Craig Claiborne’s Cheese Straws 0

My Aunt Margaret made the best cheese straws. They were always the highlight of Christmas Eve at Aunt Margaret’s.

Unfortunately, I do not have her recipe, but I do have Craig Claiborne’s. (I’m in the process of wearing out my third copy of Craig Claiborne’s New York Times Cookbook, which, along with Craig Claiborne’s New York Times International Cookbook, is one of my two favorite cookbooks.)

This version of the recipe is slightly edited based on my own preferences.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Tabasco (or to taste)
dash paprika (preferably Hungarian)
dash cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
3 cups find break crumbs
grated parmesan

Procedure:

1. Cream the butter in a small bowl with an electric mixer. Beat in cheese, milk, salt, Tabasco, paprika, and cayenne. Slowly mix in flour and bread crumbs.

2. Turn out and knead until mixture is smooth. Chill in refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 350 F.

4. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness or press out of cookie gun and cut to desired length (3-4 inches). Sprinkle with Parmesan.

5. Bake on greased cookie sheet until lightly browned (10-15 minutes).