Spicy Vegan Cheese Straws
These Spicy Vegan Cheese Straws are like a soft cheese cracker that just about melts in your mouth. With a buttery, cheesy flavor and a touch of fancy, they are the perfect dairy free and vegetarian party snack you’d be proud to serve at a shower, tea party, or brunch event! There’s also a gluten free option which makes this recipe great for special diets.
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I’m doing my happy dance today, friends. And it’s not just because I just had my once-a-week fancy coffee and THE most amazing Sunday brunch with T.
No, something even more exciting is happening right now, and that, my dear friends, are these fluffy, cheesy, melt-in-your-mouth squares of pure heaven: aka – vegan cheese straws!
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What are cheese straws?
Have you ever heard of cheese straws? The recipe has both Southern US and English roots.
They’re kind of like cheese crackers but with more of a fluffy almost biscuit-type quality. They’re like little cheese clouds that literally melt. in. your. mouth.
Basically, I see cheese straws like the fanciest possible version of a Cheez It, the kind you can be super proud to serve at showers, vegan tea parties, and all your brunch-type events along with sandwiches or alllll the wine.
That’s right, these vegan cheese straws are so good with wine.
Are you sold yet? Because I sure am.
What’s in vegan cheese straws?
It’s pretty easy to make these vegan cheese straws, requiring only 5 ingredients:
- Vegan cheddar block – Use a shred-able vegan cheese that comes in block form. We HIGHLY suggest using the Daiya Farmhouse Blocks or the Epic Vegan Cheddar block from Violife. Just make sure it’s a firm block that can be shredded. This recipe does not work as well when using pre-shredded or sliced vegan cheese. I speak from experience; learn from my mistakes.
- All-purpose flour – Gluten-free all-purpose flour works too!
- Vegan butter – To replace the dairy butter cheese straw recipes traditionally call for, you can use either vegan butter or chilled, refined coconut oil. They both work; I can’t even tell the difference. But if you’re going the coconut oil route, it is soooo important to use refined coconut oil because the last thing you want is for your vegan cheese straws to taste like a pina colada!
- Cayenne pepper – optional, for some spicy!
- Sea salt
More Vegan Cheese Recipes:
When you do give this recipe a go, we would LOVE to hear all the details!
We would be tremendously grateful if you could leave a rating and review below. It helps more people find our tasty vegan recipes!
And don’t forget to tag us in all your glorious cheese straw photos on Instagram (we’re @theplantpowercouple, with the ‘the’). Enjoy!
Spicy Vegan Cheese Straws
Ingredients
- 1 7-oz vegan cheddar block*, shredded (about 2 cups)
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour see notes for GF**
- 1 cup vegan butter***
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- PREP: First, preheat your oven to 350F and shred your cheese using the large section of your grater.
- START YOUR MIXER: Add the vegan cheese and butter to a large mixing bowl and use a hand or stand mixer to cream them together until fully combined.
- ADD THE DRY MIX: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cayenne pepper, and sea salt. Slowly add this to your cheese / butter mixture, mixing in slowly until it's fully combined.
- FINISH THE DOUGH: The dough will look very crumbly at this point, so get in there with clean dry hands and use the heat they provide to knead a couple times and bring the dough together into a ball. If your dough is still too crumbly to come together, add 1 Tbsp warm water and knead some more. If needed, repeat with another Tbsp water until it comes together.
- IF USING A COOKIE PRESS: Load it now per the instructions. Use whatever attachment you like; you can really have fun with this part! Follow the instructions on your cookie press from here, but we suggest pressing the cookies onto an ungreased baking sheet.
- IF NOT USING A COOKIE PRESS: Use clean, dry hands to roll the dough into 1/2 - 1 inch diameter balls. Place these on an ungreased cookie sheet and use a fork or your hand to gently flatten each of them to about 1/4 inch thickness.
- BAKE THE CHEESE STRAWS: Bake these beauties at 350F for 10-15 minutes. 10 minutes makes the cheese straws super soft and fluffy, and 15 adds a nice crispy edge. Allow your cheese straws to cool and enjoy!
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