Today, my biggest boy started 4th grade. In true "Riley" fashion, the best picture I could get was one of him trying to cover the camera lens with his hand. Nice.
As a back-to-school treat, I made him some homemade cheese crackers. These are DELICIOUS, but totally addicting, and not at all friendly to my Weight Watchers plan. Make them at your own risk.
Technically, this recipe is for a "double" batch. But, these are SO good and get eaten SO fast around my house that making a single batch is completely pointless.
Ingredients:
16 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
1 stick of cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
4 Tbsp cold water
Preheat oven to 390 degrees. Lots of recipes call for 350, but I find that a higher temp makes them crispier.
Combine all the ingredients except water in a food processor. Your mixture will be crumbly. Add water one tablespoon at a time until your mixture makes a dough. The dough will be dry.
Remove dough from food processor and press into a ball. Wrap in foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled (about 15 minutes or so).
Roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 - 1/8 inch thick. The thicker you make the crackers, the longer they need to bake.
Slice into squares with a pizza cutter. Feel free to add a little hole to the center of the cracker with a toothpick to make them look like the commercial cheese cracker. Alternatively, you could use
mini alphabet cookie cutters to make adorable alphabet crackers.
Bake on parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. I used
this Silpat mat, which I love.
Bake 15-25 minutes, until lightly browned and crispy. Let cool on a wire rack. Eat by the handful.
I love making these crackers, because they are SO appreciated by the boys. They LOVE them. I usually under-bake a batch, so that the crackers are still slightly soft, to make some that are easy for Sawyer to eat. I also feel good about throwing a little whole wheat flour in there. I don't think the flavor suffers at all, but if you prefer to use all white flour, you can do that too.
I better go grab a few more before Riley gets home, because as soon as he gets off the bus, I'm SURE they will be all gone!
Have you ever made homemade crackers? Have any other good recipes I can try? I'd love to hear some! I was thinking about trying
this recipe next...
