Cheeze Crackers

calendar Mar 14, 2021 · 2 min read · crackers

Cheezy crackers, Cheeze Nips, Cheeze-It's.. whatever you're calling it.

My youngest asked for an alternative to the Sourdough Crackers, and the iconic Cheeze-It was selected (though I remember having a lot of Cheeze Nips when I was growing up).

This wound up being a 2-day ordeal for me - one day to make the dough and fridge it, the 2nd day to make the crackers. You could do it in one day, just limit the fridge time obviously.

These worked out pretty well, but there's some tweaking that you can do to them considering your preferences. I prefer a crunchy/crispy cracker, so I baked until golden dark and delicious, but adjust according to your preferences.

As for cheeze, I used ye olde supermarket block of cheeze (Cracker Barrel). These would be amazing with a sharper, older cheddar.. or even a blend with some parm.

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces sharp yellow cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch*
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 6 pieces
  • 2ish Tablespoons ice cold water
  • Sea salt for sprinkling

Process

  1. Shred the cheeze (if it's not already).
  2. Process cheese, flour, cornstarch, and salt together in a food processor until combined, about 30 seconds.
  3. Add butter and process until mixture resembles wet sand, about 20 seconds.
  4. Add enough water, pulsing until dough forms large clumps, about 10 pulses.
  5. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide in half and pat each into a 6-inch square.
  6. Carefully wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (I did overnight).
  7. Pre-heat oven to 350f. Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper to fit your baking sheets, or use a silicone mat.
  8. Unwrap each dough square. One at a time, please on the parchment paper and roll out into 9" square. This doesn't need to be 100% perfect, because..
  9. Using a pizza cutter, or small sharp knife, trim dough into a neat 8 inch square.
  10. Slice square into 8 strips, each 1 inch wide, then make 8 perpendicular slices, each 1 inch wide. Each 8-inch square will have 64 squares (crackers).
  11. Transfer the parchment paper to the baking sheet.
  12. Use a skewer or large toothpick to poke a hole through the center of each. Lightly sprinkle with sea salt, if desired.
  13. Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 16-18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking. For crunchier crackers, bake for 20 minutes.