Homemade Snacks...Crackers

I did it! I actually made crackers. Bonus: they look and taste like crackers! And the best part is that they are very easy to make.

Everyone around here loved them. In fact, they disappeared entirely too fast. Next time I'm going to double the recipe. Chris said they taste like Cheez-its. I'll take that as a compliment. This is definitely going on my weekly baking list. Didn't I say this was going to be a fun little challenge? It's also turning out to be a very tasty little challenge!

I had to play around with the recipe a bit to get a good consistency. This recipe calls for Parmesan but you could add or substitute with herbs like thyme or rosemary. Here's what I ended up with. Enjoy!


Cheese Crackers

1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan (I bought it whole, chopped it a bit, and threw it in the food processor to shred)
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg, beaten
cookie cutters

Whisk together cheese, flour, baking powder, and salt. Then blend in butter with your fingers, or with the flat beater attachment on your stand mixer, until it resembles course meal. Form a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the milk and egg, then stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Gently knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Chill the dough in a plastic bag for 1 hour (can be chilled up to one day).

Put the oven rack at the top setting and preheat to 350 degrees. Divide dough into thirds and roll each section out to less than 1/16 inch thick on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin. Cut out as many crackers as possible from the dough and transfer to a baking sheet about a 1/4 inch apart. (Don't reroll the scraps. It will make the dough tough.) Bake the crackers for about 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned*. Rotate the pan 180 degrees halfway through baking. The crackers on the outer edges may finish first. Just remove them and let the rest finish baking. Let them cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy!

*I made a small cracker and a large cracker. They took the exact same time to bake to the right consistency.