Diary of on Inconsistent Cook# 11: Super Easy Homemade Cheese Crackers (Goldfish Style))

I’ve had this recipe sitting in limbo since April of last year just around the end of the Chickenpoxalypse 2014.   I had always intended to come back and finish to publish, but (you know) kids and cats.      These are super easy and cheesy, but I’ve lost the origin of the original recipe.   If you recognize it, please let me know from where in the Internets you’ve seen it and I’ll credit where credit is due.   I no longer remember why I got it in my head to make cheese cracker.  It might have been a moment of cabin fever where if I didn’t do something immediately to distract myself, I was going to explode.  Or maybe I just felt cheesy.

I have really tiny cookie cutters, but you can save yourself the trouble and just cut then into squares or triangles with a knife.

Homemade Cheesy Crackers

1 cup all-purpose flour or whole wheat
4 Tbsp cold butter cut into pieces (if unsalted you may want to add pinch of salt.  You can probably halve the amount of butter, but they might not puff right.)
8 ounces cheese, fine grated (your favorite:  cheddar, Jack-Colby blend, Monterey Jack, Colby, etc. )
1/2 tsp. ground pepper (optional)
2-4 Tbsp water (do not add all at once)

In food processor, combine flour and butter (salt/pepper if using) and process to coarse meal.  Add cheese and pulse to coarse meal again.   Add water 1/2 tbsp at a time until dough forms.    It will form quickly once it gets the right amount of water so add it slowly.    Wrap dough in plastic and chill at least 30 minutes (2 hours is better).     You can do the crumbing to a course meal with a pastry cutter or fork, and mix in the water with a spoon; but it will take longer — the food processor takes 3 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F.   Roll dough out 1/8 inch thick between wax or parchment paper or plastic.  Cut into squares with pizza cutter or make cookie cutter shapes like fish or leaves.  Place on cookie sheet or pizza pan with the vent holes.  You will need to re-chill the dough to use the scraps left from making shapes.   Bake 10-15 minutes to desired done-ness.  They will puff a little.     Let cool and enjoy.

Light and puffy.