A couple of years ago I bought my husband the book Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese for his foot of the bed present at Christmas. It is a fun book, full of recipes and personal narrative, as the author tells you whether it is worth it economically to make a food yourself or buy it. Potato chips - buy it. Clotted cream - make it. Croissants - make it unless you live near a French bakery. Cheez-its - make it. According to her recipe and numbers, it saves you $.07 per ounce if you make these crackers. However, the reason that I started making my own cheese crackers is because 1) it is fun, and 2) I control the ingredients, so no preservatives. If you're looking for an easy recipe to make with the kids or for a snack food to take on trips this summer, try these crackers.
You just put all of the ingredients in the food processor, pat the dough into a disc and refrigerate it for 1 hour, then roll them out and bake them. Super simple.
Homemade Cheese Crackers
1. Put 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of cold butter, 1 cup of grated cheese*, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of white pepper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture forms small curds.
2. Add 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of white flour and pulse until the dough is moist and forms a ball. The recipe also calls for 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, but I did not add it and the crackers did not seem to be lacking.
3. Lightly flour a flat surface and knead the dough a couple of times. Pat it into a disc, wrap in plastic or wax paper and chill for at least one hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
5. Roll out the dough to 1/4" thick. I would rather roll them too thin than too thick. They do puff up. Cut them into the size and shape of your choice - the recipe calls for 1" squares. Place them on a cookie sheet and poke a hole in the center of each one with a skewer - I used the small end of a fancy chopstick.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes until the tops darken just a bit.
7. Cool and let the little (or big) hands go at them!
*The recipe calls for extra sharp orange cheddar, which I do not like. I have used mild cheddar and monterey jack in the past and I think swiss would taste good also. I also added some herbs to these crackers - a couple pinches of dried oregano and basil.
Shared on The Self Sufficient HomeAcre for The HomeAcre Hop.