Chickpea cheese straws

After trying several recipes, I've decided to come up with my own. Yep...with chickpeas.

Recipe by Gray Apron
time: 30 minutes
makes 10 long straws

 ingredients 

1 cup (140 g) cooked chickpeas*
2 1/2 oz (70 g) or more** cheddar cheese, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

 instructions 
Preheat oven to 180C/350F (fan forced function). Line one baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a food processor with steel blades, blend chickpeas with cheese, salt and cayenne pepper till smooth mass forms (about 1 minute). Add baking powder and blend for another 10 seconds till all powder absorbed and mixed in.

On a rolling board, with your hands, form little-finger-size bars, long or short. Arrange them on a lined baking sheet, spaced 2 inch/5cm apart. 

Press them gently with teeth of a fork and set in the hot oven for about 14 minutes, till dry-looking. 

Remove from the heat, let it cool on the sheet for 5 minutes and than transfer onto a cooling rack for further drying.

NNOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES NOTES

• nice, light, tasty...and hot, just like Julian ordered;
• adjust cayenne to your liking: taste the dough before adding baking powder;
• the chickpea straws don't snap but they do crumble;
• *1 cup cooked chickpeas = 1/2 cup dry, uncooked; 
• to prepare chickpeas: I soak them overnight and then cook in a pressure cooker for 15 minutes (no salt), 30 minutes w/o pressure. I don't cook just 1/2 cup...I make more, use some for the straws and the rest for lunch or something...
• if your pre-cooked chickpeas got a chance to get cold and dry, place them in a boiling/hot water for a minute; drain, let them cool a bit and then blend; 
• **this morning, I made a second batch with 120 g (4 oz) cheese; it worked too;
• they got flatter and more crumbly...but more cheesy, if you prefer.
• I bet this recipe would work with any hard, yellow cheese, but I like cheddar, because it tastes American, just like the cheese straws.