Cheese Wafers or Straws
- Total Time
- 2 hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 7 dozen, depending on shape
- 2cups/280 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- ½teaspoon/3 grams kosher salt
- ½pound/227 grams cold unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut in ¼-inch pieces
- 4ounces/110 grams coarsely grated cheese (Cheddar, Gouda, Gruyère or Parmesan), plus more for sprinkling
- ¼cup/60 milliliters cold milk
- 2egg yolks mixed with 2 tablespoons/30 milliliters cream for egg wash, or 1 whole egg beaten
- Flaky salt, for sprinkling
- Cumin seeds, black pepper, rosemary or smoked paprika, for sprinkling (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (78 servings)
41 calories; 3 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 21 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Put flour and salt in mixing bowl. With fingers, work half the butter into the flour until it resembles damp, crumbly sand. Add the remaining cold butter chunks and the cheese and stir with a fork to distribute. Stir in milk and quickly gather dough into a ball with floured hands. (There should be visible butter chunks in the dough.) Squash dough into a rough rectangle about 1 inch thick.
- Step 2
Dust dough with flour and roll to a long rectangle about 8 by 14 inches and about ½-inch thick, with the longer side facing you. Fold dough into thirds: first fold in right side, then left side on top of it, making a nearly square package three layers high. Dust again with flour and roll out to make same size rectangle, then fold it again. Dust and repeat once more. Wrap well in plastic film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 day in advance.
- Step 3
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut dough in half. Refrigerate half the dough and roll the other piece out to a thickness of about ⅛ inch. (Do not roll too thin or pastry will not puff.) To make wafers, cut dough into 2-inch rounds with a sharp cookie cutter (or cut into diamonds with a knife). To make straws, cut dough in strips ½-inch by 5 inches. Twist strips 2 or 3 times and press down ends to prevent unfurling.
- Step 4
Place wafers or straws on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Paint lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with flaky salt. Add sprinklings of cumin seed, black pepper, rosemary or smoked paprika if desired, and a little more grated cheese. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, until well browned and crisp. Let cool before serving. Repeat process with remaining half of dough.
- Step 5
Note: To make heart-shaped palmiers, cut dough in half as above. Working with one dough half (and refrigerating the other), roll dough to a rectangle about 12 by 8 inches and ⅛-inch thick, with the longer side facing you. Paint entire sheet of dough with egg wash and sprinkle with cheese. Tightly roll each of the long edges toward the center so you have a long, somewhat narrow log consisting of 2 connected side-by-side cylinders. Cut crosswise into ¼-inch thick slices. Pinch the round side of each slice to form a heart shape. Flatten each heart-shaped slice with rolling pin and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Dab each heart with egg wash and sprinkle with flaky salt. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, until well browned.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Merle Gilmore
I found this recipe to require more baking time than recommended to achieve the promised crispness. In fact, almost double the time. Despite rolling to a 1/8" some were still a bit doughy after 18 minutes. Nonetheless, my friend Lawson gobbled them up. So, my recommendation? The flavor is great. You can make in a CuisinArt with a blade if you are lazy then cook the heck out them -- and the twisted straws worked better than the diamonds and rounds.
smaurya
I had no issues making this recipe as it was written but I weigh ingredients instead of using volume measurements because it's simpler and a lot more accurate. Aside from that, the type of flour you use, humidity, etc, can make a difference. How much liquid to add should be a range, so it's good you added more milk when the dough didn't look right. I found the dough easy to work with and the wafers were delicious. They were the first snack to go at our party.
Zenmaster
This is one recipe that would benefit from a short video. I found the dough to be very dry and crumbly and added another tablespoon of milk. It was also difficult to achieve smooth edges. Required more baking time than called for as well. Although the results were quite tasty, this recipe is way too putsy and messy.
Froon
I used the food processor, then after rolling and booking, let the dough rest till the next day. No problems at all. The dough needed a tiny bit more milk which didn't surprise me since I hadn't weighed the flour. I didn't process it till it formed a ball, just till it looked mixed enough then dumped it on the board and formed it.
I made wafers. It took a few minutes more than the stated time to bake. I used cheddar and they were absolutely wonderful. They puffed very nicely.
ColbysGran
This recipe may have an error in it. Milk amount seems way to small. No way to form a ball with recipe the way it is written.
