New Pi Eats

Sa-vo-ry: The Wholesome Cheez-It

09 Jun 2011 7 Comments

by New Pi Eats in Party Food, Snacks Tags: baked crackers, cheddar crackers, cheese crackers, cheese savories, cheese straws, cheez-it, parmesan, party food, party snacks, vegetarian

Mmm. Are you a cheese-hound? Yeah, me too. It’s got to be the other universal-flavor enhancer (the first has to be salt). My mouth is watering just thinking about these.

So here we have a thoooroughly cheesey, extremely pungent rendition of a cheese straw or cracker, or a wholesome Cheez-it, if you will. Extremely flavorful. And I didn’t even buy the expensive Parmesan – I used the quite tasty Wisconsin version. The Italian top-of-the-line would’ve been off the hook, and might’ve even been too much! Nah, it’d be good, but as they were, in the words of my recipe source-extraordinaire Charlotte, “They put every cheese straw I have ever eaten to shame.”

Charlotte also pointed out, “The secret to the deliciousness of these crackers is that they are 3/4 fat [cheese and butter] and 1/4 flour!” It’s true, there’s no getting around it, but a couple of these go a long way. They’re like fine dark chocolate – you only need a little bit to be sated.

This recipe is from English-household-name and food institution Delia Smith (their Martha Stewart, very loosely). She’s also the owner of the Norwich City Football (soccer, mind you) Club.

I’ve translated the weight (British measurements) to cups/spoons (American) for us, though cooking with a scale is quite nice once you’re used to it.

This batch is topped with, from left to right (I’m a little too into variety…) cayenne pepper, caraway seeds, black poppy seeds, and curry powder. The seeds made the prettiest impact.

Cheese Savouries

Adapted from Delia Smith’s recipe

Makes about 30

Optional toppings: sesame seeds, caraway seeds, poppy seeds, garlic salt, celery salt, mild curry powder, cayenne pepper, or whatever strikes your fancy

Preheat oven to 375˚F.

Lightly grease a baking sheet (I just use the butter wrapper).

Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl, and whisk in the cayenne and black pepper. Grate the two cheeses and add in. Rub in the butter with your fingers until it’s crumbly, then bring the mixture together with your hands. It shouldn’t need any liquid, but if it does, add a drop of milk.

Flour your surface and roll your rolling pin across it to flour it as well. Roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch, and use a 1 or 1 ½ inch cutter to cut out biscuits. It may work best to roll and cut a couple at a time. Flour your rolling pin whenever it gets at all sticky, rubbing off the sticky bits of dough first. They’re rustic looking anyway – don’t fret. Use a very thin-edged spatula to remove and transfer to your greased baking sheet. Arrange them fairly close together, as they don’t spread much.

Sprinkle any toppings of choice (if any) on them, and bake on a high shelf in the oven for 10-12 minutes. They’ll just start to look cooked but they don’t really need to brown much at all. Remove the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool and crisp. Store them in an airtight tin.

Thanks for the recipe, Charlotte!