extra special touch” for serving then try threading some of the straws through the rings prior to serving. These tasty little savories are nice on their own or with a variety of dips. Enjoy!
