About this recipe
Cheese feet are a very popular savoury snack in Germany. The name comes from a foot-shaped cookie cutter that’s traditionally used. It’s not necessary, though. They are great for parties too. Just double or triple the recipe. You’ll need more than you think because cheese feet are addictive!
The thinner you roll out the dough, the crispier the result. Leave it fairly thick for a soft puffy snack. Adjust the baking time too. Thin versions can be done in as little as 15 minutes while thick version might need longer. Take them out as soon as the cheese feet are golden brown. You can store the snack in an air-tight container at room temperature for a week.
Cheese Feet
Ingredients
- 300 g butter
- 400 g Cheddar or Gruyère cheese, grated
- 500 g spelt flour, type 1050
- 200 ml cream (the liquid kind you use for whipped cream)
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
Optional
- 1 egg yolk optional
- 50 g sesame seeds
Instructions
- Mix the butter with the flour in a large bowl. Use your hands and squish the mix until you get crumbs.
- Pour the cream in, add the grated cheese, paprika powder, salt and baking powder and keep kneading until you have a smooth dough.
- Divide the dough into 3 parts and roll each into a large ball. Wrap them up in cling foil. Leave them to rest in the fridge for 3 hours.
- Take out one of the dough balls and roll it out. The thinner you roll it, the crispier your cheese feet will be. Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes from the dough. Traditionally, the cookie cutter for this snack is shaped like a foot. But you can use any shape(s) you have or just cut the dough into rectangles.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper and transfer your cut out pieces to the tray.
- If you want to sprinkle them with sesame, beat the egg yolk and lightly brush the top of your cut our pieces. Then sprinkle them with sesame seeds.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
- While it heats up, get the second ball out of the fridge and repeat the process. I usually need three baking trays. So when I am finished with the second ball of dough, I put them into to oven. In the meantime, I finish the rest.
- Bake each tray for 15 minutes but check regularly. The baking time depends very much on how thick you rolled out your dough. Thin dough might be done after 10 minutes while thick dough needs 15-20 minutes. Just leave them in until they turn golden brown.
- Leave them to cool completely. You can store them for a week in an air-tight container at room temperature. Enjoy!
Variations
Cheeses
I have made cheese feet with emmental, gouda, cheddar cheese and gruyêre. I have even mixed different grated cheeses. Try variations to find your personal favourite version. Only use mozzarella if you roll out the dough very thin so you can bake the snacks fast. Otherwise the mozzarella will burn.
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