Am I a Southerner? And a Hippie?

In response to my husband digging around the kitchen the other night looking for snacks, I decided to make some homemade snack food. I was inspired by a lunch box snack posting on Apartment Therapy's The Kitchn. The hippie in me decided on homemade granola bars and the Southerner in my opted for cheese straws.

Roughly following the recipe for granola bars, I warmed the moist ingredients: cashew butter, brown rice syrup, honey, vanilla, and brown sugar. Meanwhile, in a bowl I combined puffed rice, oats, some Grape Nuts-like cereal, dried cherries, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. I sprinkled cinnamon over everything and then poured on the warmed sweet gooey mixture. I mixed everything up until it was all coated and sticky. I turned it out on a parchment paper lined pan and cooked it for 25 minutes at 325. After I took the tray out, I pressed down on the top and then let them cool. When cooled, I cut it up to make about 10 bars.

Next up the savory snack was cheese straws, which remind me of my grandmother. I am not sure she ever made them in the straw form but she definitely used a similar dough to make little round crackers. Tastiness!

I combined the room temperature butter (1 stick) with the cheddar cheese (8 ounces, grated) using a hand mixer. In another bowl, I sifted flour (1 2/3C) with dry mustard (1 1/4t), cayenne (1/4t), and salt (1t). I added the dry ingredients about 1/3 at a time to the cheese and butter continuing to blend with the hand mixer. I added 2T water to finish off the dough. I rolled it out and chilled it for about 20 minutes.

Then I sliced 1/2 inch strips and tried to twist them, which didn't work very well. I put them on a cookie sheet and baked them for about 12 minutes. I discovered you don't want them to brown at all but just look like golden cheesy goodness. They look lovely standing up in a pint glass for a little snack.