Being born and raised in The South, I grew up eating pimento cheese. It was something I remember my grandmother making sometimes and something that could always be easily found in the grocery store. Pimento cheese reminds me of summer... Run in from being outside/in the pool and the easiest, quickest thing to do was grab the container of pimento cheese and spread it on sliced bread or pieces of celery for a quick snack or meal.
Nowadays, it is listed on more than just basic Southern restaurant menus - which is great! I've seen it topped with bacon jam...served with pepper jelly (another Southern specialty)...and almost always with something crunchy like crackers or toasted rounds of baguette.
I'm a huge Pinterest fan and I mindlessly scroll through and pin recipes alllllll the time. I started noticing that one specific pin kept getting repinned/saved over-and over-and over. That pin was a recipe for Pimento Cheese Crisps - saved 10 times in the last 7 days...so I figured I needed to give it a try.
These are super yummy!
Thank you to The Runaway Spoon - the original pin comes from this site that has such a cute name!
2 deviations from the original: I cut them into 1/8 inch slices instead of 1/4 inch slices and I ended up with a baking time of 17 minutes to get thin, crispy texture.
Pimento Cheese Crisps
Yields 36
Ingredients
1 (4-ounce) jar diced pimentos
8 ounces sharp cheddar
½ cup (1 stick) cold butter
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon sweet paprika
Dash of cayenne pepper
A generous pinch of salt
A few grinds black pepper
½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
Rinse and drain the pimentos and place them on paper towels. Pat them dry and then leave them for 10 – 15 minutes to air dry.
Grate the cheese and the cold butter together in a food processor. Switch from the grating blade to the metal blade, then add the flour, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne salt and pepper. Process until the dough just begins to come together and looks moist and grainy. Add the pecans and process until the dough begins to pull away from the sides and form a ball. Add the pimentos and pulse a few times until the dough is a ball.
Dump the dough onto a piece of waxed paper, scrapping out all the pimento pieces from the bowl. Knead the dough a few times just to incorporate and distribute the pimento pieces. Cut two more lengths of waxed paper, divide the dough into two portions and place each portion on one waxed paper length. Form each into a log and roll tightly, pressing in to form a nice solid log. Twist the ends like a candy wrapper. Refrigerate the logs for at least an hour before baking, but you can refrigerate them for two days or freeze them for 3 months.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the rolls from the fridge and slice into medium-thick wafers, about 1/4 inch each(I preferred 1/8 inch). Place on the baking sheet with a little room to spread and bake until golden around the edges and firm on the top, about 10 – 12 minutes(I ended up with a 17 min baking time for crispness). Cool on the pans for a few minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool.
I feel like these could pair well with almost any drink...but for wine pairing I'd definitely go for a refreshing white wine. A Sancerre or white Bordeaux would be great. Both are Sauvignon Blanc or blends including Sauvignon Blanc. So if you have a favorite "Savvy B" - try it with these crackers!!