This recipe comes to us from chef Patrick Auger, and was created at the request of reader Connie Beale. Connie wrote in asking for help converting her family recipe for cheese straws to gluten free; she knew it could be done with my gfJules Flour, she just needed some advice on how to tweak it and keep the straws from flattening out into a pool of butter!
I looked over the recipe and spoke to my dear friend chef Patrick about ideas. As usual, Patrick was gracious enough to help. What resulted were these beautiful, light and puffy gluten free cheese straws that were just what Connie had been missing.
What both Patrick and I thought when we first saw the recipe Connie had been using was that the fat (butter): flour ratio was off. There just seemed to be too much fat for the gluten free flour to absorb.
Sometimes this happens with gluten free recipes. Have you ever had a family recipe that just didn’t turn out right when you converted it to gluten free? If things went flat and oily really fast, the same problem might be happening with your recipe, too.
Patrick dialed back the butter in the recipe and was able to get the gluten free cheese straws to bake up just like they should. By testing some dairy-free cheese and milks available, he even came up with a delicious dairy-free version for those who would need it! (The base recipe is already egg-free.)
Here’s what Connie had to say about the final results:
I had a recipe of my mother’s for Cheese Straws and I had tried numerous times to make them GF. Every single time, the dough ended up in a huge ‘blob’ on my cookie sheet. I was beyond frustrated and figured I’d never be able to have one again. So I just continued to bake them as the recipe was written and to carry on the tradition of sharing with family and friends. As a matter of fact, both of my grown daughters ask for these as their Christmas gift each year.
Jules has always been so helpful, I reached out to her the end of October and inquired if she thought the recipe could be adjusted for gluten free. She offered to send the recipe to Pastry Chef, Patrick Auger, to see if he had time to work on the recipe for me.
Well bless his sweet soul! Between Jules providing her flour and Patrick’s skills, he has perfected this recipe! When he sent the first picture, it brought tears, but when he sent the pictures of the finished product, the happy tears fell freely. My mom passed away when I was 14 and I’m now 64 years old.
I remember her baking so many of these and then storing them in the freezer to share with family and friends at the holidays. However, when she would take them from the freezer, it was obvious someone had been sneaking a few here and there! It was worth getting in trouble for! They were SO GOOD!
My heart is so full of gratitude to these two wonderful people for enabling the memories from my childhood to flood my mind. It’s a gift that is priceless!
Do you have a recipe that brings back such intense, fond memories? I feel like we all do.
For me, it was my grandmother’s Cinnamon Sticky Buns. I just had to make them gluten free (and I did!).
Don’t give up on those treasured family recipes. They CAN and SHOULD be made gluten free so everyone can still enjoy them together. My gfJules Flour will often be a simple 1:1 for the flour your mother or grandmother used, but if not, we’re here to help! (Here’s more information on my award-winning, versatile gfJules Flour.)
Check out my tips on converting recipes to gluten free, and if you still have questions or need advice, feel free to reach out anytime.
Happy baking!
Gluten Free Cheese Straws Recipe
Gluten Free Cheese Straws
Gluten free cheese straws as light, airy and cheesy as those you remember from your childhood! Even dairy-free if you want!
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter OR vegan alternative (e.g. Earth Balance® Buttery Sticks - not tub), melted
- 8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, room temperature (see my recommended vegan substitutes like Violife)*
- 280 grams (2 cups + 1 1/2 Tbs.) gfJules® Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground garlic powder
- 1 ¼ cup - 1 ½ cups half & half or full fat milk (see my recommended vegan substitutes like Ripple® Pea Protein Half & Half), at room temperature
Vegan option, also add:
- 2 teaspoons GF nutritional yeast (helps brings out the cheese flavor)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Sift together the gfJules Flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper, ground black pepper and garlic powder. If using vegan option, add the nutritional yeast.
- Using an electric mixer, add melted butter or vegan butter and cheese until blended. Add the dry mixture and half & half or milk slowly, beating at low speed, then continue to beat until very creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times. You want this to be a wet dough so you can pipe it.
- Transfer dough into pastry bag or cookie press that is fitted with a star tip.
- Pipe 5-inch long strips about 1-inch apart from each other onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake ONE COOKIE SHEET AT A TIME, 20-25 minutes until lightly golden.
- Cool each tray for 5 - 10 minutes before serving to allow the straws to set up.
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