It’s day 16 of my 24 day Christmas recipe blogging marathon and these delicious cheese crackers are guaranteed to put you in the holiday mood! Good friends of ours, Courtney and Mike gave us some incredible cheese wafers that Courtney had baked as a Christmas gift. My husband devoured them and asked if I couldn’t make some more for him. Courtney had told me the recipe she used was just a regular cheese straw recipe so I went on the hunt for an easy to make cheese cracker/straw recipe. I had seen a post for Cheez-it-ish Crackers on my sister’s Web site, The Pudge Factor so I thought I would give it a try, and you should too!
Her recipe was adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table Cookbook. These light, crunchy, cheesy crackers are easy to make and scrumptious to boot! They would make a wonderful appetizer for your family and guests or a great gift.
To make the crackers, gather your ingredients which include: 1 stick unsalted butter, 1 cup shredded cheese (I used sharp Cheddar because that’s what I had, but you can also use Gruyere, Comte, or Emmenthal.) salt, white pepper, cayenne pepper and flour. You will also need a food processor, 2 cookie sheets, parchment paper, a fluted pastry cutter, a rolling pin, and a gallon size plastic storage bag.
Using your shredding disk on your food processor, shred your cheese.
Cut your chilled butter into approximately 16 small cubes.
Change out the shredding disk to a mixing blade on your food processor, and add butter, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to the shredded cheese. Pulse until the butter is broken up into uneven bits and the mixture forms small curds.
Add your flour and pulse again until the dough is throughly mixed and crumbly. (It will look a little dry.)
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it gently until it comes together.
(Here is the coolest part!) Place your dough in a gallon sized ziploc bag.
Put the bag on a flat surface. Leave the top of the bag open. Using your rolling pin, roll the dough gently into an even rectangle that completely fills the bag. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so that it doesn’t cause creases. Make sure that your dough is an even thickness and that it fills all corners of the bag.
Seal the bag, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Put the ziploc bag on a flat surface and slit it open. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. Discard the bag. I used a ruler as a guide and cut the dough into approximately 1×1 inch squares using a fluted pastry cutter. If you don’t have a pastry cuter, you can also use a pizza cutter or just use a knife to cut the dough.
Carefully prick each cracker with a fork and transfer to your baking sheets.
Bake at 350 degrees for 14-18 minutes, until puffy and golden brown around the edges. Transfer the crackers to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you are enjoying the recipes and even trying some of them. If so, please come back and comment to let me know how you liked it.
| Servings | crackers |
- 4 oz cold unsalted butter about 1 stick, cut into 16 pieces
- 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- pinch cayenne pepper more if you like your crackers spicy
- 1 cup (plus 2 Tbsp) all-purpose flour
Ingredients
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- Place the butter, cheese, salt, white pepper and cayenne pepper in a food processor fitted with a mixing blade. Pulse until the butter is broken up into uneven bits and the mixture forms small curds. Add the flour and pulse until the dough forms moist curds again.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and kneed it gently until it comes together. Place in a gallon-size ziploc bag. Put the bag on a flat surface. Leaving the top open, roll the dough into an even rectangle that completely fills the bag. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and life the plastic from the dough so that it doesn't cause creases. Seal the bag, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Put the ziploc bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper; discard the bag. Using a ruler as a guide and a fluted pastry cutter, cut the dough into approximately 1 inch by 1 inch squares. Prick each cracker twice with a fork and transfer to the baking sheets.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 14-17 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown around the edges. Transfer the crackers to a wire rack to cool completely .
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