I associate going to the beach with snacks. Oh, who am I kidding, I associate everything with snacks:)! I purchased some adorable miniature nautical cutters on Amazon a few weeks ago. I had grand visions of using them to make cute little cupcake toppers (they are twirling around in my head with all my other grand visions). My fellow foodies know what I’m talking about, right?
I have been wanting to make homemade cheese crackers, so I thought “Why not use those little cutters you ordered?”. I had some cheese powder I wanted to use and I’m glad I did. It really enhances the cheezie flavor!
So, if you have a rainy day and you want to check making homemade cheese crackers off your list, give these a try. You don’t have to use shaped cutters. You can use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to make little squares to look like those cheese crackers you buy in a box (only your homemade crackers will taste so much better…just saying!).
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (120 grams)
- 1/4 cup cheddar cheese powder (24 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed (63 grams)
- Extra-sharp cheddar cheese, (173 grams) preferably orange
- 3 tablespoons ice water
- Kosher salt, for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions:
Whisk the flour, cheese powder, salt, paprika, and garlic powder in a medium bowl. Add the cubed butter and place in the freezer until ready to use.
Grate the cheese (I use a box grater). Transfer the cheese to the flour mixture in a food processer.
Pulse to a coarse crumb, about 10 (1-second) pulses.
Add the water and process until the dough forms a ball, (this takes about 20 seconds).
Remove the dough from the food processor and form into a rectangle. Place between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll out to a 12×16-inch rectangle that is 1/8-inch thick so that it just fits onto a standard baking sheet.
Slide the dough, still sandwiched between parchment, onto a baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F.
Remove the top sheet of parchment paper and use it to line a second baking sheet. If you want to square crackers, use a ruler and a pizza cutter to cut 1-inch squares in the dough. Use a toothpick to make a hole in the center of each cracker. This will keep the crackers from puffing up in the center. Alternatively, cut shapes out with mini cookie cutters like I did.
Use a bench scraper or mini offset spatula to transfer about half of the crackers to the other parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving 1/4- to 1/2-inch between each cracker.
Refrigerate the remaining cracker dough. Sprinkle the crackers very lightly with salt if desired. Bake until the corners and the bottoms of the crackers are lightly browned, and the tops appear dry, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the crackers to a cooling rack. (If you used cookie cutters, gather the dough scraps, re-roll, and cut out more crackers.) Repeat with baking the remaining dough.
Look at all that yumminess! To make sure your crackers stay crisp after baking, consolidate them onto 1 baking sheet. Return them to the cooling oven and allow them to “dry” for 6-8 hours. Store crackers in an airtight container.
I hope you make these crackers, and if you do, please tag me on Instagram @goodeatsbymimi. I would love to hear from you and see your photos:).