Hi everyone,

I just posted this in my journal, but I thought it would be of interest here, and would like to start a discussion on it.
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I had heard of this before using American cheese slices put in the microwave until they are crispy. But I thought I'd try it with real cheese slices in the oven on my now bannished Silpat non-stick cookie sheet protectors. Yes, those things Martha Stewart uses (they worked wonderfully for all the cookies I USED to make, so I figured they should work well on burnt cheese, too). Besides, I paid like $15 a piece for 2 of them and hated to see them wasting away in my now defunct cookie & cake baking tools section of my kitchen.

Anyway, I had a few bags of pre-sliced Trader Joe's cheese in the fridge that were getting close to their magic moldy date, so I used them. The cheeses were colby-jack blend, a pepper jack, and 2 slices of the wonderful Jarlsberg swiss (yummy folks--try it).

So, I took my not-used-in 6-months jelly roll pan and put the Silpat in it. Laid 6 slices of cheese on it and stuck it in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 7-10 minutes. I kept watching after 5 mintues to make sure the cheese got crispy but not burnt to dark brown-ness!

After about 7 or so minutes, the cheese was getting browned but not yucky-burned, so I removed them just when they had changed to a uniform brown-ness, and put them on a cooling rack.

They got CRISPY FAST! They slid right off the Silpat surface, which was a blessing.

Taste test: REALLY GOOD! They are so neat, for lack of better word. The saltiness intensifies, they are incredibly crunchy, and best of all, they are no-carb, straight-up protein snack!

And here's a detail you may appreciate knowing: they stay crispy when kept in a Ziploc bag, and no need to refrigerate, just like when you buy cheese bread--it doesn't need to be fridged.

So, now, go and make some! I like the Jalsberg best because it tastes so different. They sell Jarlsberg slices at Costco pretty cheap. It's a great way to have a hi-pro snack when you are sick of string cheese, or can't take something refrigerated with you.

I wonder if they would be good crumbled up on a salad, a sort of pseudo-crouton?

Or how about crumbled on top of a baked potato (or half a potato for those of us eating small amounts of carbs at our meals)?

Crumbled in scrambled eggs? The list goes on and on, I guess. Well, I hope someone else here tries this and likes it, or has tried it before and likes it and reports interesting tips and tricks/feedback out it. Cheese Crisps = Yum.
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What do you think? Tried these? --Betty