Crispy Cheese Wafers

(6)

Everyone simply loves these Crispy Cheese Wafers, because they are extra crunchy from the addition of rice cereal.

Yield:
4 dozen

Everyone simply loves these because they are extra crunchy from the addition of rice cereal. I strongly suggest serving these round wafers alongside a dish of pepper jelly and a block of softened cream cheese or log of goat cheese. Smear a little cheese on a wafer and top with a dab of the jelly to form a perfect bite. Repeat often. Luckily this recipe makes about 4 dozen wafers, so you might have just enough to go around. You can find this recipe and more in The Southern Living Community Cookbook: Celebration Food and Fellowship in the American South by Sheri Castle.

Crispy Cheese Wafers

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (8 ounces) freshly grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

  • 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or to taste

  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup crisp rice cereal

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

  2. Mix together cheese, butter, flour, red pepper, Worcestershire and salt in a large bowl until mixture forms a ball that lightly sticks together and pulls in all the flour. (Hands might work best for this).

  3. Gently fold cereal into dough.

  4. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls. Place balls about 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Flatten each ball with a fork, making a crisscross pattern.

  5. Bake 15 minutes or until firm. Cool on pan on wire rack. Store in airtight container up to 1 week.

Chef's Notes

For best results, grate the cheese by hand. That small step makes a big difference in the success of the recipe. When you need only a quick sprinkling of cheese, the convenience of packaged pre-grated cheese comes in handy. However, when cheese is the star ingredient, a great recipe tastes best when made with freshly grated or shredded cheese. The term "grated" implies small, fine pieces, so a rasp-style grater works very well. The word "shredded" indicates larger pieces, such as from the large holes on a box-style grater. Most food processors have disks that can quickly grate or shred cheese. Chilled, firm cheese is easiest to grate or shred.

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