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    Home » By Category » Appetizers & Snacks » Baked & Grilled

    Published: Jun 18, 2015 · Modified: Nov 26, 2019 by Usha Rao

    Arizona Cheese Crisps

    Arizona cheese crisps are open faced tortillas topped with cheese. These crisps originated in Tucson, Arizona and hence the name Arizona cheese crisps. These crisps were made popular by El Charro Cafe in Tucson. Tortillas are baked until crisp, topped with cheese and further baked for few minutes until the cheese melts. This is the simplest form of cheese crisps but these can be topped with poblano peppers and / or chorizo. One can even get more creative and garnish with one of their favorite herbs such as scallions or cilantro.

    Tortilla cheese chips, Tortilla cheese crisps, Tucson Cheese Crisps, Blogging Marathon, Tortilla dish,

    Yes, Arizona cheese crisps is my second dish with tortillas. Thanks Valli for challenging us to make tortilla based dishes. I discovered this new dish which I was unaware of. I am more familiar with its sister, nachos but not cheese crisps. The minute I saw these on the list and how it is prepared, I instantly decided to make this for this BM.

    Tortilla cheese chips, Tortilla cheese crisps, Tucson Cheese Crisps, Blogging Marathon, Tortilla dish,

    This is a quick and easy recipe that can be put together in 10 minutes + time to preheat the oven. Like with any cheese dish, these crisps taste great when served hot or warm but taste equally good at room temperature. These can be served as a starter at a party, midday snack, after school snack, movie night snack, game day snack or just a snack to satisfy hunger pangs.

    Tortilla cheese chips, Tortilla cheese crisps, Tucson Cheese Crisps, Blogging Marathon, Tortilla dish,

    My plan was to make these crisps for my breakfast this morning but ended up making them after a light breakfast. We usually eat an early dinner, 6 - 6:30 pm and I find it very difficult cooking for the blog and click on an empty stomach. I had to eat a light breakfast to get my brain cells working to style my food for the photo shoot. 🙂

     Tortilla cheese chips, Tortilla cheese crisps, Tucson Cheese Crisps, Blogging Marathon, Tortilla dish,

    I made cheese crisps with 2 small flour tortilla and from what I have read online, corn tortillas are best for these crisps as corn tortillas are thinner than the flour tortillas. Today I topped my crisps with jalapeño peppers. I should make it again with chorizo topping when Mr. U is home. He might like it. If one likes cheese and like tortilla chips, then they ought to try these crisps.

    Tortilla cheese chips, Tortilla cheese crisps, Tucson Cheese Crisps, Blogging Marathon, Tortilla dish,

    Total Time: 20 minutes
    Pre-Heating: 10 minutes
    Bake Time: 10 minutes
    Yields: 12 small crisps
    Serves: 1-2

    Ingredients:

    • 2 small Flour Tortillas (Can also use corn tortillas)
    • 1 - 1 ½ tsp. Butter, melted
    • ⅓ - ½ cups Cheese (I used Mexican Blend of )
    • 6 - 8 Jalapeno Slices (I used pickled jalapeno)

    Preparation:

    • Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
    • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
    • Place the tortillas on the baking sheet.
    • Melt the butter in the oven for 20-30 seconds.
    • Brush the butter on topside of the tortilla.
    • Bake for 6-8 minutes until the edges turn light golden brown.
    • Remove the tortilla from the oven, sprinkle about ¼ cup of cheese on each tortilla.
    • Tear each jalapeno pepper into two and arrange on the tortillas as I did for one of the tortillas as seen in the picture or tear the jalapeno slice into 3-4 pieces and sprinkle. I did the later for the second tortilla. You can see the slice of the second tortilla/crisp in the middle image, on which I sprinkled smaller pieces of jalapeno.
    • Bake for another 2 ½ to 3 minutes until cheese melts.
    • Remove from the oven and sprinkle some scallions or cilantro to garnish. I did not garnish mine but it could add more flavor to the crisps.
    • Slice the tortillas with a pizza cutter and serve hot.

    Suggestions:

    • I used Mexican style cheese blend of monterey, cheddar, asadero and queso quesadilla cheeses. You could use just cheddar cheese, blend of cheddar + monterey, blend of cheddar + monterey + oaxaca or any good melting cheese.
    • I would recommend using ¼ cup of cheese per tortilla. I used a little less on one of the tortillas and I liked the one which had more cheese better.

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    Reader Interactions

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    1. Sneha datar says

      July 09, 2015 at 4:38 am

      Yummy cheesy crisps.

      Reply
    2. Priya Srinivasan says

      July 07, 2015 at 2:10 pm

      If I can eat from the clicks,ahh they look sooo tempting! ! Beautiful edges and that plating my god usha, simply superb! !

      Reply
    3. Sowmya:) says

      June 29, 2015 at 11:33 am

      So simple and yummy!

      Reply
    4. Mireille Roc (@ChefMireille) says

      June 27, 2015 at 10:50 am

      what a yummy cheesy snack

      Reply
    5. cookingwithsapana says

      June 25, 2015 at 6:22 pm

      Very nice presentation.Love to try those cheese crisps.

      Reply
    6. Vaishali Sabnani says

      June 24, 2015 at 8:24 pm

      I Love the simple recipe, and I love that black slate that you have used to click pics on..saw these on Vallis blog too..a must make for the younger generation.

      Reply
    7. Harini says

      June 23, 2015 at 9:29 am

      very tempting clicks for the cheesy tortillas!

      Reply
    8. ruchi indu says

      June 22, 2015 at 11:12 pm

      looks cool!!!

      Reply
    9. Pavani says

      June 22, 2015 at 1:37 pm

      What's not like with tortillas & cheese -- 2 food groups loved by kids. Will have to try this out for my kids.

      Reply
    10. themadscientistskitchen says

      June 22, 2015 at 11:47 am

      Wow awesome. Drooling here Usha.

      Reply
    11. Sandhya Ramakrishnan says

      June 22, 2015 at 11:44 am

      We absolutely love the cheese crisps when I made it for the theme. Love your golden brown edges!

      Reply
    12. Praba Bubesh says

      June 21, 2015 at 4:16 pm

      looks awesome..really a great treat..

      Reply
    13. Varada says

      June 20, 2015 at 7:48 am

      Been to El Charro but never had this. Never knew a recipe from there was so popular.

      Reply
    14. Priya says

      June 19, 2015 at 3:42 pm

      My mouth is watering here, seems like this Arizona cheese crisps is the winner among kids.

      Reply
    15. Kalyani says

      June 19, 2015 at 12:57 pm

      These must be the top fav in the BM series this month.. Ur clicks are as usual awesome
      :-))

      Reply
    16. PJ says

      June 19, 2015 at 6:28 am

      Looks delicious and awesome clicks Usha...

      Reply
    17. Srivalli says

      June 19, 2015 at 4:04 am

      Looks awesome usha..and I also have this planned..:)...you have come up with such interesting recipes and pictures..

      Reply
    18. sushma says

      June 18, 2015 at 2:41 pm

      Love those Toastada. My son would love it.

      Reply

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