As we all know, it's almost all about the cookies and sweets during the holiday season. I love seeing big cookie platters brimming with cookies of all kinds, shapes, sizes, and colors. That said, I do like to venture away from the sugar jar on occasion and make at least one savory treat to share with friends and neighbors and to have as a nibble for our holiday gathering. Usually, it involves nuts in some form. This year, I thought I'd try a batch of cheddar cheese coins.
I used a recipe from America's Test Kitchen that I've been meaning to try for a couple of holidays seasons now. Sometimes it just takes years to get to something! As with any cheese crackers made with a handful of ingredients, it's all about the cheese. I picked an organic grass-fed sharp cheddar that I really liked.
I substituted a-third of the all-purpose flour with white whole wheat flour (with all the cheese and butter, who's going to notice!) and while there's some room for customization in terms of spices you can add, I stuck with paprika and cayenne for my first go-round since I often reach for that combination when I'm cooking. Those spices helped give my cheese coins a golden color despite using white cheddar.
I have seen many cheese crackers made on TV and heard many testimonials about how easy they are to prepare. It's true...but working with dough (as in pie, biscuit type doughs) is something I struggle with. How do you get to the point of feeling the dough and just knowing when it's right? I wish I had those instincts. And I need a lot more practice! If I ever take another cooking class, I should pick one for working with that type of dough.
So in the case of making this particular dough, the method is simple - pulse, pulse...combine. After all the ingredients have been pulsed together in a food processor, you remove it to a bowl, add water, and pull the dough together with your hands. I was afraid I over-handled the dough and I certainly had some air pockets in my logs but I was happy to see the cracker rounds bake up neatly. They were crisp on the outside and obviously buttery and very cheesy. Good cheese can mask imperfections.
Looking at these, my husband and I kept thinking hash browns...like cheesy hash browns, which might sound odd but isn't such a bad thing at all. One of the best things about recipes like this is the make-ahead factor. The logs can be made a couple of days ahead and kept in the refrigerator, or frozen for a month. That's a good thing since cheese crackers/coins like these are best fresh, eaten the day they're made.
