Homemade "CheezIts"

So Goldfish and CheezIts are a staple snack food in our house. I decided this was definitely something I could make and eliminate even more chemicals, preservatives and dyes from our diet. The recipes looked fairly simple, 5 ingredients and not very labor intensive with my handy dandy food processor. I'm going to fool around with different kinds cheeses and see how amazing I can make these little crackers, but for the first batch, they're pretty darn tasty. I adapted this recipe from Rachel Cooks, and yes, Rachel, the "z" in CheezIts makes me absolutely nuts, too!

Homemade "CheezIts"

Ingredients:
8 oz grated Cheddar cheese
1 cup AP Flour
4 Tbs cold butter, cut into chunks
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
2 Tbs ice water

After grating your cheese, add all the other ingredients (except the ice water) to your food processor bowl.

Process this mixture until it all comes together and resembles a course dough. You may have to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times while its mixing.

With the processor running again, slowly add just enough ice water to make a dough. It should pinch together fairly easily.

Take your mixture out of the food processor and form it into a disk. Cover tightly in plastic wrap and stash it in the fridge for 20 minutes or so. This firms the dough up a little and gives the water a chance to evenly disperse through the flour.

Time to get ready to roll! Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Sprinkle your rolling area with a little flour to keep the dough from sticking and grab your dough from the fridge. 

Sprinkle a little flour on top of your dough and start rolling. Make sure to try to keep the dough an even thickness and roll from every direction, not just one way back and forth.

 Roll your dough out pretty stinking thin and try to keep it in a somewhat rectangular shape.

Trim off the edges with a pastry cutter or pizza wheel.

Cut the dough first into strips and then across to make small squares.

I had the most luck with really small ones. They're bite sized and cook the most evenly.

Place your crackers onto your prepared baking sheet. They don't spread, so you can place them fairly close together. To go for the real "CheezIt" shape, I used the end of a bamboo skewer to poke a hole in the middle of the crackers. Then I used a little fine sea salt to sprinkle over the top.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until just slightly brown. The crackers don't get their full crispy texture until they've cooled thoroughly, so if you aren't sure about how long to bake them, let the first batch cool and try one. Adjust the time as necessary. These crackers were a huge hit with my kiddos and my husband. Hope you guys enjoy them, too.