Lately I’ve been obsessed with the blog Ezra Pound Cake; Rebecca lives in Nashville and blogs about all kinds of delicious Southern food, plus healthy ideas to balance everything out. When clicking around her website for ideas for a Southern style appetizer for my little dinner party, I came across these Cheese Straws. Homemade Cheese-Its? SOLD.

Cheese Straws

Source: Ezra Pound Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (about 4 oz) grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened, but into 4 pieces

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (you can increase or decrease this based on your tolerance for heat)

1 tbsp cream or milk

Directions

1. In a food processor, combine cheese, butter, flour, salt and red pepper flakes, and process in 5-second pulses until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
2. Add cream or milk, and process until the dough comes together in a ball.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough (try for a square, if you can’t get there, no big deal) until it’s 1/8″ thick.
4. With a floured knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into long strips, 1/4″ to 1/2″ wide.
5. Tranfer strips to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and leave about 1/4″ between each one. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, and cool. Serve at room temperature.