Bacon and Cheese Straws

By foodiva

What’s better than plain old cheese straws? Bacon and Cheese Straws, that’s what! These easy peasy puff pastry twists are made with streaky bacon, Dijon mustard and mature cheddar cheese for a delicious variation on classic cheese straws. They make excellent party nibbles or snacks. Adored by adults and kids alike, they are super easy to make and involve only 10 minutes hands on time!!

Ingredients

• Oil for greasing (or greaseproof paper)
• Plain flour for dusting your worksurface
• 1 x 320g pack ready rolled puff pastry (see note)
• 75 g mature cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (optional)
• 8 rashers streaky bacon
• 1 egg, beaten

Details

Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 35mins
Adapted from easypeasyfoodie.com

Preparation

Step 1

Method
Lightly grease a large baking tray with a little oil or line with greaseproof paper.
Lay out the ready rolled pastry on a floured surface, sprinkle the cheese all over the pastry and fold in half.
Roll out the pastry to roughly 25 x 40cm (10 x 16 inches). It should be wide enough to place 8 rashers of bacon side-by-side and just a little longer than 1 rasher of bacon in the other direction (see picture above).
Spread the pastry with the mustard and then lay out the bacon so the bacon is just touching but not overlapping.
Cut down between the bacon, so you have 8 strips, then twist each strip several times and place on the prepared baking tray.
Chill the twists for a minimum of 20 minutes in the fridge.
Just before you plan on cooking the cheese straws, heat your oven to 220C / 200C fan / gas mark 7.
Remove the cheese straws from the fridge and brush with the beaten egg.
Cook for 25-30 minutes, or until golden on top and cooked all the way through.
Eat as soon as they are cool enough to hold.
Store any uneaten cheese straws in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat for 10 minutes at 220C / 200C fan / gas mark 7 or until piping hot all the way through.

Method