Reese Witherspoon's Cheese Wafers

Reese?  Isn't that a boy's name?  Or a name for peanut butter and chocolate?  Clearly they do things differently in the Deep South:=)  I picked up this book 'cos it has a pretty pink cover, and a photo of Ms. Witherspoon all dressed up in pink lace.  And surprisingly, I found it a pleasant read with some interesting Southern recipes.  But don't turn the pages expecting deep, philosophical thoughts, or much of an insight into her life.  This is a cute and pretty book, with some nice photos and some home(l)y recipes.  You can while away a bit of time, thinking pretty pink thoughts while you read.

apparently they like wicker (and wallpaper) in the Deep South:=)

delicious crunchy cheesy biscuits/wafers/crackers

Recipe ever-so-slightly adapted by Sherry's Pickings:


Makes about 32 biscuits:


Ingredients:


3 cups (360g.) of sharp cheddar cheese or a mix of cheddar and Parmesan, freshly grated

1.5 cups (180g.) of plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

113g. (4 oz.) of butter, softened (not melted), and cut into chunks

1/2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of sea salt flakes

1/8 to 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp of mountain pepperberry or spice of your choice (optional)

1 tsp of lightly dried parsley or herb of your choice (optional)

pecan halves for decoration


Method:


Throw everything except the pecans into a food processor

Pulse until the ingredients start to combine and form into a dough - but don't go crazy here.  Just pulse till well mixed  

If you don't have a food processor, just place the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and combine well till it forms a soft dough

Tip the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and press together into a ball

Roll it out till it's about 6 mm (1/4 inch) thick 

Use a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds and gently push a pecan half into the top of each one

Place them about 1 cm. (1/2 in) apart on 2 lined baking trays and bake at 200C/400F for 10-15 minutes or till lightly golden - you will most likely have some dough left over, so keep rolling and cutting and baking!  I made 3 trays of biscuits 

Allow to cool on wire racks

Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days



Notes:


I used one cup of parmesan cheese and 2 cups of extra strong cheddar cheese

No need to sift the flour if you're throwing everything in the food processor

My biscuit cutter is about 63 mm (2.5 inches); Reese says to cut 2 inch rounds

Reese says this makes about 4 dozen wafers, but mine made 32!

FYI:  Still delicious after 3 days :-) 

ingredients gathered

chuck into the food processor (or mixing bowl) 

tip the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface

roll out the dough till about 6mm thick 

cut into rounds and bake at 200C for 10-15 mins. 

cool on a wire rack

golden and cheesy and crunchy

Reese's recipe in the book

There were a few errors in this recipe: for instance, in step 3, it says to place the rounds an inch apart, then step 4 repeats the info, but says to place them half an inch apart!  She uses a mixing bowl for the dough, but I think the food processor is so much quicker and easier here.  I did like that the book seems to have been written by Ms. Witherspoon for the most part (except for about half the recipes, where she does clearly state that they are her friend's recipes).  So my advice is to do what I did - borrow this from your local library, and only buy it if you are a huge Reese Witherspoon fan.

   cheesy artwork by Sherry's Pickings