Cheese Crackers and Cheese Straws, Gluten-Free

http://artofglutenfreebaking.com

Art of Gluten-Free Baking

Special equipment needed:

-Small animal cookie cutters

-if you want bigger crackers, cutters of any shape you'd like

-food processor (you can get away w/o one, but it really makes the process go faster)

-rolling pin

-Silpat mat

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Jeanne's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

6 tablespoons butter, softened

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan and/or Romano (we use just Parmesan)

1 extra-large egg

1/4 cup milk

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease two baking sheets or line them with parchment paper

-place flour, butter, and the cheeses in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse off and on for about 1 minute--until the butter and cheese are evenly mixed with the flour

-Add the egg and pulse until it's incorporated

-with the processor running, pour the milk through the feed tube and blend until the dough forms a ball-blob

-Place 1/2 of the dough on the Silpat mat in a blob-ball (sprinkled w/some tapioca flour)

-Roll out the dough until it's about 1/8" thick

-Cut out shapes and place on greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet

Gather, re-roll,and cut out until all dough is used (do the same with the second blob of dough). I got something like 140 crackers out of the dough, plus extra to make some cheese straws. The crackers completely filled 2 cookie sheets.

-Bake for 18-20 minutes. Time will depend on how crunchy you want them to be. I baked them until they were brownish around the edges

-Cool in pan until you're able to pick them up

-store in airtight container

These are great to take on trips or as an easy snack for kids (and adults). Mine don't last very long--they are yummy and fun!

Gluten-Free Cheese Straws

Follow same process as for cheese crackers. Instead of rolling out the blobs of dough with a rolling pin, pick out a small piece, roll in your hand into a ball, and then roll the ball into a cylinder

-Repeat until all the dough is used

-place cylinders on greased or parchment-line baking sheet

-bake for 18-20+ minutes (again, how long will depend on how crunchy you want these--experiment to see what your taste is).

-again, store in an airtight container

These are also great for on-the-go snacks. Or as nibbles with cocktails.

Enjoy!