gingerbread men but cheesey?

[wads]

can you make a cheese biscuit that's firm enough to cut out with men shapes (hence the gingerbread man subject matter). If so please can I have the recipe? Need savoury snacks for kiddies party so any other ideas appreciated, thanks

You can try it - make normal piecrust pastry with finely grated cheese mixed in. It will be a bit crumbly (this is how you make cheese straws and they're crumbly) but should hold a cookie-cutter shape.

Also - cheese / pineapple hedgehog? Hummus and crudites (raw carrot, pepper, cucumber - or you can use fingers of toast or pitta bread). Or simple sandwiches made with something soft and gooey so they hold together well (eg cream cheese, tuna mayonnaise) and cut into shapes using cookie cutters.

is piecrust pastry same as shortcrust? [ignorant emoticon] Like the idea of cutting sarnies into shapes, thanks!

I'm not sure, I just mean what I'd make for a pie, which is half fat to flour (i.e. 8oz flour, 4oz fat) - then add the cheese, then a bit of water (or a beaten egg) to mix together into a paste. I think it would be difficult to mix the cheese into ready-made pastry so I'd make it from scratch.

We do cheese stars, c/o Nigella - but have also made little gingerbread persons using this recipe - it's basically a cheese straw mix, so not sure if big ones would be rather brittle... here you go anyway:

50g self raising flour
pinch cayenne (optional )
25g softened butter
80g finely grated red leicester
20g freshly grated parmesan

Heat oven to 200
Mix everything together (I use ds's hands for this bit) - you'll need to knead a few times to make it bind. Roll out to about 2.5 mm, cut shapes. Bake on greased trays - 8-10 mins for smallish stars (4cm) - they continue to crisp up on rack.

I have used all sorts of diff cheeses in this with no problem. This version is very cheesy, iykwim, so subsitute milder cheddar if you want something safer. I also regulalry use 'plastic' parmesan, as we don't often have posh stuff in the house - although you do then need to add a bit of water, imo. We served these at ds' party and they were a HUGE hit with kids & parents

brilliant, thanks everyone