Cheesy Penny Wafers

Submitted by NorthwestGal

"This is a recipe from one of my favorite Reader's Digest cookbooks (called Down Home Cooking). It's an English appetizer recipe that's easy to make and lower in fat than traditional versions of this recipe because it uses low-fat cheese."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 5mins
• Ingredients: 7
• Yields: 40 cheese appetizers
• Serves: 40

ingredients

• 1 cup reduced-fat cheddar cheese, shredded (4-oz)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
• paprika (for dusting)

directions

1. In the bowl of a food processor, process the cheese and butter for 30 seconds or just until combined.
2. With the machine running, slowly pour the oil through the food chute. Then add the flour, mustard, and red pepper, and process another 30 seconds or just until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (To keep the wafers flaky and tender, avoid overprocessing.).
3. Remove the dough, press into a ball, and roll in plastic wrap. Place on flat plate and let chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F, and set out two ungreased baking sheets.
5. Shape the dough into 40 balls, about 1/2-inch in diameter, and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Using the back of a fork, lightly flatten each ball twice, making a criss-cross pattern, until the dough resembles a coin about 1/8-inch thick.
6. Bake (at 350°F) for 15 minutes or just until crisp but not browned. Transfer to wire rack, dust the tops lightly with paprika, and let cool.
7. Store in air-tight container for up to 2 weeks, or you can freeze it for up to 3 months.

Reviews

[Lalaloula]

WOW, what a wonderful, wonderful recipe! Its super easy to make and turns out flaky, cheesy and just pure addictive. Mmmmm! :)<br/>I reduced the oil by 1 tbs and used a garlic infused one. I also added some garlic powder, but left out the mustard as I didnt have any. The wafers had a wonderful flavour with just a little kick from the cayenne. <br/>As I dont have a food processor, I kneaded everything together by hand, which worked out quite nicely. The dough was brittle, but workable. However I could only manage to get 21 wafers from the full recipe. They werent that big, the perfect size to nibble on...<br/>THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing this keeper with us, NorthwestGal! This will be my new go to recipe for savoury nibbles. The perfect gift for wine lovers, too. :)<br/>Made and reviewed for PRMR April 2011.

 

[Karen Elizabeth]

Easily prepared, even though I was in a hurry. The dough is easily pressed into small balls by hand, and it did make delectable cheese nibbles!! I didnt read the recipe properly and my first batch were quite big, I thought, I'm never going to get 40 out of this .... so I made the 2nd batch very small nibbles, also worked very well, either size! I added the mustard but not the cayenne, since I was giving most of these to youngsters (DH can't keep up with all the current cooking ;) ), and I have found not everyone likes that bit of heat, but if it were for me, I would have added it. Thanks, lovely recipe, made for ZWT 8