Cheddar Wafers

One of the perks of my job, if you can call it a perk, is that once or twice a year I get to attend a cheese seminar where I learn lots of interesting things about cheese and how it is made, and I get to taste lots of new cheeses.  This past week I attended a seminar and tasted more cheese than is natural for one person in the course of one day.    And the best part was at the end of the day were able to take home some of the samples and all of the leftovers.  I went home with a huge bag of cheese.

One of the samples I went home with was a big hunk of  Lemon Cheddar cheese from England.  It was so different from the Cheddars I am used to.  This one was sweeter and had a delicate lemon flavor to it.  I found a recipe not too long ago for Cheddar Wafers and decided that I would experiment with the Lemon Cheddar and make a batch of the Cheddar Wafers using the lemon cheese.  Delicious!   

If you can’t find Lemon Cheddar, just go ahead and make these wafers with a nice sharp Cheddar.  That is what the original recipe calls for anyway.  These freeze perfectly.  I placed about 15 crackers in some individual cellophane bags and pull them out of the freezer as needed.  

Here is the recipe:

Cheddar Wafers

2 Cups all-purposed flour

1/2 cup butter, cut up

1 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. curry powder

Dash cayenne pepper

2 Cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (8 oz.)

3 Tbsp. water

In a food processor, or in a mixing bowl, combine flour, butter, sugar, salt, curry powder, and cayenne pepper.   Mix well.  Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition, until mixture is moistened.

Gather the mixture into a ball, divide in half.  Shape each ball into a 10-inch long.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a large baking sheet.  With a knife, cut the logs into 1/4 inch slices.  Place slices on the baking sheet.  Prick slices with a fork.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until wafers are starting to brown on edges. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.   My batch made 43 wafers.

These are great served with some pepper jelly and fun to nibble on while sipping a glass of your favorite wine.

I am giving a bag to some friends and keeping a bag to enjoy this evening along with my favorite bargain wine from Trader Joe’s called L’Authentique.  It’s about $4.99 per bottle.  A great table wine for everyday.   I certainly wouldn’t pull it out to impress the boss but for every day, it’s just fine.  And I’ll be sure to drink it out of my favorite mermaid wine glass with the wine glass tag that looks like a wedge of cheese at the bottom.  :)