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Cheese Mantecaos

These are the Platonic ideal of our packaged cheese puffs, with the texture of macaroons and the flavors of fresh cheese and fragrant spices. Serve as a snack or stand-up food. You can prepare the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it until you are ready to bake or make the biscuits themselves ahead of time and store them in an airtight container for up to a day.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 4 servings

Ingredients

8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold butter, cubed
2 cups grated Emmental (Swiss), Gruyère, Cantal, or good-quality Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
3 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted in a dry skillet until fragrant
1 tablespoon paprika, optional

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put the butter, cheese, flour, egg, salt, cayenne, and cumin into the bowl of a food processor and pulse, just until the mixture resembles coarse meal; do not over process. (You can also use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the mixture to the same consistency.)

    Step 2

    Form the mixture into 1-inch balls. Line the balls on a nonstick or lightly greased baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between them. Slightly flatten each ball with your fingers.

    Step 3

    Bake until the pastries puff and become golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack, then garnish with paprika if you like and serve within a few hours.

  2. Spicy Cheese Straws

    Step 4

    Omit the cumin and paprika; increase the cayenne to 1 teaspoon, or to taste.

The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved. MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.
TagsCrackerNorth AfricanAfricanSwiss CheeseCheeseDairyGruyèreCheddarStarterSnackDinnerNut FreeVegetarianEasyQuick5 Ingredients or FewerBakingFood ProcessorKwanzaaCookbooks
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