Homemade Cheez-It Crackers

There are definitely foods that I used to enjoy, that I have had to stop having around the house. Cheez-It brand snack crackers are one of the foods I have had to simply give up, such is my devotion to them. You can keep your Goldfish, your Cheese Nips, and your Better Cheddars. Cheez-Its are my dark master. I’ll go through an entire box in an afternoon, sitting in front of the television, making myself sick as I add fresh cracker after cracker into the ever-growing cracker-mush pocket tucked between my cheek and gum. It’s disgusting, really. But few things go as well with beer, and with a Sunday afternoon, as a box of Cheez-Its.

But oh, the humanity! Around 2,000 calories per box. Almost 100 grams of fat! Around 2800 grams of sodium! This version uses just five ingredients, and you can go as organic with them as you’d like. They aren’t quite as crunchy as Cheez-Its right out of the box, but I like them even better that way. If they seem TOO soft, toss them into the oven for a few minutes longer. No matter what, you’ll still probably finish the whole batch in one sitting.

Homemade Cheez-It Crackers
Adapted from a recipe on The Thin Chef

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small squares
• 1 (8-ounce) bag grated extra-sharp 2% Cheddar cheese (preferably orange)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in food processor, and pulse until crumbly. Add cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together. Form into ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Place dough between two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper, and roll out to 1/8 inch thickness. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet, and, using pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut into 1 inch squares. Sprinkle with kosher salt and bake for 25 minutes. Test for crispiness; crackers may take a few minutes more to finish crisping. Remove from oven when crisp and just starting to brown. Let cool and serve.

Tagged as: cheese, cheez-its, crackers, snacks

About the Author: Malcolm Bedell

My first memories of cooking start in Maine at six years old, when I wore a yellow rainslicker to avoid getting spattered by the bacon I was frying in a skillet. My interest in both Mexican cooking and recreating classic New England dishes from scratch developed while living in Mexico, on a steady diet of pork and habanero peppers. You can see more of my writing and photography online on Serious Eats, the Huffington Post, BlogHer, and Foodista, as well as in print for Downeast, Indulge, and Cigar Snob magazines.