Homemade Cheez Its!
January 20, 2012 by Laurie
Filed under Featured, Food & Recipes, General
I was out and about surfing the web when I ran across a recipe for cheese crackers, that I knew I had to try. I almost always pick up a box of Cheez Its in the store. They have been around since I was a child and I still love them even today. So when I ran into a way to make my own baked crackers, I jumped at the chance to try and make a new family favorite. At first I had high hopes that these would taste just like the real thing, but to be realistic, that will never happen. I don’t have enough preservatives and ingredients I can’t pronounce in my baking arsenal. If I could find something that we like out of this, I prefer the natural, low preservative version.
The recipe is extremely simple to put together, and the end result is a cracker that is light and crispy. You could even turn these into twisted cheese straws, add some spices, and mix and match cheeses. For simplicity sake and for something that appeals to two 5 yr old little boys, I went with plain old sharp cheddar that I grated from a leftover brick of cheese that was just calling my name.
Recipe
Homemade Cheez-Its
(Adapted From: ReadyMade Magazine)
Ingredients:
- 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated plus a little parmasean reggiano
- Optional Seasonings (I used a little cayenne pepper)
- 3 Tbs of unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 Tbs vegetable shortening (you can omit the vegetable shortening and use 4TBS of butter)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unbleached flour
- 2 Tablespoons ice water
- Coarse salt for sprinkling
Directions:
- Combine cheese, butter, shortening, optional preferred seasonings and salt in the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. The mixture will be crumbly.
- Slowly add the flour then the ice water. Add a few extra drops of water to help it come together (this is just like making a pie crust) but be careful not to add too much.
- Pat the dough into 2 discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375?F.
- Using parchment paper or a silicone mat roll each disc to 1/8 inch or less and cut into 1 inch squares (a pastry wheel or pizza wheel is easiest). A toothpick works great to punch a hole into the center of each square.
- If you have difficulty separating and transferring the crackers onto the baking sheet return the parchment paper/mat to the refrigerator for 10 minutes (while you roll out the 2nd dough disc).
- Bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until puffed and browning around the edges. If you pull them out too soon and the crackers don’t have the desired crispiness you want then simply return them to the oven for 2-3 more minutes.
- Move crackers to a cooling rack. Makes about 7 dozen crackers if you can keep them around that long!
The recipe is extremely easy. I found the pastry cutter at Williams and Sonoma for around $10 but there are cheaper ones on Amazon. You don’t have to be that fancy however, but I like the pretty edges on the cracker. I will be trying some twisted cheese sticks with this recipe for the Holidays, I think they would be pretty and make a great snack even with a warm artichoke and spinach dip. Yummy!
This would be a great snack to make with my daughter.
this is amazing!! My daughters LOVE these crackers but anything homemade is better, especially because of the natural ingredients!
These look great! Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks so much! Those look really yummy. We stopped buying Cheeze-It’s because they are so bad for you, but we will have to make these.
My son LOVES Cheeze-its. I’m definitely going to try these.
We literally go through 2-3 boxes a week. I can’t wait to make these!
How awesome!
Awesome! We’ll be trying these soon.
What a great recipe!
I want to make these!!
I would never have even though of doing that. Love the recipe!
My son loves Cheez its! I will have to try it!
I love how they even look like cheez-its with the edges done with the pastry cutter.
Oh my that sounds like a winner to me. We will definitely be trying those! Thanks for sharing.
That’s cool – but I’m not sure I would make them.
I love this. We’re changing our diet to a more natural preservative free diet and this is something I will definitely want to try!
These look so yummy! Stumbling and pinning this recipe!
Looks good!
so creative thanks for sharing.
This is something I will have to try hands down! Love Cheez Its
Sounds good right now!
Love, love, love your recipe. I’ve printed it up & will be trying them soon.
Love this recipe!
I never would have thought that it could be so simple! Looks delicious too!
I have to make these for my husband – he’s a cheezit-holic!
Can’t wait to try this!
Ok, those look awesome. My son would love them!
Are you serious, you can make these? Yours look awesome!! (and healthy)
Gotta try this recipe soon!
Does it really make a difference in this recipe of you use bleached flour instead of unbleached?
nom nom nom
I bought everything to make these, and I can’t wait to try them!
My husband is a Cheez-it’s fanatic. I told him about this recipe and he said, “If you make that I will hate you….and be really, really fat.” lol
OH gosh! I’m still dying to make these. I forwarded them to a foody friend of mine and she’s gaga over them!
I would definately use the butter. Don’t you just love that buttery taste in crackers? I can see so much potential for creativity with this recipe. I made homemade crackers once years ago and I didn’t do so well. Thanks for the recipe, I will have to give this one a try.
I had to come by again and get this recipe, sounds so good!
The look delicious. How neat! I never knew your could make them at home.
I am so going to try this! My kids love cheese crackers but they rarely get them b/c I don’t buy them (additive reasons).
I’m definitely going to give these a try!