Warning: These crackers are highly addictive. 

Last year, I made graham crackers from scratch with excellent results. That success started a whole serious of “I-wonder-if-I-could-make…” questions. The graham crackers I made at home were far more delicious than any store-bought, boxed variety. Armed with the right recipe, it seemed anything made from scratch had to taste better. Time seemed to be the limiting factor. As wonderful as the graham crackers were, a batch of a dozen took quite a bit of time to create. Saltines? We use a lot of them for breading fried clams and fish, but it seemed like a waste to bake a batch only to smash them to bits for a single recipe. The next cracker I contemplated was Cheez-Its.

Cheddar cheese crackers are tiny, with lovely ridged edges and cute little holes. I researched several recipes and discovered that these tasty little snacks required only five ingredients and a couple of hours total, most of which is chilling time in the refrigerator.

We have noticed a huge difference in the flavor of our food when we use excellent ingredients. The addictive quality of these crackers came from the combination of high quality flour, cheese, and butter. The flour was Bob’s Red Mill unbleached all-purpose. Everything we’ve baked with this flour tastes noticeably better. The butter was Tillamook’s unsalted organic, and the cheese was Kerrygold Dubliner sharp cheddar cheese.

We’ve used these crackers as croutons on salads and can imagine they would be perfect alongside a homemade bowl of soup or chili. We may have to keep imagining this, as the crackers are disappearing by the handfuls!

Cheddar Cheese Crackers

Ingredients

• 8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp ice cold water

Directions

1. In a stand mixer (fitted with paddle attachment), mix cheese, butter, and salt on medium speed until well-incorporated.
2. Add flour.
3. Mix on low speed.
4. Slowly add ice water. Dough should form into a ball.
5. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Split dough in half.
8. Roll one half into a rectangle, about 10 x 12 inches. Dough should be thin, about 1/8 inch.
9. Use a fluted pastry cutter and cut dough into 1-inch strips. Cut strips into 1-inch squares.
10. Place squares on baking sheets, they can be close together, but not touching.
11. Prick center of each cracker with end of a pointed chopstick.
12. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
13. Cool on wire rack.