I haven’t made Cheese Straws in ages, but I needed to come up with a quick nibble to bring along to an early evening celebration. I didn’t want to bring something sweet at that hour, but I needed something that could be enjoyed by both children and adults.

For a time, I lived in the pseudo-South. There was enough southern influence that cheese straws were sometimes served at parties. I once helped a college roommate’s lovely southern mother prepare them for a bridal shower.

This time, I reduced the cayenne pepper from ½ teaspoon to ¼ teaspoon and substituted Trader Joe’s Cheddar-Gruyere Mélange cheese for the cheddar. The gruyere really adds a delicious tanginess. If you want, just use half sharp cheddar and half gruyere. It’s easiest to grate the cheese while cold. Then let the butter and cheese come to room temperature for creaming.

These would be delicious with wine or cocktails. I’d go a bit heavier on the cayenne for that than when serving these to children.

If you don’t have a cookie gun, chill the dough for an hour and roll out like cookies. Use a dainty cookie cutter or cut into diamonds. As with sugar cookies, try not to over-handle the dough.

Cheese Straws

¼ lb. unsalted butter, softened
¾ lb. cheese, grated and at room temperature
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ to ¾ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
1-1/3 cup flour

Cream grated cheese and butter. Sift flour, baking powder, and cayenne together and add to butter mixture. Mix well.

Run through cookie press (flat, ridged disk) onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cut to desired length. Don’t bother separating them while uncooked. They’ll be scored and break apart easily after baking.

Alternately, chill dough for one hour. Roll out to ¼ inch thickness and cut into diamonds.

Bake at 375 degrees until light brown, about 10 minutes. Watch carefully at the end; once they start to brown they’ll go fast. Let sit for 1-2 minutes, then cool on wire rack.