When life gives you lemons you’re supposed to make lemonade. But what the hell are you supposed to do when life gives you 5 pounds of shredded cheddar cheese? I say make your own cheddar cheese crackers and tell Mr.Nips to take a hike.
My Mom (Hi Mom!, She actually reads this site, unlike my loving wife.) was making some dishes that required a good deal of shredded cheddar cheese and it was much more economical for her to purchase the cheese in bulk. That left her with 5 pounds of cheese that she couldn’t use. She gave to me because, “You’re the only person I know that could actually find a way to use it all before it goes bad.”
Cheddar Cheese Cracker Recipe
1 Stick of Butter – at room temperature
2 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1. Preheat your oven to 325° and get out your food processor.
2. Throw all of those ingredients into the food processor and pulse until well mixed, about 10 times.
3. Dump the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to bring it together forming a ball of dough.
4. If the consistency allows, roll the dough out into a very thin layer. Maybe 1/8 inch. If the dough is too loose to roll, toss it into the fridge for 15 minutes.
5. Once rolled out, cut the crackers. You can use cookie cutters here if you would like fancy shapes, but I just used a pizza cutter for basic crackers. It’s your call.
6. Place the crackers onto a cookie sheet covered with foil or even better, a Silpat baking mat.
7. Bake for 11 minutes or until the crackers start to get just golden on the edges.
8. Place on a cooling rack until the crackers are no longer warm.
9. Agree to never buy cheese crackers at the store again.
These crackers are so light and airy, you’ll wonder why you never made them before. Check out the way these look on the inside:
Tagged with: Baking • Easy Recipes
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June 25th, 2008 at 9:28 am
OMG! I want them NOW! What a great and simple idea – thanks for posting it!
June 26th, 2008 at 4:06 am
hmmmm, I think I am gonna run with this one!
June 27th, 2008 at 5:59 am
You won’t be dissappointed. They are amazing and you’ll go through them so quickly.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Indeed… the are AMAZING! I have tasted them! Like Mark said, you will not be dissapointed!
June 30th, 2008 at 6:34 am
I have a date with these tonight!
July 16th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
jsut wanted to say thanks for the inspiration. I used your recipe in combination w/ one for olive oil crackers to make little cheese stars for my kids. They loved them and I love the idea of making their favorite snack foods.
November 24th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
[...] Homemade Cheese Crackers [...]
January 6th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
[...] ones that look almost neon orange? He could eat a box at a time if we let him, so when I saw this recipe for cheese crackers I had to give it a try. Cheese crackers with real cheese? What an [...]
January 10th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
[...] black pepper with them in any dish. I even added some crushed grains of paradise to my now famous cheese crackers and they turned out great, much better than without [...]
January 14th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Eating my cheese crackers: http://tinyurl.com/7hjv33 filled with grains of paradise. Amazing.
March 1st, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Since I have a teeny flat, rolling out dough is a distant dream but you can make little sticks with your hands or flat button shapes and bake and they are just as good with an artsy flair!
Thx for the recipe.
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:15 pm
I added rosemary to mine and used mozzarella instead and they turned out sooo lovely. Thanks for the recipe
April 30th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
[...] Cheese Crackers – 1 [...]
June 29th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
[...] the next several weeks, minus fresh dairy and produce, of course. I am also going to try making homemade cheese crackers this week in an effort to expand my snack food repertoire. I’m still skeptical to see if it [...]
October 31st, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I made these today using a pumpkin cookie cutter for Halloween, and they came out so awesome! I added additional spices (onion & garlic powder, adobo seasoning in place of the salt, and some paprika to help the color) and about 1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard. Plus, I used half sharp cheddar & half colby jack cheese. This is a very forgiving recipe, btw. I don’t have a food processor, so I used my hand mixer. Unfortunately, the butter wasn’t soft enough, so I ended up with almost a pie crust dough, the butter left in coarse pebbles. Since the dough was too crumbly, I added a couple of tablespoons of cold water (mixed with yellow & red food coloring, to intensify the orange color) just ’til a proper dough was formed. Even with all those changes, they still came out perfect as cute little pumpkin crackers.
