Thursday, November 22, 2007

Parmesan Cheese Crackers


I'm a huge fan of cheeses. Smoked cheddar? I'm in! creamy brie for dinner? Sure! Some cheese require an acquired taste though. Like Blue Cheese-the pungent smelling pretty cheese with blue swirls on it. Still I quite like the sharp taste that it has on my tongue.

Growing up on Kraft cheese, I'm amazed at the wide range of cheeses one can have in Australia (and I haven't been to Europe yet!). Dinner parties, gatherings, after meals-we do take any chance to have a slice of cheese.

Parmesan cheese is also a favorite of mine. This versatile cheese is often shaved and sprinkled onto pastas and risottos. What a huge difference it makes! It creates a dimension to those dishes.

So when I read Piggy's cooking journal's after meals cookies and it featured beautiful looking cheese crackers, how can I resist?

It's addictive and it's cute! I was amazed by how strong the flavors burst out in your mouth when you bite into one. It's not the usual type of cookie I make-because this involves using the rolling pin and refrigerating the dough for 2 sessions of 15-20 minutes. Usually I'm so impatient that I like using cookie recipes that only require a few steps.

It was worth it though. Very very worth it.


Parmesan Cheese Crackers
Ingredients:

70g unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
120g self-raising flour, sifted
60g Parmesan cheese
1 egg, for brushing
30g Parmesan cheese, for garnishing
some coriander leaves, for garnishing (I omitted this...)

Method:

1) Mix the butter in a mixer until smooth and creamy.
2) Add in the cheese, and mix the batter with a wooden spoon.
3) Mix in egg yolk.
4) Add in the flour and mix just until the last bit of flour disappear into the batter. Take note, do not over-mix.
5) Place the batter in between two sheets of cling wrap or a plastic bag, flatten the dough with rolling pin. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
6) Remove dough from the fridge, flatten the dough further to 3mm thickness. Refrigerate for another 15 minutes.
7) In the mean time, pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C.
8) Remove the dough from the fridge again, spread the egg evenly over the dough. Cut the dough into 2cm X 2cm squares.
8) Spread the Parmesan cheese over the dough, cover the surface with cling wrap or plastic bag, lightly press the dough with rolling pin, so that the cheese can stick on to the dough.
9) Brush the surface of the slices lightly with egg, garnish with a piece of coriander leaf.
10) Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until it turns golden brown. Cool the cookies on a rack, serve.

10 comments:

InspiredMumof2 said...

Never knew cheese can be used to bake cookies. Keep posting more :-)

teckiee said...

slurppp~ ..sinful man

Big Boys Oven said...

So delicious....smell parmesan cheese.

SIG said...

yup, have noticed you love cheese haha. They look great. Are they crunchy.

Christo Gonzales said...

excellent recipe...cheese is good.

Lady Gargle said...

This is definitely going to be my favourite snack! :)

Sammy said...

Woah, somebody's becoming quite the food blogger aye? :)

YD

wmw said...

Gosh, this post is after my heart! This looks sinfully good!

Christo Gonzales said...

have you grated parmesean on a cookie tin and put them in the oven to melt quickly and form a little crisp?

daphne said...

Inspiredmumof2-ya! i made cheese scones before but cheese biscuits..something new!

teckiee-ya! but i only ate 1..the rest, fiance finished. ;p

big boys oven-that's the beauty of these biscuits! The strong smell was lovely!

singairishgirl- ;p hehe.ya! crunchy.. but can't keep for long. Maybe 2-3 days max?

doggbloggy-thank you! this was excellent. Thanks to Piggy's Journal for sharing. I didn't grate the parmesan that way though. I cheated and bought ready grated parmesan instead. It was however sprinkled ontop and pressed gently into the dough to form the crispy biscuits.

Frankensteina-very addictive but u feel "jia lek" or sick after a while... hahaha

sammy-I learned frm the master ;p Welcome back to the food blogging world!!!

wmw-haha.. can't make this too often. ;p

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