You’ve had pimento cheese on a cracker, now you can have pimento cheese in your cracker. In my on-going quest to eat as much pimento cheese as possible, I arrive at these little gems. They are a hybrid of two Southern party classics – pimento cheese, the pate of the South, and the classic cheese straw. Crumbly and cheesy, with the tang of pimentos and the crunch of pecans, these are the perfect nibble with tall glass of ice tea (or short glass of bourbon). They are wonderful packed up in your heirloom Tupperware for a weekend at the lake or displayed on your heirloom silver for shower or a cocktail party. They are a marvelous standby, as you can keep the rolls in the freezer for emergencies and they make a lovely gift, wrapped up with a ribbon.
And yes, to answer the obvious question, I would serve pimento cheese crisps and pimento cheese sandwiches at the same time.
- 1 (4-ounce) jar diced pimentos
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold butter
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- Dash of cayenne pepper
- A generous pinch of salt
- A few grinds black pepper
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- Rinse and drain the pimentos and place them on paper towels. Pat them dry and then leave them for 10 – 15 minutes to air dry.
- Grate the cheese and the cold butter together in a food processor. Switch from the grating blade to the metal blade, then add the flour, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne salt and pepper. Process until the dough just begins to come together and looks moist and grainy. Add the pecans and process until the dough begins to pull away from the sides and form a ball. Add the pimentos and pulse a few times until the dough is a ball.
- Dump the dough onto a piece of waxed paper, scrapping out all the pimento pieces from the bowl. Knead the dough a few times just to incorporate and distribute the pimento pieces. Cut two more lengths of waxed paper, divide the dough into two portions and place each portion on one waxed paper length. Form each into a log and roll tightly, pressing in to form a nice solid log. Twist the ends like a candy wrapper. Refrigerate the logs for at least an hour before baking, but you can refrigerate them for two days or freeze them for 3 months.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the rolls from the fridge and slice into medium-thick wafers, about 1/4 inch each. Place on the baking sheet with a little room to spread and bake until golden around the edges and firm on the top, about 10 – 12 minutes. Cool on the pans for a few minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool.
what a great idea, Pimento cheese is a staple around here, can’t wait to give this a try!
These are cute! I do a cheddar cheese cracker with pecans that is very similiar. And I agree…you can’t never have too much pimento cheese! Giggles
It was great meeting you at the Southern Food Writers conference. Get to work on that book!
If you’re going to pare two Southern culinary classics, nothing seems more perfectly matched than cheese straw and pimmenocheese! Genius!
these look soo good and perfect finger food
These look delicious! I buy pimento cheese from central market and its wonderful…how would you suggest making these crisps with store bought pimento cheese?
You can’t make these with store bought pimento cheese – the mayonaise base would be to creamy.
Can you make these without a food processor???
Yes, mix the butter and cheese together, then cut it into the flour with two knives or a pastry blender (like you would with biscuits). Blend until it forms a soft dough, using your hands if needed. Carefully add the pimentos nd knead together.
Thanks! I made the dough tonight without the food processor.. I’m using them as an appetizer for a cookout this weekend. I baked a few off tonight for “quality control” and they were delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Can you double this recipe?
If your food processor is big enough. I frequently make 2 or 3 batches back-to-back, wiping out the bowl between them.
Many thanks! I plan to try this soon.
Thank you can’t wait to try!
Is the flour all-purpose or self-rising?
All-purpose, unless otherwise specified. Enhjoy!
We have a nut allergy in our house. Can these be made without the pecans?
Emily – absolutely!
Just took these out of the oven, may never make my bland cheese wafers again!! Wow!!
What do you mean by “scraping out all the pimento cheese pieces.” Do you not use them in the final product?
Some of the pimento pieces tend to stick to the side of the bowl, so you want to scrape them out and add them back to the dough.
I made these tonight! They were fantastic. I am wondering how to store these. Do they need to be refrigerated?
Thanks!
No refrigeration – just store them in an aoirthight container!
If you freeze them, do they need to thaw out in the refrigerator before baking them or can you slice them frozen and bake them?
Don’t thaw them completely, just leave on the counter for several minutes until you can cut slices and bake right away.
My fave pimento cheese recipe uses roasted red bell pepper instead of pimentos. Do you think that would work in this? (*smile* want to make these now and not have to run to the store for a jar of pimentos)
Approximately how many wafers will this recipe make assuming each wafer is 1/4″ thick?
about 3 dozen
sounds delish cant wait to try
Would this work with cutting with a cookie cutter instead of a log??
Honestly, I’ve never tried. The dough is not particularly flexible and benefits from being rolled tightly and chilled.