Cheese Straws With Nutmeg

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons colman's dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 (10 ounce) package cracker barrel extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 375ºf.
• 2 sift the flour, rice flour, dry mustard, salt, cayenne, garlic powder, & nutmeg together into a bowl.
• 3 in a kitchen aid mixer, mix together the cheese and the butter on low, mixing for 10 minutes to cream together. mix the worcestershire sauce into the butter/cheese mixture.
• 4 using the dough hook, gradually add in the flour mixture, mixing on medium-low. mix well between each addition and scrape down the sides of the bowl so the flour is incorporated into the dough (i add the flour in 4 portions).
• 5 mix until the dough comes together - it doesn't have to form one single ball, but it does need to come together, and most of the dough should have come off the sides of the mixing bowl.
• 6 if the dough still seems too crumbly and not cohesive enough, add water 1/2 teaspoon at a time and beat on medium for one minute until the dough comes together. i rarely, if ever, have to add more than 1/2 teaspoon of water. i usually don't add any water at all.
• 7 you can either use a cookie press using the star disk to form strips, or roll the dough out to a 1/4 inch thickness and use a pizza wheel or a knife to cut the dough into 1/2" by 4" strips.
• 8 place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, place the straws on the parchment with 1/2" of space between them. if you have rolled and cut the dough, pierce each straw with the tines of a fork. if you are adding cumin or coriander seeds, put them on now and press them down into the dough a bit so they stick.
• 9 bake at 375ºf on the middle rack of the oven for 10 minutes. the cheese straws should be barely beginning to brown when you remove them from the oven.
• 10 let the straws cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then place the straws on a rack to cool. if you try to put the straws on a cooling rack immediately after you take them out of the oven, they may break while you're trying to transfer them from the sheet to the rack.
• 11 these can be kept in an air-tight container for up to a week, or you can freeze them for up to 3 months. if you do freeze them, return to room temperature and heat for 5 minutes in a 350ºf oven before serving.