Pang
You'll want to use a bit more milk than specified, as the dough barely holds together - perhaps another 1/8 - 1/4 c. Using the specified milk, I rolled and folded the dough six times before it came together. Also, after overnight refrigeration, you'll need an industrial press to roll out the dough. I suggest letting the dough warm 5-10 minutes before rolling. Finally, the recipe underestimates the baking time. Straws required 19 minutes. The final result is okay, not particularly special.
val
The straws needed more time. I agree almost twice as much time to cook. I'll try a bit more milk, as others have suggested, next time.
Wanda in Valle Crucis
Yes - I added a little cayenne and recommend. I also doubled the amount of cheese, using sharp cheddar, which resulted in great flavor. Agree with numerous commenters that more liquid is needed (I used cream). And, baking time in recipe is not enough. My pastry puffed beautifully after the recommended 3 folds.
Added More milk; the timinf was spot on
Yummy. A stronger cheese or mix is better; I used sharp cheddar. It wasn’t salty or cheesy enough. Probably added another 3 tablespoons of milk.
Elva Rubio
How long will they store or can they be frozen?
Marcia Green
I rarely bake so I need recipes to be accurate and instructions to be clear. I'd give this recipe high marks on both counts. Worked out exactly as expected. Delicious!
rhosa
The instructions for making them heart-shaped! <3
CliffS
Has anyone tried this recipe and added some cayenne to add a bit of punch to complement the cheese flavor?
Wanda in Valle Crucis
Yes - I added a little cayenne and recommend. I also doubled the amount of cheese, using sharp cheddar, which resulted in great flavor. Agree with numerous commenters that more liquid is needed (I used cream). And, baking time in recipe is not enough. My pastry puffed beautifully after the recommended 3 folds.
sb
I ended up needing almost 1/4c extra milk to get the dough to bind together. And baked it for 22 mins. There’s no way the 8-9 mins that the recipe states could possibly work! Also added some fresh oregano on top which was delicious. The end result was a success.
Glenn
Yes, 2x time and yes a food processor works well just do not over do it. If you are making flats, diamonds or bars, egg wash the sheet first then sprinkle cheese & seasonings; then cut to shape.
Sam
My brother and sister in law “make me” make these every holiday now. I make sticks and don’t braid them because the first time I made them the connecting points of the braid didn’t cook at the same speed. So now I cut strips and cut them in half again — about 3 inches long each and bake for the suggested time then flip them for another two minutes or so. They freeze perfectly too when smaller — less breakage.
zuzubird
Like some others, I had to add a little more milk in order to make the dough workable. This was the first time I'd tried a folded flour-and-butter pastry (unless you count pie crust), and I made some mistakes, but it still turned out pretty well! The extreme saltiness of the finished wafers is my only squawk. I wish I'd considered the sodium in the cheese, and the flake salt, before adding the additional half-teaspoon to the flour. They're almost not edible. Next time will be better! ;-D
Thom
I agree with others that the dough was hard to work with because it was too dry. I made this on Super Bowl Sunday and got through half the dough before giving up so I could watch the game. I saved the other half for another day. The saved half was rolled out as a top crust for the NYT Cooking recipe, Russian Salmon Pie. Turned out to be a excellent choice!
Pang
You'll want to use a bit more milk than specified, as the dough barely holds together - perhaps another 1/8 - 1/4 c. Using the specified milk, I rolled and folded the dough six times before it came together. Also, after overnight refrigeration, you'll need an industrial press to roll out the dough. I suggest letting the dough warm 5-10 minutes before rolling. Finally, the recipe underestimates the baking time. Straws required 19 minutes. The final result is okay, not particularly special.
val
The straws needed more time. I agree almost twice as much time to cook. I'll try a bit more milk, as others have suggested, next time.
ozomlo
I followed the recipe closely and it worked out fine, but it's very fiddly and quite time-consuming. There are lots of easier recipes out there that give you much the same result with less fuss.
Froon
I used the food processor, then after rolling and booking, let the dough rest till the next day. No problems at all. The dough needed a tiny bit more milk which didn't surprise me since I hadn't weighed the flour. I didn't process it till it formed a ball, just till it looked mixed enough then dumped it on the board and formed it.
I made wafers. It took a few minutes more than the stated time to bake. I used cheddar and they were absolutely wonderful. They puffed very nicely.
ColbysGran
This recipe may have an error in it. Milk amount seems way to small. No way to form a ball with recipe the way it is written.
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