Cheeseburgers with Crispy Cheese

This post started out as a Crispy Comté Frico Cheeseburgers recipe form Food & Wine, before I abandoned their sometimes annoying thinly-veiled pretentiousness and went in a different direction.

I did take an important part of their recipe, though, and that was the crispy cheese. So, basically these are whatever cheeseburgers you want to make, but with a dual later of crispy cheese. I was a bit skeptical of this at first, but the cheese layers do add a flavorful crunch to the burger.

Some recommendations, before you proceed:

1. You’ll need about one ounce of shredded cheese for each melted cheese-disk
2. Use an additional ounce of cheese to melt over the burger while it’s cooking. That way, you’ll have both crunchy and soft-melted cheese.
3. Don’t be afraid to use substitute cheese, such as gruyere, if you have trouble finding Comté. Gruyere won’t be as crispy, but it’s very flavorful.
4. Don’t make a double-burger, unless they’re really thin patties. Otherwise, it’s too much burger.
5. Use whatever toppings and condiments you like. I used a ton of mayo, tomato and caramelized onions.

What you’ll need:

• 1 oz of Comté or substitute cheese for each disk, plus more for melting
• One brioche hamburger bun for each burger you’re making
• Hamburger patties
• Onions, bacon, pickles, lettuce, tomato or whatever burger toppings you like
• Salt and pepper, to taste

What to do:

Take the hamburger patties out of the refrigerator and sprinkle them with salt and pepper on both sides. Let them sit out to get to room temperature while you work on the cheese disks.

For the cheese disks, begin heating your oven to 425°F. While it’s heating, line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange 4 mounds of cheese on the prepared pan and spread them out to make 3-inch disks. Make sure they’re not too thin or too close together. Bake them in the fully-heated oven just until the edges of cheese rounds look dry and lacy—about 7 minutes.

While the cheese disks melting, prepare the tops and bottoms of the buns you’re going to use by removing them from their packaging and putting them on a plate. When the cheese is done cooking, remove the sheet pan from the oven, and working quickly, press the bun tops and bottoms—cut sides down—on top of the melted cheese rounds. Press the buns hard enough to make them adhere to the cheese, then let them sit undisturbed and cool while you cook the hamburger patties. Basically, you’re gluing the cheese to the bun.

Cook your hamburger patties to your liking, preparing your toppings and condiments while the burgers cook.

When the burgers are done, place the bottom buns/cheese disks on a plate and place the cooked burgers on them. Add your favorite toppings and condiments, then top with the top buns/cheese disks and serve!