Recipe: Cheddar Olives

When planning a cocktail party, we always make sure to have one "straight-from-freezer-to-oven" recipe, and we make extra. You can keep refilling the tray as long as you need to, and any leftovers stay in the freezer for the next party.

There's only one problem. With our favorite straight-from-freezer-to-oven recipe, there are never any leftovers. Ever. No matter how many we make.

Even when we've quintupled this recipe for a cocktail party, they were all gone before the party was over. People just can't get enough of the warm, cheddary, slightly crumbly pastry enclosing a juicy olive.

It comes together in a snap - a single recipe probably takes about 20 minutes or less to get in the oven. Obviously, the more you make, the longer it will take, but once you've got the dough made, rolling the olives is pretty mindless. It's perfect for catching up on your TV watching, or having a good chat.

This is an old southern bridge party recipe - you'll find versions of it in many cookbooks. Here's ours:

Cheddar Olives

an 8 to 10 ounce jar of pitted green olives, either pimento stuffed or plain.
1 cup sharp Cheddar, shredded
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup AP flour
1/8 teaspoon cayenne OR 1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika or freshly grated black pepper to taste *

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Drain the olives well, and dry them completely with paper towels. Set aside.

Combine the other ingredients in a bowl and mix well until a dough forms. You can kneed it with your hands, if necessary, until it has the consistency of playdough.

Pinch off a small amount of dough, flatten it, and wrap it around a dry olive. Being careful not to squeeze the olive, pinch off any excess, then roll it in your hands until smooth. Continue until all the olives are covered.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. OR freeze, wrapped tightly, for up to a week. Bake straight from the freezer for 20 minutes.

Serve immediately.

*We prefer the cayenne, but in a pinch we've made it with the paprika and it was good as well! You just want a little something in there to cut the richness.

(Image: All pictures by Nina Callaway for The Kitchn.)

Comments (13)

This looks delicious. I can't wait for an excuse to try it.

these are the best things ever invented. they do make people lose control a little bit. seriously, it's almost like you can plan for 10/pp at a cocktail party and they will STILL all go.

I first had these at a get together years ago and fell in love. I've never made them (asked the woman for her recipe, but it was too ambiguous for me to attempt). These, however, I think I can do. Thank you.

These sound delicious and dangerous. Can't wait to try them!

A friend of mine makes these every year for their holiday cocktail party, I love seeing a recipe here! He makes dozens at a time, sitting on the couch and forming ball after ball. He always uses cracker barrel cheddar too, no substitutes. :)

And yes, they are delicious and dangerous!

Yours look awesome. I made a version a while ago (http://www.gourmetproject.ca/?p=184), and wasn't blown away. I think it all comes down to the quality of the olives. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good brand?

Sigh. I was very excited to make these and took a batch to a pumpkin carving party at my neighbors. While they were entirely consumed; I thought they were "meh". The only pitted olives I could find were the everyday jane Manzanilla type, and I used Kraft shredded cheddar. All they ended up tasting like to me was salt. Perhaps a finer olive and an exciting cheddar cheese would improve them; however the amount of time it took to roll up my jar of olives leaves me uninterested in a repeat. I think I'll stick to olive tapenade smeared on fabulous, crusty bread.

RedEngine88, I couldn't agree more. I thought these were very disappointing, although I did alter the recipe from the getgo.

1. The "crust" is basically a pie crust, and so it needs about 2 tablespoons of ice water to come together properly.

2. I used a variety pack of Tillamook cheddars to make this a little more interesting: Smoked Black Pepper White Cheddar; Garlic Chili Pepper Cheddar; Garlic White Cheddar; Horseradish White Cheddar.

3. Pie pastry loses it's "flake" if you handle it too much. So I made the dough, let it rest in the fridge for an hour, then rolled it out on floured board with a rolling pin. I cut rough triangle-shapes with a paring knife for the best "fit."

4. My oven needed 20 minutes for a golden brown crust from non-frozen olives.

results:

The mouth feel & texture is fabulous.
The crust itself is delicate and delicious.
The olive is too salty, but the juicy-factor contrasted with crust is great.

I read a variation that suggested chopped or whole dates. I'd try it again with dates, but never again with olives.

The only way to "save" the final effort (and not make it a waste of time and money) was to provide a sour cream and chive dip.

I made these the other day and they were great, just a few things:
I had to double the amount of dough to cover all the olives in a ten ounce jar, and even then I had only just enough.
I was having trouble making the dough (it was too dry) so I tried completely melting the butter and adding an extra tablespoon or two. Worked perfectly!
I used the paprika instead of cayenne. Yum yum yum.

I had the same problem with the dough being not enough and too dry. Maybe I couldn't flatten though dough out enough because it was too crumbly.

I think next time I'll try kimg924's suggestion with the ice water and the refrigeration.

Just made these this weekend for a dinner party. Like walkneverending, I found that one batch of dough did about 30 olives; less than half a jar. (I quickly whipped up another batch of dough because I knew they would get eaten pretty quickly!)

I prepared them ahead of time and put them into the oven frozen. They needed the full 20 minutes and a few extra to fully bake. I probably should have spaced them out a little more because they did get quite oily on the baking sheet.

Overall, a lot of work for such a small batch, but they are delicious! Rave reviews from the guests. A good special occasion recipe.

i actually really love these things, but does anyone else find that the 'It comes together in a snap - a single recipe probably takes about 20 minutes or less to get in the oven' is a stretch? these things take me forever.

I made these for my cocktail last Saturday and they were a big hit! I made two batches, froze them and then baked the entire batch an hour before guests arrived. Thank you for posting this recipe!!!!