Deliciously Festive: Christmas Tree Cheese Straws With a Cookie Press

Christmas Tree Cheese Straws are a fun, cheesy bite for the holidays with a hint of spicy heat! The cheese mixture comes together quickly in the food processor and are stamped through a cookie press for festive seasonal treat.

Merry Saturday!

Christmas is less than two weeks away and I have a fun, cheesy bite for entertaining or gift giving!

These cheese straws require just 4 ingredients, and the recipe makes enough to enjoy and to share.🎄

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Are you a fan of cheese straws?

Cheese straws are one of my hubby favorite treats, especially at the holidays!

To make these in a tree shape, I used my OXO 14-Piece Cookie Press Set.

While other cookie presses use a trigger mechanism (like a caulk gun) to move the cookie dough through the tube, this OXO cookie press has a ratchet mechanism. Instead of squeezing, you press the handle down, saving you from hand fatigue with repetitive squeezing. If you’re in the market for a cookie press, I highly recommend it! It’s fun to use and has over 9000 global ratings with 4.3 out of 5 stars.

It comes with 12 interchangeable disks: Daisy, Flower, Sunflower, Fleur-de-lis, Butterfly, Bear, Shell, Leaf, Heart, Snowflake, Tree and Wreath.

There is also a Christmas Cookie Press Disk Set that includes a Santa, Star, Snowman, Joy, Snowflake and Bow disks.

🎄 There is a bit of a learning curve using your cookie press with the cheese mixture; you don’t want to chill it after mixing it or it will be too stiff to press. Once you get the hang of pressing out the trees, you easily get into a rhythm. Any shape you don’t like, just peel off your baking sheet and work back into your mixture and cookie press when you refill it.

🎄 You want to shred your cheese off the block for this recipe. Bagged pre-shredded cheese has added ingredients with anti-clumping properties that keep cheese shreds separate, so it doesn’t always melt completely, nor is it as moist as cheese you shred off the block.

🎄 Your food processor makes quick and easy work shredding and then blending the cheese, butter and flour for this recipe, making a smooth, homogenous mixture. Make sure your cheese is very cold before using the shredding disc on your food processor. You can place your block of cheese in the freezer for 20 minutes for easier shredding. If you don’t have a food processor, use the small holes on your box grater so the cheese is finely grated and can be incorporated into the flour / butter mixture using a mixer.

🎄 It’s best to use the cheese mixture right out of the food processor, when the blade has warmed it up a bit for pressing.

🎄 I rarely use salted butter in recipes, but it makes all the difference here.

🎄 There is ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper in these cheese straws; just enough to add some lingering heat but not enough to make them overly spicy. Omit it if you prefer or double the amount for more spice.

🎄 This recipe make 6 dozen cheese straws (approximately 2 inches in size) so there are plenty to enjoy and share! For best results, use unlined, chilled baking sheets to help your cheese mixture release; there is plenty of butter in the cheese mixture to prevent them from sticking when baking.

🎄 I used multiple baking sheets so I could rotate them and have one chilled and ready to go. Our screened porch is conveniently off the kitchen and it was in the 30s the morning I was baking, so I could place the sheets on the porch for quick chilling and to cool down after they came out of the oven. I discovered that my air cushioned cookie sheets don’t work for these, as the cushion of air keeps them from getting cold enough the cheese to adhere; for best results use a steel baking sheet.

🎄 Cheese Straw Ingredients🎄

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

(1) 8-oz block extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened and cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

🎄 Place baking sheets in refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

🎄 Pulse flour, shredded cheese and butter and cayenne pepper in a food processor at 5-second intervals until dough forms a ball, about 1 minute.

🎄 Fit cookie press with tree disk and fill the cylinder 3/4 full with cheese mixture.

🎄 Advance the dough down to bottom of the cylinder with the press handle. Place cookie press disc side down on chilled baking sheet so it touches sheet like you do making spritz cookies. Press the handle and lift the cookie press up from baking sheet leaving tree shape cheese straw. Continue making the next cheese straw 2 inches from previous cheese straw.

🎄 The cheese mixture is thicker than sugar cookie dough; it took me 2 – 2 ½ presses to extrude the cheese dough to make a tree; lift up your press to check to see if it pressed out your tree. If not, place it back down on baking sheet and press handle again; experiment until you get the feel of it.

🎄 Bake each batch for about 12 minutes or until edges are lightly golden. Remove from the baking sheet and transfer to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough using chilled baking sheets. When cheese straws are cool, store in an airtight container. You can flash freeze them when cool and package up in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

Note: To make cheese straws without a cookie press, roll the dough into 2-inch logs and slice into coin shapes. Bake about 15 minutes (they’ll be a slightly larger, hence the longer baking time) or until lightly golden. To make them extra fancy, use a fork to make a criss-cross impression on top and add a pecan half before baking.

Snowflakes and even bow-shaped cheese straws at

Christmas Tea on Tuesdays with Holiday Heritage Tea and Festive Treats

If you’re in the market for a food processor, this

Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor

is top rated with 4.5 out of 5 stars with 20,958 global ratings.

And if you need to upgrade your baking sheets, I highly recommend this set of Chicago Metallic Non-Stick Cookie and Jelly-Roll Pans  that come with a cooling rack.  I use them for everything from baking cookies to roasting veggies, or cooking bacon. They have wire-rod reinforced rims to prevent warping and flexing in the oven.

December is flying by. . .

I hope you’re enjoying this most wonderful time of the year!🎄

Take the stress out of holiday entertaining and find more

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Additionally you’ll find easy, no-bake treats for bars, snack mix and cocoa mix too.

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 Metamorphosis Monday