Yet another recipe for cheese straws? As if Puffy Cheese Sticks or “Aunt Sammy’s Radio Recipes Revised” Cheese Straws weren’t enough. But these thin cheese straws pack a surprisingly powerful cheddar punch. And they’re so darned cute.
We first met skinny cheese straws at the famous Olde Pink House restaurant in Savannah, Georgia. Instead of a bread basket, a glassful of tall cheese straws greet guests while they check out the menu and take in the 18th Century oil portraits. The historic pink stucco mansion was the home of Joseph Habersham, Jr., whose ghost is said to still wander about. Did he ever eat a skinny cheese straw? Who knows. But his ghost should take some pride in how happy these straws—and the classic Savannah dishes that follow them—make the diners.
Skinny cheese straws are the opposite of the clunky, Southern-style cheese sticks that come extruded from a cookie press—like Spritz Christmas cookies. According to the Lee Brothers, authorities on Southern cooking, thin straws are also a Southern tradition. Their James Beard-award-winning cookbook, The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, reveals the secret to making cheese sticks almost as skinny as dried straw.
Relax, you probably have all the ingredients on hand. And you can make the dough with just a few whirrrrs in the food processor. (Without a food processor, it will take time to cut the butter and cheese into the flour.) The secret to the crunch and sharp flavor is the high cheese-to-flour ratio. So while you roll out the dough, remember to dust sparingly with flour.
What the Lee Brothers don’t say is that making these requires some compulsive behavior, since you need a ruler or straight edge and patience to cut them so thin. The brothers recommend ¼ to ⅜ inches wide, but we prefer slicing them closer to ⅛ inch so they come out square and even more adorable.
We like really long straws, about 9-10 inches. But they break easily. And my biggest challenge is finding a storage container long enough to hold them. So feel free to slice them shorter for easier handling.
Even if they end up breaking into different lengths, these delicate, elegant Savannah-style straws will impress your guests with an unexpectedly cheesy explosion in every tiny bite. And sit back and enjoy as they wonder how in the world you ever made them so skinny.
Thin Cheese Straws
Adapted from Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook (2007)
Makes 40-60 straws, depending upon how thinly sliced
- 6 ounces grated, extra sharp cheddar cheese (we prefer Trader Joe’s Unexpected Cheddar)
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, softened and cut into 4 pieces
- ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus a little for dusting
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon milk
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a food processor, combine cheese, butter, flour and salt. Process in five, 5-second pulses until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk and process about 10 seconds, until the dough forms a ball. (If mixing by hand, combine flour and salt and cut in butter and flour with fingers or with a pastry blender. Then add milk and mix with a fork until the dough comes together into a ball.) Just a little milk is enough, since the dough should be fairly dry. You need only enough to keep the dough together when rolling. If it is too dry, wet your hands slightly and roll the dough into a ball. But adding too much liquid can make you need to add more flour, which can cut down on crispness and flavor.
- Lightly flour the surface, and roll the dough into an 8”x10” rectangle, about ⅛” thick. Using a ruler or straight edge and a sharp knife, slice the dough into long, thin strips, about 3⁄16 to ¼ inch wide and anywhere from 2 to 10 inches long. Gently transfer the strips to an ungreased cookie sheet. If they break, you can reroll and recut, or just leave them as is at different lengths.
- Bake in the middle rack for about 8-10 minutes, until lightly brown at the edges. Leave on the tray a minute or so before removing, then let cool on a rack.
- Serve at room temperature. Keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a couple of days, or store in the freezer.
