I made these little cheese snacks this weekend, and the friends I shared them with seemed to enjoy them.
I’m not kidding about the one ingredient, though you can spiff it up with herbs, spices and/or a mix of cheeses.
Done right, they can be an airy, crispy snack that happens to be low-carb (though perhaps high-fat) .
So here’s how you do it. Shred some parmesan cheese, sprinkle it in circles on parchment paper or a lightly oiled baking pan, bake at 350-degrees for about 7 minutes, remove immediately from the pan to cool, and you’re done. If you want, you can shape them immediately out of the oven by draping them over something or forming little cups.
You can play around with it by mixing in pepper, cayenne pepper or other herbs and spices with them. I added finely chopped rosemary to one batch, but the herbs burned before the wafers were done. Tossing in a little oil beforehand may have helped.
There were a few lessons I learned while making them:
Watch them while baking: The cheese can scorch and taste
burnt pretty fast. Pull them out when they start to just become
golden.
Grate your own: I tried it at first with some pre-shredded parmesan from the grocery store, but preferred the cheese I shredded myself using the tiny shredding part of the grater. The store-bought had too much powdery grated cheese, which melts together in a clump and ends up being either chewy or thickens into something that’s hard.
Keep it thin: When sprinkling, just put a thin layer for each chip, leave a lot of holes. Most of it will melt a little together. I preferred something a little more delicate, so this colors my judgement. I think it’s something that you just have to play around with.
Not all cheeses mix: Mixing parmesan and swiss seemed to work well and parmesan with Asiago or other similarly hard cheese came out great. Cheddar, however, at least the sharp Tillamook I tried was not a good choice. They don’t melt at the same rate, so the cheddar ends up being just a burned mess. I didn’t try it, but mozerella or other cheese with a higher fat content is probably more likely to melt.
