What Cheese Can I Use Instead For Cheese Stars?

Our answer

Nigella's Cheese Stars are great served with drinks or cocktails at a Christmas party or pre-dinner. The recipe uses strong (sharp) cheddar or smoked cheddar. If you can't find cheddar then we woud suggest using something like Gruryère or comté cheese. Both of these have a slightly more nutty taste but have a texture similar to cheddar. Unfortunately we are not familiar with Brazilian cheeses but if you can find a semi-hard local cheese then that may work too. You could also add a pinch of smoked paprika to the mixture if you want a slightly smoky flavour and don't have smoked cheese. Alternatively you may like to try Nigella's Parmesan Shortbreads if Parmesan is easier to find, or if you have a similar hard, aged local cheese.

The Cheese Stars contain a little baking powder, so will puff up slightly. You should space the cut-out dough shapes about 5cm/2 inches apart on the baking sheets. However if they have spread excessively there could be a couple of reasons. The first is that too much baking powder was added, so measure it carefully using a ½ teaspoon/2.5ml measuring spoon and use a level measure. The second is that if the dough is too warm the butter and fat in the cheese will melt out quickly and could cause spreading. It may be helpful to chill the cut-out dough stars until the dough is firm, before baking them.