If I had to decide between eating three square meals a day or eating six small meals, I’d pick the small meals in a heartbeat. Eating a large meal, especially at lunchtime, can really slow me down during the day. Spending my day chasing around 12 one-year-olds means I need all the energy I can get! So, long story short, I’m a big snacker throughout the day. The only problem is that a lot of snacks seem kind of unhealthy, especially if I’m looking for a quick snack to just throw in a bag and go about my day.
With all that being said, I decided I would try my hand at making my favorite snacks. More specifically, homemade cheddar crackers!
This was such a fun, easy recipe! I could seriously make this into an every week kind of thing! The dough only needed a few ingredients and made so many! I still have half the dough in my fridge!
For this recipe, I used white cheddar cheese because I had a whole block in my fridge, which is why they are slightly lighter in color than the store-bought ones. Feel free to use whatever cheese you like, just keep in mind you might have to adjust the salt content depending on which cheese you use.
Ingredients:
1 cup of flour
8 ounces of cheese, shredded
4 tablespoons of butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons of cold water
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Start by combining the butter and cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat until creamy. Then add in the cup of flour and salt. Mix until a shaggy dough forms, then add in the water. I had a cup of ice water that I scooped my tablespoons out of, just be careful not to get any ice! The dough will just slightly come together. Dump out onto a lightly floured surface and begin to knead the dough. You’ll want to knead it for a couple of minutes until you can form it into two circular disks. Cover in cling wrap, and refrigerate for thirty minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Take one disk out of the fridge at a time, you want to make sure the butter stays cold! Begin to roll the dough out on a floured surface until about an eighth of an inch thick. Then cut into half-inch squares. Using a toothpick, poke one hole in the middle, you want to make sure that the dough doesn’t puff up too much when baking. Place onto a silicone sheet lined pan and bake for 10 minutes.
These are so good! I was a little skeptical at first, but once you take a bite of these, you won’t be able to tell the difference from the store-bought! So yummy!
-Holly Michelle