Air Fryer Tequeños

• 2 cupsall-purpose flour — plus more for rolling
• 1 tspsugar
• 1/2 tspfine sea salt
• 4 tbspunsalted butter — cold, cubed
• 1/2 cupwarm water — plus a splash as needed
• 12 ozqueso blanco or queso de freír — a firm, salty white cheese that softens without fully melting away
• 1 tbspneutral oil — for brushing

Method

1. 01

   Rub the butter into the flour, sugar, and salt until sandy, then knead in the warm water to make a smooth, elastic dough. Rest it, covered, for 20 minutes — relaxed dough rolls thin without fighting back.

2. 02

   Cut the cheese into batons about 3 inches long and a half-inch thick. Pat them dry; a damp surface makes the dough slip.

3. 03

   Roll the dough out thin — about an eighth of an inch — and cut it into long ribbons roughly an inch wide. Wrap each cheese baton in a spiral, overlapping each turn slightly so there are no gaps, and pinch both ends firmly shut. Gaps and loose ends are how cheese escapes.

4. 04

   Brush the tequeños lightly with oil. Arrange in a single layer with space between them and air fry at 360°F for 10 minutes per batch, turning once, until golden brown and blistered at the seams.

5. 05

   Rest 2 minutes — molten cheese shows no mercy — and serve hot, with guasacaca or nothing at all. Uncooked tequeños freeze beautifully; air fry from frozen, adding 3 minutes.