Zesty Cheese Doodles

Here is the South, a tasty appetizer that is often served during the holidays is Cheese Straws. Well, I think that is true because 1) I've never actually tasted a cheese straw and 2) it's debatable if Texas is really part of the South. Anyway, I was looking at some recipe's in a holiday magazine and came across a cheese straw recipe. It's really quite simple; but, I decided to make it better. The original recipe included a bit of cayenne pepper. I decided to include some garlic powder. I also decided I would put a bit of blue cheese in the middle and roll them in sesame seeds

Warning: These are addictively good

Ingredients

• 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese shredded
• 1 cup flour
• 1 stick butter, softened
  
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• blue cheese crumbles

Equipment

• cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

Directions

1. Mix all of the ingredients except for the sesame seeds and blue cheese. It would probably be easiest in a food processor; however, my son borrowed ours, so I just kneaded it by hand. It makes a pretty stiff dough and will give your hands a work out.
2. Roll into 1-balls with a bit of blue cheese in the middle (maybe a 1/4 tsp or so, eyeball it).
3. Roll balls in sesame seeds and place on cookie sheet
4. Bake at 400 degrees until lightly browned on top - about 15 minutes (checking every minute or two after 10 minutes). Note that they will flatten and spread out, so be sure to leave room between them.
5. Let set on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes after removing from the oven and then slide parchment paper onto a cooling rack
   

Other variations to try (I haven't actually tried any of these yet)

• Substitute 1/2 tsp curry powder for the cayenne pepper and garlic powder
• Roll in crush pecans instead of sesame seeds
• Roll it around a slice of pickled jalapeño pepper instead of blue cheese
• Roll it around a couples of slices of black olive instead of blue cheese
• Roll it in panko bread crumbs instead of sesame seeds
  

Notes:

• I was impatient and didn't feel like waiting for the butter to soften; so, I just grated it with the cheese grater and mixed it in with the flour and cheese
• You could freeze the balls before baking and then have them to bake whenever company comes over or you just feel like a tasty snack. Either let them thaw before baking or increase baking time