Plated + Served: Puff-Pastry Straws
Here’s a fun and familiar recipe for your weekend celebration.
But first, a question: Are Puff-Pastry Straws a light snack to enjoy before dinner? Or do you serve them with the meal as the bread pairing?
Regardless, this Puff-Pastry Straw recipe is so easy to make you should enlist one of the older kids (or a volunteer) to do the honors. (I will admit that these directions are very detailed because Mama ALWAYS has issues making any kind of bread and I want to spare you that pain.)
But who ever is tasked with making the Straws, you might ask them to double the recipe… everyone seems to devour these right out of the oven, before they ever get to the dinner table!
Puff Pastry Straws
prep: 30 minutes
cook: 12 to 14 minutes
makes: 24 straws
you’ll need…
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
½ package (7 to 8 oz.) puff pastry dough
1 egg, slightly beaten
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
½ teaspoon anise seeds
½ teaspoon chili powder
let’s get to it…
Preheat oven to 425°F with the rack in the center. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Dust a large work surface with flour; unfold the dough on the flour and roll out until it is a 12-by-16-inch rectangle, about ⅛-inch thick.
Brush the bottom half of the rectangle with the beaten egg (you won’t use all of it).
Sprinkle half of the Parmesan cheese on the top of the rectangle (the part that DOESN’T have the egg). Fold the bottom half (with the egg) over the top half. Gently roll dough again to seal in the cheese.
Cut the dough into 3 strips lengthwise. Cut the 3 strips in half.
Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese on 2 of the strips, the anise seeds on 2 strips and the chili powder on the remaining 2 strips.
Cut each of the strips into 4 strips so you have 24 strips in total.
Hold each end of one strip of dough with your fingers and twist in opposite directions to form a spiral. (You may also want to lay the piece of dough on your work surface and twist the ends of each strip in opposite directions using the flat side of your hand).
Place each spiral on the baking tray about 1-inch apart and press ends down so spirals don’t unravel. Repeat with remaining dough. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7 minutes; rotate tray in oven and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