I can’t wait to try this recipe using white cheddar and a Christmas tree cookie cutter. Then I’ll paint the crackers with egg yolk mixed w/green food coloring and maybe sprinkle a little bit of paprika on the top before baking. Thanks so much for posting this recipe.
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:20 pm
A silly question: I was curious how long you think it would be before these crackers went bad.
April 10th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
these look sooo goooood cant wait to make and eat.
April 26th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
I just made these. As you said in an update post to this one, it is SO true that rolling them super-thin makes all the difference! Half of my batch (I actually halved the recipe) was too thick and half was perfect… the better half was also left in the oven a little longer and they were fantastic. The only variation was that I skipped the cayenne and added a little garlic powder. Thanks for the recipe!
April 29th, 2010 at 12:02 am
Because I’m vegan, I replaced the cheese and butter with Follow Your Heart vegan cheddar cheese and Earth Balance buttery spread, and they turned out amazing!
Mine had to bake for five extra minutes, but it’s probably just because I made them a bit thick (I don’t own a rolling pin for some reason).
Thanks for the recipe! I’ll definitely be making them again.
May 20th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
You may have a teeny flat, but you have to get creative. I don’t even have a kitchen table, haven’t had one for 5 years, (long story), but I improvise. I have been using an old typerwriter table. And I cook full Thanksgiving dinners, I bake bread using it etc. There is nothing you can not do if you put your mind to it. Even a finished peice of wood over a box would do. That is currently my table now since I just moved. And I made my redo – Thanksgiving dinner on it. ( I missed the actual Thanksgiving, so I redone it in February. Anyway good luck, and happy baking.
May 22nd, 2010 at 4:46 am
Quick question – do you use shredded cheddar or the cold pack cheddar tubs?
May 22nd, 2010 at 8:17 pm
Delicious! I love cheese crackers, but they’re so expensive, so I had to try this out. I added a little onion powder to mine, since I noticed it was listed in the ingredients of several cracker brands I like, and it turned out beautifully.
Thanks for the recipe!
May 24th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Try putting a big cutting board across your sink for rolling space. An ironing board can work, too.
June 28th, 2010 at 8:49 am
I was searching the internet for cheese crackers. When I was a kid my mom used to make them from a Church CookBook recipe. They weee yummy but called for a pound of butter!!!
Anyway I am going to try this and make it ATKINS~Low Carb friendly…. Hope for the BEST!!
I will replace the four with Milled Flax Seed (zero carbs) and Butter (zero carbs) so just the cheese will count!!! Yay! Sure hope is works … it could just be a hot mess!!! hahaha I’ll let you know!
September 23rd, 2010 at 8:25 am
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November 15th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Hello! This is really the first time I’ve seen your blog and am really loving it. I have a question that might seem silly (but I’m a poor college student, thankyouverymuch). Are there any acceptable substitutes for a food processor to make this? Or is there another method you can recommend? Most will just tell me to go buy one but I haven’t seen any super cheap processors that I feel will keep so I think it’s not worth my money.
November 15th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
I suppose I should mention that I did see the comment about using a hand mixer. I would just like a little input from the chef, though.
November 18th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
what do you want??? your freaking readers to die of a heart attack
January 4th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
OH MY GOODNESS!! I have made 5 batches of these (in several different flavor combos) since I found your blog & they are gone about as quickly as they come off the pan. My toddler adores them. And I like knowing that there are no artificial flavors or colors or preservatives in them. Thank you for giving us an alternative to the storebought snacks.
January 6th, 2011 at 1:22 am
not light and airy as thought it tastes ok…maybe it would work better as a bread stick with like a cheese dip or maybe a light sour cream dip….might try it with bread flour lol.
January 6th, 2011 at 10:18 am
This is an awesome recipe! Also, I have started using my pasta roller to sheet the dough, it is much easier to achieve that perfect thin sheet. Thanks for the great recipe!
