Name: Crispy Pickle Cheese Bites
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese (freshly shredded (about 1¼ cups)); 3 ounces low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella (freshly shredded (about ¾ cup)); ½ cup finely chopped dill pickles (drained before chopping and patted dry after measuring); ¼ teaspoon garlic powder; ¼ teaspoon dried dill; ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper

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The edges of these Crispy Pickle Cheese Bites are thin enough to snap. In the middle, there’s a softer layer of melted cheese with little pieces of dill pickle tucked into it. A sheet pan gives the cheddar room to spread into those ragged, golden edges, and the mozzarella keeps each bite together when you lift it.

You can make about 20 bites with half a cup of chopped pickles and eight ounces of cheese. There’s a five-minute rest built into the recipe. That’s when the cheese firms enough to lift, so use those few minutes to put out the dip or clear a spot for the tray. The bites are especially good while the centers are still warm.

Ingredients

5 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, freshly shredded (about 1¼ cups)

3 ounces low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, freshly shredded (about ¾ cup)
½ cup finely chopped dill pickles, drained before chopping and patted dry after measuring

¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon dried dill
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper

Which dill pickles work best?

A jar of regular dill pickle spears or hamburger dill chips will do. Spears are handy if you want to cut evenly sized pieces. Chips are already thin, so you can slice a few at a time into strips with a sharp knife, then cut across the strips. Aim for pieces about ¼ inch wide. That’s enough pickle to taste when you bite into one, and the small pieces distribute easily through the cheese.

The amount of pickle in each round matters. Cheese needs to touch cheese so the shreds can melt together. Half a cup gives you a good scattering of green pieces across the batch. If you open an especially briny jar, let the pickles drain as you grate the cheese and blot them again after chopping. The freshly cut surfaces will have released a second round of moisture by then.

How the cheeses work together

Sharp cheddar supplies most of the flavor and turns a deep gold out where the shreds spread thin. Yellow cheddar gives the bites their warm color, and sharp white cheddar works if that’s what you have. Look for a regular block of sharp cheddar with some give when you cut into it. The drier, crumbly cheddars sold for cheese boards can be harder to shred into long strands.

Use the firm block of low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, usually sold beside the cheddar. You should be able to hold it against the grater without squeezing liquid out of it. Cheese packed in water brings extra moisture to the pan, right where you’re trying to dry and brown the edges. If you’ve got a kitchen scale, weigh the two blocks before grating. If you’re measuring by the cup, let the shreds fall in loosely and level the top.

Grate the mozzarella straight from the fridge, while it’s firm. If it starts to drag across the grater, turn the block and work from a fresh cut surface. You can chop the last little piece when it gets too small to hold comfortably. Scatter it through the shreds so it has plenty of cheese around it as it melts.

The garlic powder and dried dill fit into the spaces between the shreds, where they’ll spread through the batch. Rub the dried dill between your fingers as you add it if the pieces are coarse. There’s plenty of salt in the cheese and pickles, and a little black pepper fills out the seasoning. Taste a piece of pickle from the jar and you’ll have a good idea of how tangy the finished bites will be.

Set up your sheet pan

A 13-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet holds the batch in a single layer. Line it with parchment and trim any paper that curls up over the rim. The rim catches the little drips of fat that can come out of the cheese as it melts. A light-colored metal sheet makes the browning easier to manage. If you usually bake with a dark sheet, start looking for color at the edges a little early.

The other tool that helps is a thin spatula. A wide turner with a thick edge can catch on the lacy part of the bite before it gets under the center. A small offset spatula or a thin metal turner will slip between the parchment and the cheese. Set out a serving plate with enough room to keep the rounds in a single layer.

How to make crispy pickle cheese bites

Allow about 35 minutes from the time you turn on the oven to when the first rounds are ready to lift.

Heat the oven to 375°F. Put a rack in the middle of the oven and line a 13-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set the pan on the counter so it stays cool while you prepare the mixture. This gives you time to adjust the size and spacing of the mounds before the bottoms start to melt.
Chop and dry the pickles. Drain the pickles, dice them into roughly ¼-inch pieces, and measure out ½ cup. Spread the pieces across a folded paper towel and press another towel over the top. Lift it and check for beads of brine. If the pieces are still glossy with liquid, give them another pass with a dry section of towel. They should feel damp to the touch and leave little moisture on the cutting board when you move them.

Toss the cheese with the seasonings. Shred the cheddar and mozzarella using the large holes of a box grater. Put them in a mixing bowl, sprinkle in the garlic powder, dried dill, and black pepper, then lift and turn the shreds to distribute the seasonings. Break up any clumps of mozzarella with your fingertips. Fold in the blotted pickles just until the green pieces are scattered through the bowl. The mixture will still be loose.
Form 20 low mounds. Divide the mixture into roughly two-tablespoon portions on the parchment. Lay them out four across the short side and five down the long side, leaving about three inches from center to center. Nudge each portion into a low round about 1¾ inches wide. If any pickle pieces stick out on their own, tuck them closer to neighboring shreds. Check the last few rounds against the first ones and move a pinch of cheese around if some look noticeably smaller.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Look for melted centers and deep golden edges. You can start watching through the oven door around the 10-minute mark. At first the shreds soften and the rounds spread a little. The edge gets thinner as the cheese melts, then bubbles and takes on color. The middle of each round should look like one connected layer by the time the tray comes out.
Let the bites set on the pan for five minutes. The edges will feel firmer as they cool, and the centers should lift with the rest of the round. Slide a thin spatula underneath each one and transfer it to a plate in a single layer. If a piece bends enough to fold over the spatula, let the tray sit another minute and lift it again. Serve the bites warm.

