Cheese Straws

There's something nostalgic about cheese straws for me. They conjure up memories of my Grandma, she was an amazing cook and baked some pretty epic cakes etc. She would make the most mouth wateringly moreish cheese straws and I couldn't get enough of them!

I tend to only make these at Christmas time, don't ask me why, I don't know! Maybe it's because it's one of the only times my entire family are together at the same time and it's my way of having my Grandma with us.

These are so cheesy and moreish and once you have one, you'll end up eating half your weight in them!

You can make whatever shapes you want with these, I tend to just keep them straight cut. If I'm feeling artistic then I'll twist them.

Ingredients:

• 375g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 225g butter
• 200g mature cheddar
• pinch of English mustard powder
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 2 egg yolks

Sift the flour and salt in a bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until all the lumps are gone and the texture is like fine breadcrumbs. Add the cheese, mustard powder, cayenne pepper and the egg yolks. Add 4-5 tbsp of cold water and mix well to form a dough.

Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Line several baking sheets with baking paper. Roll out the dough, roughly half a cm thick and cut into strips. Carefully transfer to the baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown, then leave to cool on a cooling rack before serving.