Cheesy, baked cheese straws are a delicious swap for regular breadsticks and super easy to bake with puff pastry and cheese.
Whether it’s for a school lunch or for dinner, you’ve GOT to try these Easy Baked Cheese Twists! They are perfect to send off in a lunchbox along with a warm bowl of soup or paired with some protein and fresh veggies.
Watch how easy these cheese twists are to make in the video below.
What are Cheese Straws?
Like a breadstick, these cheese straws are soft, pliable, and of course, super cheesy. They are long and while the name suggests it, you can’t actually drink through them.
There are many ways to serve these, whether it’s as a side for dinner, an appetizer, and in a lunch with leftover soup- you can’t go wrong.
It’s recipes like this that bring variety to packed lunches and if you want more ideas, check out my new 101 Packed Lunch Ideas eBook. The recipes are kid-favorite meals that also offer variety and nutrition in a yummy way.
Can you freeze cheese straws?
Absolutely! To freeze your cheese twists, prep them using the recipe below, but don’t bake them. Put them on a cookie sheet, cover and freeze for around 4 hours (until firm).
After the straws are frozen solid, place them in a freezer-safe bag or container and freeze for up to a month. When you’re ready to use them, remove the frozen cheese straws from the freezer and bake as directed.
How to Make Cheese Straws
Step 1: Let puff pastry thaw until softened – around 30 minutes
Step 2: Preheat oven to 400 and line your baking sheet with parchment paper
Step 3: Whisk an egg and water in a small bowl until combined. In a separate bowl, mix together the cheeses.
Step 4: Unfold the puff pastry onto a floured workspace. Use a pastry brush to brush some of the egg and water evenly over the dough.
Step 5: Sprinkle half the cheese mixture over half the dough.
Step 6: Fold the dough over the cheesy half and press to seal
Step 7: Brush the top of the dough with egg mixture and sprinkle with half of the remaining cheese, pressing gently to help the cheese stick
Step 8: Turn the dough over and repeat
Step 9: Cut pastry lengthwise into 4 even strips
Step 10: Hold strips by each end and turn until each strip turns into a nice cheese twist straw
Step 11: Place cheese straws on a baking sheet, and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
What to Serve with Cheese Twists
These twists go great with marinara sauce, soup, salads, anything really. I’ll often make these with a dinner one night, making sure to prepare extra for lunches the next day.
Here are some of my favorite recipes to serve with Cheese Straws
- Slow Cooker Veggie Tomato Soup
- Enchilada Soup
- Pumpkin Chili
- Meat & Veggie Paleo Chili
- Caprese Chicken Salad
- BLT Salad
I mean who doesn’t love a hot lunch of twisted cheesy, flaky pastry baked to perfection and dunked in hot thermos soup for lunch? This is one recipe your family will request again and again!
If you are looking for a container to send some hot soup along with these baked cheese twists, check out our top 5 thermos containers in this post.
What will you serve with your Cheese Straws?
Cheese Straws Recipe
These Easy Baked Cheese Straws are made with flaky puff pastry folded and twisted with cheese and baked to perfection!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 24 minutes
- Yield: 6–12 twists 1x
- Category: Lunch
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Lunch
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup shredded Italian cheese blend, such as Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- All-purpose flour, for dusting
Instructions
- Let the frozen puff pastry thaw at room temperature until softened, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Crack the egg into a small bowl or cup. Add 1 tablespoon (15 mL) water, and whisk until blended. In another small bowl, mix together the cheeses.
- Unfold the thawed puff pastry sheet and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Using a pastry brush, brush some of the egg mixtures evenly over the dough. Sprinkle half of the cheese mixture evenly over half of the egg-brushed dough.
- Fold the uncovered dough over the cheese and press gently to seal. Brush the top with the egg mixture, sprinkle with half of the remaining cheese mixture, and press gently to help stick. Turn the dough over, brush the other side with the egg mixture, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and press gently. Discard any remaining egg mixture.
- Cut the pastry vertically into 6 strips or horizontally into 12 smaller strips. Holding each strip by the ends, turn the ends a few times in the opposite direction to make a twist. Place the twists, evenly spaced, on the baking sheet.
- Bake until browned, about 10 minutes. Let cool briefly. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 large twist
- Calories: 281
- Sugar: 0.5g
- Sodium: 300mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Carbohydrates: 19g
- Fiber: 0.8g
- Protein: 9.6g
- Cholesterol: 37.5mg
Keywords: cheese, breadsticks, appetizer
Barbara
How would brushing them with melted butter and garlic powder work instead of the egg wash? Thanks
MOMables-Laura
Barbara, that would be delicious and give them beautiful color and amazing flavor.
Tynka R
Since I am in lockdown and can’t go to school, and my class has a blog. WE usually put cooking videos on it. I am quite a picky eater and am an ameteur at cooking so this recipe is really easy and healthy for me to make. I can’t wait to bake them! :D
Thanks so much for providing people with these amazing recipes! :)
★★★★★
Noemi
Awesome recipe! Followed step by step and it turned out sooo good.
★★★★★
MOMables - Laura
Glad they were a success, Noemi!
Mdog
Sounds delicious. I am thinking some pepper would be a good addition !
★★★★★
Ana
Do you use a single sheet of pastry and repeat the steps until all the pastry sheets are used up? Thanks
MOMables
No. you roll out the entire sheet with all the layers and slice that way. I don’t separate by sheet.
Grace
do you ever make these he night before for lunches? If so, do you just refrigerate them overnight and then let them come to room temp in your kiddos lunchbox? I want to make these to take for a school snack for my son’s class along with some marinara sauce to dip in. Do you think that’s doable?
MOMables
Yes. I make them the night before and once they are cooled, I put them in a large tupperware. I don’t refrigerate them. I the morning, I stick them in the lunchbox.
Catherine
I just made these and I’m not sure what I did wrong the cheese all melted and the pastry didn’t puff up it’s just a melted cheese mess
I found it very difficult to twist them so the cheese didn’t fall off too
Help what did I do wrong?
Barbara
Mine were a hot mess as well. The cheese didn’t fall off but when I went to twist them the “heads” just twisted right off. Now, I did you garlic butter as opposed to the egg wash so don’t know if that hurt or not. But mine didn’t puff up or brown. Maybe I’ll try again.
★★★
Stephanie
My daughter has an egg allergy – how do you think an egg replacer (we use Ener-G Egg Replacer) will work in this?
MOMables
Stephanie, I have not tried the egg replacer in this recipe. You can try brushing it with milk instead.
Canadian Moms Cook
I made these first thing this morning so that I could send them in my kids’ lunch. While I suppose they aren’t the healthiest of things, man are they ever delicious and I couldn’t get over just how easy they are to make. Mine took a bit longer to bake. I bought the pre-rolled pastry and maybe it is thicker than yours?
I will be making these again for sure!!! Thank you :)
★★★★★
MOMables
So glad your kids loved it! Oven temperatures always vary so cooking times can vary by 3-5 minutes. They are easy and delicious!
Tosca
I’m definitely going to make these :D
★★★★★
Jenny K
Oh my gosh. I’m tempted to go to the 24-hour grocery right now, in my pajamas, at 10:30 pm to get the ingredients to make these! I can’t wait to try!
MOMables
Jenny, you are not the only one who has those moments :)
Joha
Have you tried those pastry sheets with instead of mozarella, cream cheese in the inside and some brown sugar in the outside? In PR we call it Quesitos… and mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
MOMables
GREAT IDEA!!