Pepper Jack Crackers

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 lb monterey jack pepper cheese, coarsely grated
• 1 large egg, separated
• 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne (to taste)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 375°f grease two baking sheets with pam, oil or butter.
• 2 in a food processor, blend the butter and cheese until smooth. add egg yolk, salt and cayenne and blend until combined.
• 3 add flour and blend just until mixture forms a dough.
• 4 transfer about 1/4 of the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a 7/8-inch wide ribbon tip*. pipe the dough in long strips about 2 inches apart on the greased baking sheets. dough strips may break in places--don't worry about this. you'll be cutting the strips later.
• 5 in a small bowl, whisk the egg whites and a pinch of salt until just combined. brush each strip of dough with egg mixture.
• 6 bake in batches in the middle rack of the oven until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
• 7 while crackers are still hot, slice diagonally into 1 1/2-inch-long pieces.
• 8 cool on wire racks to crisp.
• 9 crackers may be stored up to 5 days in an airtight container--although i doubt they will last that long!
• 10 *note: you can also use a cookie press or different tips and make any shape you like.