Cheese Straws with Puff Pastry

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.

• 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

1. 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. 
2. 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. 
3. Square off any rough edges to give you a nice rectangle. 
4. 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. 
5. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. 
6. 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. 
7. 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. 
8. Freeze the cheese straws for 20 minutes on the sheet pan. 
9. While the cheese straws are in the freezer, preheat the oven to 400°f / 200°c. 
10. I like to bake these one sheet at at time but if your oven can handle it, you can do two trays at once. 
11. 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. 
12. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until deeply golden brown (or the level of golden brown you would prefer), checking after 10 minutes. 
13. 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. 
14. 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.

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.