Cajun Spice Pecan Cheese Bites

Since my blog promoters (aka Parents) have been touting these goodies about town, I wanted to get them posted for you all sooner rather than later.  I have some guests posts coming up this week that I think you are really going to like.

Last weekend I helped celebrate my friend Dana's birthday with a mini feast of Cajun goodness.  My contribution to the eatin's were these little treats.  I really wanted to make cheese straws but much to my chagrin, I found I didn't have a cookie press readily on hand so went the biscuit cutter route.

The cheese bites have just that, a nice bite that sneaks up on you.  The pecans make a sweet complement to the red pepper and bring it all together.

Cajun Spice Pecan Cheese Bites

8 tbsp. butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded
1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup chopped pecans, small bits

Cream together the soft butter and cheeses.

Add flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne pepper and bring it all together as a dough.

Mine was very crumbly in the mixing bowl, so I transferred it to a rolling mat and kneaded it together until it formed a solid ball of dough.

Fold the pecan bits into the dough until evenly distributed.

With a rolling pin, roll dough out to about a 1/2" thickness and use a small biscuit cutter to cut small discs.  I split my dough in half and rolled out one half at a time, made it easier to manage.  You can re-roll the dough until all is used up.

Place discs on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until crispy and golden brown around the edges.

Remove from oven and immediately transfer to a cooling rack.