If the cheese bites spread, stick, or stay soft

The edges are pale after the timer goes off. Give the tray another minute and look again. The color is easier to judge around the thinnest part of a round, where the cheese changes from yellow to deep gold. If one side of the tray is already browning faster, rotate it before giving the paler side that extra minute. Watch the dark side closely as it finishes.

The edges are crisp but the middle is wet. Look at the size of the pickle pieces in the center. A cluster of large chunks will hold more moisture in one spot and leave less cheese around it. On the next tray, distribute a few chunks per round and flatten any mounds that have a tall center. Smaller pieces of pickle dry more evenly when you spread them out on the towel.

A few rounds baked into each other. Let the cheese firm up in the pan. Slide the edge of the spatula through the narrow strip where the rounds meet, then lift them as you normally would. If most of the tray has joined, cut through the thin spaces between the centers once the cheese has set. You’ll still get crisp pieces to serve, and you can leave a wider gap the next time you portion the mixture.

The round holds its shape, but a corner sticks. Try lifting the parchment near that corner and peeling it back from the underside while you support the round with the spatula. Pulling straight up on a thin edge puts all the pressure on the fragile part. For a stubborn round, give it a minute longer on the tray before going back for it.

There are beads of oil on top. A little fat can rise to the surface as the grated cheddar heats. Once the bites have set, touch the corner of a paper towel to any large droplets and let the towel wick them up. Leave the bites on the parchment until they’re firm enough to lift, then move them to a dry serving plate.

Easy changes to the flavor

For more heat, use finely chopped hot dill pickles in the same amount. Look for a jar with its heat in the brine so you can easily drain the pickles and blot them. A pinch of cayenne in the cheese mixture is another option when you only have regular dills. Start with ⅛ teaspoon for the full batch. It will carry a little heat into the cheddar, even in bites with fewer pickle pieces.

For a stronger cheese flavor, trade one ounce of the cheddar for one ounce of finely grated Parmesan. Keep the remaining four ounces of cheddar and all three ounces of mozzarella. Fine Parmesan will settle toward the bottom of the bowl, so scoop from the bottom every few rounds as you portion the mixture. The Parmesan brings more salt with it, which is worth considering if you’re using an especially salty pickle.

For a different kind of tang, try a well-drained bread-and-butter pickle. Its sweetness comes through clearly beside the cheddar. Use the same half cup and keep an eye on the edges early, since sugary bits can darken as they bake. The dill version has a bright, savory finish that goes particularly well with a creamy dip.

Serving the bites

Leave room between them on the plate, especially when they’re still warm. A pile traps steam against the thin edges, and those edges are the first part to soften. For a small gathering, arrange the bites on two plates so you can bring the second one out when the first is nearly empty. If the second plate will sit for a while, let its bites finish cooling on a wire rack before transferring them.

Ranch is good here because it’s cool enough to balance the warm cheese and mild enough to let the pickle come through. For a thicker dip that clings to the edge, set out a small bowl of plain Greek yogurt or sour cream with a few snips of fresh chives. A little mustard works with the sharper cheddar, too. Serve any dip on the side so everyone can pick up the round by its center and dip the edge.

For dinner, put two or three alongside a burger, a toasted sandwich, or a bowl of tomato soup. The pickle gives the same briny bite you’d get from a spear on the side, and the crunchy cheese is sturdy enough to dip into soup. If the main dish already has a lot of cheese, pair the bites with something cool and fresh, such as cucumber slices or a handful of raw snap peas.

Getting a batch ready ahead of time

Grate the cheese up to a day ahead and refrigerate it in a covered container. You can also dice the pickles a day ahead. Keep them separately covered in the fridge and pat them dry just before baking. They can leave a little liquid in the bottom of the container overnight. If they do, tip out the liquid first, then spread them over a fresh paper towel. Once both are ready, tossing and portioning the mixture takes just a few minutes.

For a double batch, line two half-sheet pans and portion the mixture for the second tray as the first tray bakes. Cook the sheets one at a time on the middle rack, allowing another 12 to 15 minutes of oven time for the second. The first tray can set on the counter while the second one cooks, leaving you free to lift the first batch and pass it around. A half batch also works well if you’re making a snack for two. Keep the size of the rounds the same and start checking for color a little early.

You can also bake the regular batch in two rounds on a smaller pan. Once you’ve lifted the first set of bites, slide off the used parchment and set the empty pan on a rack to cool before lining it again. Leave time for the pan to cool and another 12 to 15 minutes for baking. Portion the second round just before it goes into the oven.

Storing and reheating leftovers

Once the bites have stopped steaming, put them in a shallow airtight container. If you need two layers, slip a piece of parchment between them so the cheese stays separate. Refrigerate within two hours of baking, or within one hour if the room or outdoor serving area is above 90°F. Store at 40°F or colder and eat within three days.

For a crisp edge on the second day, lay the bites on a parchment-lined sheet and reheat them in a 350°F oven until they reach 165°F throughout. Start checking after about four minutes. It’s a short window for thin cheese rounds, so keep an eye on the edges. Give them a minute on the tray to firm before lifting and serve them while they’re warm.