God bless pre-made puff pastry. I mean, seriously. Chelsea and I both love this quick cheater ingredient so much, we could pretty much write a cookbook devoted solely to frozen puff pastry recipes (publishers, take note).
It’s so versatile! Make it savoury, make it sweet, make it breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snack… Roll it out and do anything with it. It’s flaky, buttery beauty will bestow just about any dish with quick and easy YUM.
In fact, using our new and improved search bar on the right (heyo!), I had to look up just how many amazing puff pastry dishes we had in the mix already…
- Bacon and Leek Quiche
- Chicken & Bacon Sausage Rolls
- Bacon, Egg & Goat Cheese Breakfast Pastries (clearly, puff pastry and bacon are good friends…)
- Vegetarian Samosa Braid with Tamarind Sauce
- 3-Ingredient Chocolate Raspberry Croissants
- Spanakopizza
- Caramelized Onion & Sundried Tomato Hand Puffs
- Turkey Leek Pot Pie with Sage & Walnut Studded Puff-Pastry
- Mini Yam & Pomegranate Puff Pastry Bites
… and now this. If that’s not enough to convince you to keep a couple squares in your freezer on the reg, I don’t know what is.
It’s gift basket season at the office again. Every couple days, a basket will come into the lunch room and get ritualistically ripped into by whoever is lucky enough to hear the magical crinkling sound of cellophane as it arrives (it’s like a lunch bell around here).
Cookies, chocolates, nuts. I don’t have much of
a sweet tooth myself so I always get particularly excited when it’s a savoury basket. Cheese, crackers, antipasto, CHEESE STRAWS. Cheese straws are a weird and wonderful beast. They’re sort of like crackers but bigger, and reliably covered in some sort of cheese. Crunchy, chewy, salty- exactly what I need at 2pm on a Thursday afternoon.
It got me thinking, as I prepared for next Friday’s much anticipated Port and Fin Holiday Baking Day (translation: Chelsea and I taking the day off work to marathon Christmas movies and eat all day… with some baking happening at some point)… I should approach my holiday baking like I approach gift baskets. A little sweet, a little chewy, a little crunchy, a little savoury- something for everyone.
These cheese straws are extra quick and easy thanks to the aforementioned pre-made puff pastry. Yes, I could have made my own dough, but the prospect of perfecting a recipe that could be whipped up in the half hour scramble before your in-laws/party guests/beloved co-blogger come over… well, everyone loves a short cut. Especially one this delicious.
Serve them as part of your holiday spread or give them as gifts. They’re excellent all on their own or served with dip. If you are serving with dip, my personal favourites are something yogurt and cilantro-based or the classic- Litehouse Dilly Dip, which I swear is delicious on anything) (not a shameless shill for Litehouse, I have definitely not been paid to say this) (although if Litehouse wanted to send me a lifetime supply of Dilly Dip for the kind words, I’m totally okay with that).
| Cheddar Chipotle Cheese Straws | | Print |
- 1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed in the refrigerator overnight
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 chipotle pepper in Adobo, finely chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, beat egg and chipotle together (I use an immersion blender to beat the egg and chop the pepper at the same time- it works really well but isn't necessary if you don't have one).
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry. Brush the egg mixture over the surface of the puff pastry. Sprinkle cheese and salt evenly over the pastry. Using a rolling pin, lightly press the cheese into the puff pastry. Slice the pastry into strips, twist each strip up and lay them flat on the lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned then flip each straw over and bake for an additional 3-5 minutes so that they brown on both sides. Take care not to overcook. Let cool completely and serve at room temperature.
Aaaand now I am hoping – nay! expecting! – these delicious beasts to be waiting for me when I arrive for said Port and Fin Holiday Baking Day. I will hold you to this.
Along with a vat of dippy sauce! The puppies are going to be SO upset these aren’t for them.
Hi ! We put up a list of the TOP 100 best Christmas recipes for 2015. Your recipe was also included on this list. Go check it out at: http://ohmydish.com/100-best-christmas-recipes-2015/ Greetings, Veronique and Marco from ohmydish.com
Thanks for including us, Veronique and Marco! What a great round up of holiday recipes- can’t wait to try some of them!
Just making Chipotle cheese straws. Smell delucious !!!
Hope you enjoy them as much as I did, Laura 🙂