Quick and easy cheesy biscuits

This delicious recipe was provided to us by Aussie chef, Stephanie Alexander. Afternoon or morning tea snacks tend to only be sweets and while this is all good and well for those of us with a sweet tooth to satisfy, for anyone who prefers savoury treats it can be tough to find a delicious, bite-sized biscuit to snack on throughout the day. These deliciously cheesy biscuits are absolutely perfect for this. Not only are they super easy to make but they are mouthwateringly good. If you want, you can leave a portion of the unsliced, uncooked dough to be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen to be baked and enjoyed up to a month later. Yum!

Ingredients

• 100g tasty cheese, grated
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• 150g butter (at room temperature)
• Tiny pinch of salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons cream
• 175g plain flour, sifted

Method

1. Quickly blend the cheeses, butter, salt and cayenne pepper in a food processor. Add the cream and pulse to mix. Add the sifted flour. Pulse briefly until the mixture starts to form into a dough.
2. Tip the dough onto your workbench and shape into a rough log about 5 cm in diameter.
3. Place a sheet of aluminium foil on your workbench and line it with a sheet of baking paper. Put the log onto the baking paper and roll it up. To make a tight log, twist each end of the foil tightly to force the mixture together and remove any air pockets. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until firm.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Line a baking tray with baking paper. Thinly slice as many biscuits as you want to cook with a sharp knife and transfer them to the baking tray. Bake for 10–15 minutes until golden. Cool on a wire rack and then store in an airtight tin.