Cheddar Cheese Sables

By now i'm sure you are all painstakingly aware of my love for all things cheese. Well I'm thinking I might have to alter that statement a little so it doesn't include all things cheese. My love definately does not have room for cheese in a can that's for sure.

Who invented this stuff! And who the heck eats it? I bet there are people out there who spray this stuff straight from the can into their mouths. I shudder at the thought. Us folks (the puppy and me) here at Stovetop, like our cheese a little more....real?



These thin, crispy and slightly spicy little bites of cheese are such an explosion of flavour that you may fall over, so please eat them sitting down, prefferably very close to a nice glass of McLaren Vale Shiraz Grenache (the magazine is rubbing off on me), and the weekend Sudoku.

I found it very hard to step away from this bowl, my mum had been begging me to make them for ages since they are so expensive in the shops and we have them at least every week. Of course it would be cheaper to grab a bottle of Easy Cheese..... gag.



Cheddar Cheese Sables:
Adapted from smittenkitchen.com

1 1/2 cups finely grated extra sharp Cheddar cheese
55g unsalted butter, softened and chopped.
3/4 cup plain flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red chilli flakes (crush them with a mortar and pestle)
1 tablespoon milk

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C.

In a food processor, pulse the cheese, butter, flour, salt and red pepper until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the milk and process until the dough comes together into a ball, about 10 seconds.

On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is about 2mm thin (the thinner the better because the biscuits do puff up in the oven). Press out the sables using a small, round cookie cutter. Transfer the sables to a parchment lined baking sheet and prick each one twice with a fork.

Bake the sables in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool on a wire rack before gorging yourself.