Ingredients
- 1 cup pecans
- 2 sticks (1 cup) plus 1 tbsp butter
- 1 # extra-sharp cheddar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp cayenne
- Parchment paper for lining baking sheets
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a shallow baking sheet toast pecans in one layer in the middle of oven until a shade darker and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Transfer nuts while still hot to a bowl and toss with one Tbsp butter and salt to taste. Cool nuts completely and finely chop.
Coarsely grate Cheddar and transfer to a large bowl. Cut remaining 2 sticks of butte into 16 pieces and scatter over cheese. Let cheese and butter soften. Add nuts, flour, cayenne and with an electric mixer beat mixture until it forms a dough.
Divide dough into 8 pieces On a sheet of wax paper roll each piece of dough into a 1" diameter log and wrap logs tightly in waxpaper and foil. Chill logs at least 8 hours and up to one week. Dough keeps frozen for up to 2 months.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Working with one log at a time, with a sharp knife cut log crosswise 1/8 " thick and arrange slices on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake wafers in batches in middle of oven until pale golden and just firm to the touch, about 10-12 minutes. Cool wafers on baking sheet for 2 minutes. With a metal spatula transfer wafers to a rack to cool. Turn wafers over and sprinkle with salt to taste (Crevices on underside hold salt without letting it roll off). Wafers keep up to 4 days in an airtight container.