Cheesy Triceratops

To be honest these could just as easily be Cheesy Any-Shapes, but since I bought my Triceratops biscuit cutter (from www.janeasher.com) it strangely seems to be the favourite.  

It is well worth me saying though, that if you have two dinosaur fans eating these together you should be prepared for a certain amount of roaring and charging then the inevitable wailing of, 'My Triceratops has broken!' 

You could also make Cheese Straws with this recipe by cutting the rolled out dough in strips, brushing with egg, sprinkling with cheese then twisting.


Sorry about the picture, I really am...I need to get out more...

Makes approximately 12, depending on the size of your cutter 

Ingredients

100g Plain Flour

50g Slightly Soft Butter

50g Parmesan Cheese, finely grated (a microplane is good)

1 tspn Caster Sugar

A pinch of Salt

Approx. 50ml Milk

1 Egg, beaten

• Put the flour and the butter in a bowl and mix with a table knife, cutting the butter as you go until it is in small pieces.  Mix in half of the grated parmesan with the sugar and salt then add enough milk to bring it all together into an easy-to-shape dough.  Form it into a ball then wrap in cling film and put it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up.
• Preheat the oven to 175C (fan) and oil one large or two small baking trays. 
• Lightly flour your work surface and unwrap your dough onto it.  Lightly flour the top of the dough and your rolling pin then roll it out, moving it around every few rolls so it doesn't stick, until it's about 5mm thick.  
• Shuffle your cutter around in some flour and start to cut shapes out of the dough, squashing it back together and rolling out again as needed.  Place them onto the oiled baking tray and brush with egg then sprinkle with the remaining cheese.  Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until just starting to turn golden at the edges.
• Leave them to cool and firm up slightly before carefully transferring them (I use a palette knife as there tends to be a bit of sticking cheese) onto a plate or rack.