Looking for a new snack to pair with your cold beer? Try my Cheese Straws with Poppy Seeds, the best homemade snack around. They are golden and flaky, enriched with tangy feta and sprinkled with crunchy poppy seeds.
If you look at my blog's appetizer section, you will notice some other recipes for delicious cheese straws. I grew up with them and always loved them.
Homemade cheese straws are a crowd favorite and a great party snack. These are the best cheese straws and have a special place on the table during the holiday season, like Easter or Christmas, but we like to make them all year round and serve them as snacks. Think any family gatherings, birthday party, baby showers, graduations and everything else in between.
This southern cocktail party staple is very easy to make and uses common ingredients we all have in our pantries.
Bake them on a chilly day, and the aroma will warm your home and your heart. Serve them on a hot day with a cold beer, or a glass of wine, and everyone will love you! Also, they make great gifts to your family and friends.
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📝 Ingredients
Here is a shopping list for this simple recipe. The ingredients are easy to find in the grocery stores.
🔀Variations
- Cheese Varieties: Switch up the feta with other types of cheese for different flavors. Extra Sharp cheddar cheese, Parmesan, or Gruyère can offer new tastes and textures. Mixing cheeses can also create a complex flavor profile.
- Spice It Up: Add a pinch of cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, or dried herbs like rosemary or thyme to the dough for an extra kick or a touch of earthiness.
- Seeds and Nuts: Besides poppy seeds, try sprinkling sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, caraway seeds nd coarse salt.
- Infused Oils: Brush the uncooked straws with garlic or herb-infused olive oil instead of the beaten egg for a subtle layer of additional flavor.
👩🍳 How To Make This Cheese Straw Recipe
The Dough: The dough is made based on the pie crust technique. The flour is mixed with the cold butter until a sandy mixture is obtained. Then, the rest of the ingredients are added and a dough is formed, chilled and rolled out on a working surface and cut into strings.
If you prefer some other shapes, use cookie cutters or a pizza/pasta cutter to shape the dough as you wish. Coins, triangles, hearts, or special shapes for special occasions are definitely fun to try.
The process is very easy and the cheese straws take only 15-20 minutes based on their thickness.
💡 Baking Tips
- The butter must be cold if you want to achieve a flaky pastry.
- Don't overwork the dough, so you can keep the texture light.
- Bake until golden brown for the best flavor and snap.
📦 How To Store
The dough: This dough can be made and used the same day, but you can also keep it in the fridge for a few days or freeze for up to 3 months. To freeze, shape the dough into 2 rectangles, about 1 inch thick, wrap each piece in plastic wrap, and place them in a sealable bag.
When ready to bake, remove the dough from the freezer, thaw it until pliable, and then proceed with the recipe.
Baked cheese straws: Store them at room temperature in an airtight container, separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Freeze the cheese straws in layers. Before serving, remove them from the container and let them come to room temperature.
🍽️ More Recipes For Cheese Straws
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📖 Recipe
Best Homemade Cheese Straws with Poppy Seeds
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cubed
- 2 cups Feta cheese crumbled
- 2 large eggs
- 6 ½ tablespoons sour cream
- 1 egg beaten to brush the straws before baking them
- Toppings: poppy seeds , caraway, sesame, coarse salt
Instructions
- Pulse in a food processor flour and butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add crumbled cheese, eggs, and sour cream, and pulse until you obtain a dough.
- Remove the buttery dough from the food processor, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.
- Bring it back to the kitchen and preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- After the dough has chilled, place it on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll it out to about ¼ inch thickness, maintaining a roughly rectangular shape.
- Use either a pastry cutter, sharp knife, or a pizza cutter to cut 3x½ inch or 7 x1cm thin strips, about 24 pieces.
- Place the strips on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Brush each straw with the remaining egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds (or sesame, caraway seeds etc).
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Finally, transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- Cheese Varieties: Switch up the feta with other types of cheese for different flavors. Extra Sharp cheddar cheese, Parmesan, or Gruyère can offer new tastes and textures. Mixing cheeses can also create a complex flavor profile.
- Spice It Up: Add a pinch of cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, or dried herbs like rosemary or thyme to the dough for an extra kick or a touch of earthiness.
- Seeds and Nuts: Besides poppy seeds, try sprinkling sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, caraway seeds nd coarse salt.
- Infused Oils: Brush the uncooked straws with garlic or herb-infused olive oil instead of the beaten egg for a subtle layer of additional flavor.
- The butter must be cold if you want to achieve a flaky pastry.
- Don't overwork the dough, so you can keep the texture light.
- Bake until golden brown for the best flavor and snap.
Nutrition
Published in 2017, republished with new text and images in April 2024.
Cristina says
Like all Gabriela's recipes that I have tried so far this one is also a big hit. Since I don't have a food processor, I grated the cold butter into the flour to obtain the sandy texture. It was easy to roll the dough after an hour in the fridge, and cut the straws. I wish I had some left over to see how they taste after a day or two. But there aren't any left. Thank you Gabriela!
The Bossy Kitchen says
Thank you, Cristina! I love this recipe as well. The cheese straws come out exactly the way I remember them from my childhood! so happy you loved them too!