Southern Style Cheese Wafers with Pecans

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Crisp and buttery, with plenty of cheese flavor and just a hint of heat. These delicious, savory Southern Style Cheese Wafers with Pecans are a perfect snack or cocktail party nibble. So good!

Southern Style Cheese Wafers with Pecans – A Cocktail Party Classic

Thirty years have passed, but I still remember my first encounter with Southern Style Cheese Wafers.

We had recently moved to Georgia and had been invited to a party at the home of a family we’d met at church. In addition to cocktails, our hostesses served a variety of nibbles. Most were things I’d seen before – bacon-wrapped dates, meatballs, spiced nuts, etc.

However, I was intrigued by the sight of a plate filled with homemade, golden-orange crackers, each topped with half a pecan. I picked one up, took a bite, and fell in love.

Those wonderful little cheese wafers were crispy, and buttery, and utterly divine. The hint of spicy cayenne was a perfect foil to the rich, cheesy taste of the wafer. The toasted pecan on top added crunch and even more savory flavor.

I consumed quite a few of those delectable little morsels that evening, and countless others during our time in Georgia. As I soon discovered, cheese wafers with pecans are a staple of southern cocktail fare, so I had many opportunities to indulge.

Back then, I wasn’t the cook I am now. So, I never tried to make cheese wafers on my own. Consequently, I didn’t get to enjoy many after we left Georgia, and kind of forgot about them.

All that changed during my recent book tour.

During a book party in South Carolina, I spotted a tray of beautiful, perfectly delectable Southern Style Cheese Wafers with Pecans. I’d be embarrassed to admit how many I ate, so let’s just say it was a lot.

After returning from my travels, I decided to try making my own cheese wafers.

The results were delicious! And a lot easier to make than you might suppose.

A Few Ingredients and A Little Time Equals A Delicious Cheese Wafer.

Believe it or not, eight ingredients are all you need to make a batch of your own Southern Style Cheese Wafters with Pecans. And one of those ingredients is water!

They are….

• Sharp or Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese (My preference would be for extra sharp, but either will do nicely.)
• Unsalted Butter (If you’re out of unsalted butter and decided to substitute salted, I’d either cut the added salt by half, or even leave it out entirely. Cheese has a fair amount of sodium on its own, so you don’t need a lot more.)
• Cayenne (if you really don’t like spice, you can cut the amount in half, but I don’t recommend it. The cayenne adds a lovely bit of heat, but it’s not at all overpowering.)
• Kosher salt
• Pepper (fresh ground if possible)
• Flour
• Cold water (this is just to help the dough come together)
• Pecan halves (if yours have been in the pantry a while, taste to make sure they’re fresh.)

Making the Dough

Making the dough is really easy, so I’m not going into a lot of detail about that here. Just read the directions carefully, and make sure to let the butter soften a little before you start.

Once you’ve made and shaped the dough, you’ll need to wrap it in either waxed or parchment paper or plastic wrap, then let it chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Don’t skip that part!

The dough needs to be well-chilled and firm before you try to slice it. Otherwise, it will be hard to cut it into thin, even slices.

The number of wafers you’ll get from this recipe will vary, depending on how thin you slice the dough. For my money, the thinner the better. Thin slices of dough are the key to getting crisp, delicate, melt-in-your-mouth delicious cheese wafer.

So be sure to chill the dough!

Also, the unbaked dough can be wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap and frozen for up to 4 months. You’d just let it thaw in the fridge for a couple of hours before slicing and baking.

Being able to make the dough ahead of time and bake as needed is one more thing to love about Southern Style Cheese Wafers with Pecans!

Baking, Serving, and Storing Southern Style Cheese Wafers

When you’re ready to bake, place the sliced dough onto a baking sheet that’s been lined with baking parchment. Using parchment saves time in clean up and ensures that the baked wafers don’t stick to the pan.

Next, you’ll top each wafer with a pecan half. Some folks like to add chopped pecans to the dough, but I really prefer this method.

Using chopped pecans can make it harder for the dough to hold together. Also, I really love the texture and crunch you get when biting into the larger pecan. Speaking of crunch, there’s no need to toast the pecans beforehand. That will happen naturally during the baking process.

The cheese wafers will be very hot when you remove them from the oven after baking, so be sure to allow them to cool before you serve them.

In my experience, these yummy cheese wafers get gobbled up pretty quickly. But in the event that you do have any leftovers, extra wafers can be stored in an airtight container for up to five days.

Southern Style Cheese Wafers with Pecans

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• Author: Marie Bostwick
• Yield: Makes 50 to 60 wafers 1x

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Ingredients

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• 2 cups grated sharp or extra sharp Cheddar cheese
• 8 T unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• ½ tsp cayenne
• ¼ tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1.5 cups flour
• 1–2 T cold water
• 50 to 60 pecan halves (one per wafer)

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Instructions

1. Place softened butter and shredded cheese in mixing bowl. Use handheld electric beater or stand mixer to beat on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until the cheese and butter are well combined and mixture is fluffy.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together salt, cayenne, pepper, and flour. Using the low speed of your mixer, add flour mixture to butter in three batches, beating to combine between additions. If the dough is loose and shaggy, add the cold water, one tablespoon at a time.
3. Turn the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Knead briefly to create a ball of smooth, even, firm dough. Shape into a log, approximately 12-inches long. Wrap dough in plastic wrap or waxed paper and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour before baking, or up to overnight. (Note: at this point, dough can also be wrapped in a double layer of plastic, stored in the freezer for up to 4 months, then thawed in refrigerator before baking.)
4. Preheat oven to 375. Line rimmed baking sheets with baking parchment.
5. Slice the dough crossways into wafers approximately 1/8^th inch thick (the thinner the wafer, the crispier it will be once baked). Place the wafers onto the prepared baking sheets and top each one with a pecan half.
6. Bake the wafers in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, until they are golden brown. Remove wafers from oven and allow to cool before eating. Leftover wafers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.