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](https://www.southernliving.com/thmb/AjsLsyWvQWtH9YdKIsouL8BlEZ4=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/crispy-cheese-wafers-x_0_0-ce798dd1805c415ab2ca66113b592de3-7161e07b4f884bb0815e20951240f690.jpg)
Ingredients
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2 cups (8 ounces) freshly grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
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1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
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1 cup all-purpose flour
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1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or to taste
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1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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1 cup crisp rice cereal
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 350°.
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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).
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Gently fold cereal into dough.
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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.
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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.