Since I originally posted my Cheddar Cheese Crackers recipe last year, a number of readers have made the recipe as have I. While it seemed pretty straightforward at the time, I do think there are a couple of things I should mention about the basic recipe (included at the bottom of this post).
1. You might need to add a little water – I made this recipe during June and in case you’ve never been to Cleveland in June, it is usually pretty humid. And that’s why I believe I didn’t have to add any water to the mixture. Having made it numerous times though, if your dough doesn’t come together, add some cool water a tablespoon at a time.
2. Thin is in – Make sure you roll the dough super thin or instead of crisp crackers you’ll have soft and doughy cheese tabs.
3. Ace of Base – God those people made some incredibly crappy music. Anyway, this recipe is just a base. Once you’ve got it down you can add all kinds of tasty. In that picture above I’ve suped up my crackers with Grains of Paradise and roasted garlic.
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.
Tagged with: cheese crackers recipe • homemade cheese crackers
Some other posts you might enjoy:
April 12th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Mark,
Have you ever used a pasta machine to roll out your dough? What would be the best setting then?
Cool site…and yes, Cleveland is really underrated…just like Pittsburgh!
Kathy
[Reply]
October 17th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
I tried these crackers today and the flavor was great. My problem is that the texture was strange. Do you think that I might have over mixed it? I used a hand mixer. I also wanted to know if you meant to line the cookie sheet with foil, my husband thought you meant to cover it.
Thanks for the recipe!
[Reply]
Nate Reply:
November 13th, 2011 at 10:26 pm
If you make the dough into a log, like cookie dough and wrap in plastic. A square log works well , a round log ,and one side gets flat in the fridge. Slice off crackers about 1/8 of an inch think and it is a lot easier to get even crackers.. Any thicker they get doughy.
Line the cookie sheet with foil, or Silpat , parchment works well too. A little ground Chilipote pepper in place of Cayenne gives a smokey heat.
[Reply]
December 25th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Yes, these cheese crackers came out great! Here in Crapifornia,LOL! We don’t have humidity,I sure found out what THAT was when I flew into Dayton last July, and drove to Cleveland! BUT, I love Ohio, the food is great and the Catawba is my fave wine! You can’t get it out here!!
And they may not be my fave group, BUT, Ace of Base DOES have a couple of good tunes!
[Reply]
May 4th, 2011 at 7:05 pm
This is gonna sound silly…..When you say a stick of butter? What do you men? Please dont shout lol
[Reply]
Mark Reply:
May 6th, 2011 at 6:59 pm
1/2 Cup of butter or 1/4 of a pound
[Reply]
May 5th, 2011 at 12:25 am
i used your recipe as a guide but made these changes:
-did not use food processor. instead, kneaded by hand and turned dough out onto marble surface.
-added sesame seeds to the mix along with several other seasonings (you can mix and match according to taste)
-used 1 c. all purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour to make 1 1/2 cups called for
-rolled dough very thin and cut into evenly sized rectangles
-rolled each rectangle into ‘Twig’ shape Nabisco used to make
-baked at 325 for about 20-25 min. or until golden, turning the sticks periodically
you might want to try this. they turned out great. even better than the ‘Twigs’ i remember!
let me know what you think. i’m still tweaking this out a little so any suggestions would be most helpful. (i’ll be trying this with some different cheeses as well.)
[Reply]
September 5th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
These are delicious. Just finished making them and I do not think they will live to see tomorrow or my sons lunch box.
[Reply]