Heart-Shaped Baked Cheese Crisps

These tangy, heart-shaped baked cheese crisps are the perfect addition to your party spread! Golden, crunchy, and packed with flavor, they’re great for snacking, sprinkling over salads, or adding a festive touch to any dish. Best of all, they come together in just ten minutes!

If you want to spice up a dish or impress your friends, these easy baked cheese crisps are the way to go! They’re not only a great snack, but they also add a perfect crunch to any dish. They’re delicious on salads, pasta, charcuterie boards, or even as a soup garnish. 

We love bite-sized treats for little hands, especially when they are festive and fun! If you love creative finger foods, be sure to try our strawberry yogurt bites, cute kabobs for kids and cucumber bites!

🛒 Supplies

Notes on key ingredients and supplies are provided below. Please see the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and quantities.

Equipment

• Baking sheet– Any large cookie sheet or baking tray will do!
• Parchment Paper– To prevent crisps from sticking! We think parchment paper does a better job than foil.
• Heart-shaped cookie cutter– We have this 12-piece heart cookie cutter set and used the medium heart that measures 2.6 x 2.44 x .98 inches to make 12 heart-shaped cheese crisps.

Ingredients

• Parmesan cheese– We recommend freshly grated parmesan over store-bought, pre-grated cheese, as the former tends to melt better. We used 1 cup of shredded cheese to make about 12 parmesan hearts.
• Paprika– Adds a pop of smokey flavor and a little color to our baked cheese hearts.
• Black pepper– Just a bit for added flavor and spice.

👨🏼‍🍳 Instructions

🧀 Variations and Substitutions

Cheese- Feel free to experiment with different high-quality block cheeses, especially those that melt similarly to Parmesan, like Asiago or Romano. Shredded cheddar also works well, but it tends to spread more, so be sure to space your crisps out properly on the baking sheet.

Seasoning- Give these cheese crisps a flavor boost by adding a pinch (or two!) of extra seasoning. Try options like Everything Bagel Seasoning, dried herbs (such as thyme or rosemary, or red pepper flakes and cayenne for a kick of heat.

✔️ Expert Tips and Tricks

• Taste the cheese mixture before shaping your cheese crisps into hearts—you might want to adjust the seasoning to your liking.
• Spread cheese hearts out on the baking sheet. The parmesan hearts will expand as they bake, so be sure to keep at least an inch between each cheese crisp. 
• If your cheese hearts seem clumpy, use the flat side of a spoon to gently flatten and even them out before baking.
• When spooning the cheese into the heart shape, tidy up any excess around the edges to keep the crisps’ heart shape intact.
• Watch your oven closely while cheese hearts bake, as every oven is different. They can burn quickly if left too long, and the crisps will taste bitter.
• Make cheese crisps in batches if you run out of room on your baking sheet and/or choose to spread out your cheese hearts generously.

🍽️ How to Serve Baked Cheese Crisps

These cheese crisps make excellent “crackers” on a charcuterie/ cheese board, alongside a veggie tray or in your child’s lunchbox! They also make wonderful garnishes for some of the following:

• Soups– Place a few cheese crisp hearts on top of creamy soups, like our tomato soup, lasagna soup , sausage orzo soup, or potato leek soup! 
• Salads– Our cheese crisps add the perfect crunch to caesar salads, pasta salads and more!
• Pasta-Toss crisps on your favorite pasta dishes, especially ones with creamy or tomato-based sauces, like this chicken sausage pasta, turkey spaghetti or pesto gnocchi.

❓FAQ