Kastengel (Dutch – Indonesian Cheese Cookies)

Kastengel or Kaasstengels is one of my favorite holiday treats in Indonesia. These cheese cookies are most commonly found during festive celebrations such as Christmas, Chinese New Year or Eid Al Fitr. Kastengel is Dutch Indonesian cheese sticks or cookies.  One of its main ingredients is the semi-hard cheese that originated in Netherlands and the cheese is named after a town named Edam. However, I am using Gouda cheese in this recipe since I have this handy at home when I made these Kastengel.

Kastengel is quite different than your regular cookies. It is not sweet. Instead, it is crunchy, buttery and savory. Kastengel is perfect for your tea time or coffee time or when you just want to break away from the other holiday sweets. It is very easy to make, and it is hard to mess up. Though, Kastengel’s regular shape is small rectangular, I made this with Christmas-theme cookie cutter to celebrate the upcoming holiday.

Tip: For topping, you can use either shredded Parmesan, Cheddar, Edam or Gouda cheese. The baked Kastengel can be stored in an air-tight container and it will last up to a month.

Ingredient

• 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup corn starch
• 2 cups shredded Gouda cheese (or Edam cheese)
• 250 gr (or 2 sticks) of unsalted butter
• 2 egg yolks

Topping

• Shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon honey

Direction

• Combine the all-purpose flour and the corn starch together. Mix it well using spatula.
• Add butter into a large mixing bowl. Mix it with a mixer under medium speed and whip it for about 2 minutes.
• Then, add one egg yolk and continue mixing with a mixer. Once it is mixed well, add another one and repeat.
• Afterward, add the shredded cheese into the mixing bowl and mix it again with the mixer for about 5 minutes.
• Remove the mixer. Now, with your clean hand (or using spatula), knead the dough while adding the flour-corn starch combination little by little into the mixing bowl.
• After the dough is not sticky to the bowl, set it aside and refrigerate for about 5-10 minutes.
• In the meantime, brush some butter to the baking sheet so that the Kastengel will not stick to the sheet.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Meanwhile, take out the dough from the fridge.
• With the rolling pin, roll the dough into the desired thickness about 0.7 to 1 inch thickness. You can use your cookie cutter or cut into small rectangular shape for Traditional Kastengel’s shape. I would say it is about 2×1 inch.
• Arrange the cut dough onto the baking sheet.
• Mix the egg yolk and honey in a small bowl. Then, brush it on top of the cut dough and sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.
• Bake the dough in the 350 F oven for 25 minutes or until the edges a bit brownish. (The baking time might vary depending on how big your cut dough is).
• Once it is done, cool it down before serving.