Homemade Cheese Straws
- Makes about 12
- A little tricky
Nothing beats a cheese straw and this easy recipe is a doddle to prepare.

These cheese straws smell outrageously good when they bake, so you won’t want to wait to take a bite!
They are best eaten on the day of baking, but they make a thoughtful gift if you package them up with ribbon.
More Christmas baking:

Here’s the easy recipe for homemade cheese straws
Ingredients
- Grated mature cheddar cheese 110g
- Unsalted butter 50g
- Plain flour 100g, plus more for dusting
- salt ½ tsp
- Sweet paprika ½ tsp
- Hot paprika or cayenne pepper ½ tsp
- English mustard 1 tsp, (not in powder form)
- Whole milk or thin cream 1 tbsp
Method
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Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking sheet
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Step 2
In a food processor, combine the cheese, butter, flour, mustard salt, and paprika. Process in five 5-second pulses until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the milk or cream and process until the dough forms a ball, about 10 seconds.
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Step 3
On a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 20cm x 25cm rectangle about ½ cm thick. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into long, thin strips about 1cm wide and gently transfer the strips to the baking sheet, leaving at least 1cm between each of them.
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Step 4
Bake the straws on the middle rack of the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the ends are just beginning to colour. Serve just warm or allow to just cool.