January 22nd, 2011 at 12:20 am
THEY WON’T GO BAD BECAUSE YOU’LL EAT THEM TOO FAST TO ALLOW THEM TO GO BAD. IF YOU MAKE A REALLY HUGE BATCH, FREEZE AND RECRISP SOME IN THE OVEN.
January 22nd, 2011 at 12:23 am
ADD SOME POWDERED CHEDDAR CHEESE TO INCREASE THE CHEDDAR FLAVOR AND COLOR. POWDERED BUTTERMILK ADDS A GREAT FLAVOR TO THEM
January 22nd, 2011 at 12:27 am
TRY IT WITH HIGH GLUTEN FLOUR FOR A CRISPIER CRACKER.
CAKE & PASTRY FLOUR YIELDS A SOFTER CRACKER.
FREEZE THE BUTTER IN CHUNKS TO AVOID OVERMIXING.
January 22nd, 2011 at 12:31 am
ROLL THE DOUGH OUT USING TWO PARALLEL 1/8″ DIAMETER WOODEN DOWELS, ONE ON EACH SIDE, TO GUARANTEE A CONSISTENT THICKNESS.
February 9th, 2011 at 8:17 pm
Just made these! I used fresh ground whole wheat flour and added dried crushed basil instead of the cayenne. Wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
February 21st, 2011 at 7:06 pm
What are the nutritional facts on these crackers because they look like a delicious snack!!!
March 15th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
they look delicious but before i try to make them i just wanted to know if these crackers are crisp like cheeze its or are they softer? they look crisp in the pic but just wanted to make sure that’s how they come out? thanks!
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March 27th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
I will definitely make these. I’m trying not to eat anything processed, and I love cheese its. So this will really help. Thanks!!
May 4th, 2011 at 6:43 am
Hi there
I have just sussed out your site and cannot wait to get home and start making the cheese crackers … just one question though, when you say 1 stick of butter what weight is that in pounds (or grams)??
I live in South African and have noticed that our butter blocks are packaged bigger than your sticks in USA so I just want to get the quantity correct.
Thanks SO much for a fantastic site!!
Take care
Tan
May 6th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
Hey Tan,
A stick of butter in the US is 1/4 pound by weight. Or a half a cup if you’re so inclined.
May 20th, 2011 at 5:14 am
Fantastic! Thanks Mark, I cannot wait to get baking
June 11th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
Omg thank you so much! Me and my peers wer so hungry and there was nothing to eat but crackers and cheese and we wer tired of the same thign so we decided to see what we can make with that n i found this me and my people loved it!!!
June 19th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Thank you so much, from me and from my boys, whose health is my number one priorty. I hate buying crackers from the store which are full of hydrogenated oils and transfatty acids. Yeah, finally a cracker recipe, and guess what the crackers taste like cheese instead of dry flour!!
July 26th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
First time that I read your recipes and I LOVE THEM!!!!
Thank you,
Margarita
August 24th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Just made these. They smell and taste amazing!
September 29th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
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October 27th, 2011 at 10:17 am
can I use oil instead of butter?
October 28th, 2011 at 7:53 am
You can Heather, but you’ll get a much crispier and thinner cracker. The water in the butter turns into steam when cooked creating all those little pockets.
November 14th, 2011 at 1:11 am
I thought your ideas were great. You could also try forming the dough into a log and cutting with a cheese slicer.
January 22nd, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Crumbs. All I got were crumbs. Refrigerating made no difference. This was totally unroll-able and would not stick together no matter what I did. I can’t even imagine what I could have done wrong. Used exact measuring and exact method. Tell me I’m not the only one?
January 31st, 2012 at 11:50 am
Any thick drinking glass or smooth jar will work for a rolling pin, or thermas jug or…. Just turn on the side, powder with flour and roll away. Just be careful to not apply excessive pressure that would break the glass items. I have done this for years successfully.
April 29th, 2012 at 3:41 pm
I just made them with whole wheat flour, sifted finely. I changed the recipe a tad to include himalayan pink salt and sharp cheddar cheese. I also added a tiny bit of water since I used my kitchen aid mixer instead of food processor (only have a tiny one). they turned out great!