These super easy cheese straws are the perfect savory puff pastry recipe! Simply roll out pastry, top with cheese and pepper, and twist up into cheese straws. These bake up as cheesy, flaky, buttery cheese straws which are the perfect starter or snack! I make mine with homemade puff pastry but they also work perfectly with store bought puff pastry.
Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this super easy cheese straws recipe! I make these with my homemade puff pastry recipe which is a super versatile recipe for both sweet and savory puff pastry recipes, and these cheese straws come out looking super fancy when they are a very easy quick recipe to throw together!
If you are after a buttery, flaky, cheesy snack, these are perfect - every time I made these in recipe testing they didn't last long at all.
I make mine with parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper for a Cacio e Pepe vibe, but feel free to use herbs or spices mixed in with the cheese - make these cheese straws your own!
For the cheesiest cheese straws, use cheese instead of flour!
The best way to make sure these cheese straws are as cheesy as possible, instead of using flour on the work surface, use cheese! This means that as you roll out the dough it gets pressed into the cheese, giving amazing flavour and a beautiful crunchy texture.
The key here is to make sure that you use cheese that has been very finely shredded - I used my microplane but the smallest holes on a box grater will work well too. Make sure that the cheese is freshly grated - pre-shredded cheese has a starchy coating on it which gets gummy.
I made these with freshly grated parmesan cheese. I haven't tried other cheeses but if you do, go for something hard in texture.
A couple of ways to shape cheese straws
There are a few ways to shape these cheese straws. I went for a more fancy version, cutting strips, cutting a slit down the middle and twisting them up, which looks very fancy and fun but I promise it is very easy.
Alternatively you can twist from each end of the strips to make a classic twist, or cut the strips of dough thinner (about 1cm) for little tiny thin crispy cheese straws. If you change the shape just make sure to watch the baking time as it will change with larger or smaller dough pieces.
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Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
Cheese Straws with Puff Pastry
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 28 servings 1x
- Category: Savory
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These super easy cheese straws are the perfect savory puff pastry recipe! Simply roll out pastry, top with cheese and pepper, and twist up into cheese straws. These bake up as cheesy, flaky, buttery cheese straws which are the perfect starter or snack! I make mine with homemade puff pastry but they also work perfectly with store bought puff pastry.
Ingredients
- Half a batch of homemade puff pastry (375g), or store bought puff (see notes)
- 100g freshly grated parmesan cheese, grated finely on a microplane or the small holes of a box grater
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine the parmesan cheese and pepper in a medium bowl, and mix well to combine. Sprinkle the work surface with a little of the cheese. Place down the pastry, and sprinkle with more cheese.
- Roll the pastry to a rectangle approximately 12x14" (30x35cm), adding more cheese as you go and sprinkling the surface with more cheese and flipping the pastry to ensure both sides are evenly covered.
- Square off any rough edges to give you a nice rectangle.
- Using a sharp knife or a pastry wheel and a ruler, cut the dough horizontally into 1" (2.5cm) strips. Cut the dough in half vertically to give you two lines of fourteen strips.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Working with one piece of dough at a time, cut a line down the middle of each strip, leaving about 1" (2.5cm) un cut at each end. To twist up the cheese straws (see images in post), fold the top down and through the slit twice, to make twists in the dough. Fold the bottom edge up and under the opposite way once - so two twists at the top, and one at the bottom. It takes a little bit to get the hang of - you will know if you have done it wrong as the whole thing will untwist.
- Place each cheese straw on the parchment paper lined sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining cheese straws - you can arrange them snugly on the pan as they are going to be frozen.
- Freeze the cheese straws for 20 minutes on the sheet pan.
- While the cheese straws are in the freezer, preheat the oven to 400°f / 200°c.
- I like to bake these one sheet at at time but if your oven can handle it, you can do two trays at once.
- Transfer half of the frozen cheese straws to a parchment paper lined sheet pan ( a room temp one not a cold one), leaving space between.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until deeply golden brown (or the level of golden brown you would prefer), checking after 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat the baking process with the remainder of the cheese straws.
- These are best on the day that they are made but will store well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
To make cheese straws with store bought puff pastry, I usually use two pieces of puff pastry - in NZ ours come frozen in 25cm (10") sheets. I roll the sheet of pastry to slightly wider to 30cm (12"), using the same process and rolling in cheese. I then slice up and shape and bake as written.
You can add whatever flavours you would like here - I like to add in cracked pepper with the parmesan, but herbs or other spices would also be amazing. You do you here.
To make cheese straws ahead of time, bake up to the freezing time, freeze until solid, then transfer to an airtight container or ziploc and freeze for up to a month. Bake from frozen as written in the recipe.
If you are making your own puff pastry, make the whole batch and cut in half and either store the other half in the freezer until you need it or use it for another recipe.
Comments
Ashleigh says
Great recipe! Very easy and very moreish! Great addition to my cheese platter. Thanks!
Robyn says
These Cheese Straws are so delicious! I made them using homemade puff pastry and they were worth the extra effort. First batch was just cheese, second batch was with Zaatar seasoning added. So good!