Skip to main content

Mustard and Walnut Cheese Crackers


Mustard and Walnut Cheese Crackers
Source: Maida Heatter's Brand-New Book of Great Cookies (Random House, 1995 ed.), pg. 229.

These are like cheese straws except maybe better! They are very spicy and intensely flavored. (I used extra-sharp cheddar cheese.) They would be great for appetizers or a party food. (If making these for a large group, you might want to double the recipe). One recipe makes about 48 crackers.

4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sifted unbleached flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. black or white pepper (finely ground)
1/2 tsp. dry mustard powder
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne
1/2 lb. sharp cheddar cheese 
1 TBS. prepared mustard 
1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce
6 oz. (generous 1 1/2 cups) walnut halves, chopped
 

Cut the butter into 1/2 inch slices and let stand at room temperature (it needs to be room temp. when you use it)

Sift together the flour, baking powder, pepper, dry mustard and cayenne. Set aside.

Cut the cheddar cheese into medium-small pieces and place in a food processor.
Process for about 20 seconds.
Add the sifted dry ingredients and pulse 7 or 8 times.

Add the butter...
and the prepared mustard.

Add the Tabsco sauce through the feed tube. Mix the ingredients.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl. It will be thick and sticky.
Add the walnuts and stir them into the batter.

Flour a work surface, transfer the dough by spoonfuls and line it up to form a roll about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 - 2 inches in diameter. Roll the dough until smooth.
Remove excess flour with a pastry brush.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours or overnight (or longer).
   Baking:

 Preheat oven to 350. 

Use a sharp knife and slice 1/4 inch wide and place them 1 - 1 1/2 inches apart on an unlined and unbuttered cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the crackers are lightly colored. (Some crackers may be done before others - if so, remove those and return the others to the oven). After removing from the oven, place on paper towels or paper bags.

After cooling on paper towels, they can be transferred to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container.
 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Palm Beach Brownies with Chocolate Covered Mints

Palm Beach Brownies with Chocolate Covered Mints Source:  Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.) , pg. viii. I made these brownies again a few days ago and they were just as good as ever. This time I made half with York Peppermint Patties and the other half with Andes mints. There wasn't a noticeable difference in taste. The ones with the Andes mints were pretty with the mint green color but the ones with Yorks are equally pretty. When Maida Heatter's first book (the above-mentioned title) won the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame Award in 1998, she accepted her award on stage and began to toss out these brownies to the audience. Everybody clamored for one and went wild. The original recipe came from a local deli in her area and did not include the mints (that recipe is available in the first edition of this book). She tinkered with the recipe and added the mints which do not melt during baking. I've been itching to ...
9 comments
Read more

Mulattoes

Mulattoes Source:  Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.) , pg. 199. Of the hundreds of Maida Heatter cookie recipes, this may be the most famous. These are chunky but soft, extremely chocolaty,  full of nuts and chocolate chips. Sinfully delicious! They are easy to make. The trickiest part may be the baking time. After making them numerous times, I have learned to only bake them 10 or 11 minutes at the most, then remove them and allow them to sit on the hot baking pan for about 5 minutes. They will be extremely soft to the touch but eventually they firm up nicely.  I just use my hand mixer for these. Although the recipe states that it makes 18 large cookies, I find that the yield is slightly higher, even when making them fairly large. I use a tablespoon scoop to form the cookies. 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate 3 oz. (3/4 stick) butter 1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking pow...
12 comments
Read more

Frozen Chocolate Mousse

Source:  Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.) , pg. 228. Here is a dessert sure to make any chocoholic swoon. Silky and decadent, this frozen mousse is like a rich chocolate ice cream. It is really easy to make - all the folding required will give you a workout but it is worth it! The crust can be made with crushed wafer cookies or you could even buy a ready-made crust. If doing your own, the instructions say to apply the crumbs around the sides of the pan (use a springform pan) but I did not do this - I just made a bottom layer. You will have to run a sharp knife around the pan before releasing the catch on the pan. The mousse is soft (even after freezing) and it will need to be put back in the freezer as soon as possible after serving. Maida Heatter recommends covering the mousse with either whipped cream, strawberries or chocolate leaves. I did not do either, it looks lovely without a topping. Crust 8 oz. choc...
5 comments
Read more