Recipe: Cheese Crackers

Goldfish crackers used to be one of my kids basic food groups. Gosh, that's embarrassing to admit! I was finally brave enough to put my foot down one day; I explained that the crackers contained MSG (in the form of 'autolyzed yeast extract') and we didn't want to be putting that in our bodies anymore. So they bid the last box farewell. And that was that. Who knew we would all survive?

It's been almost a year since I stopped buying goldfish (too bad they still get goldfish from...other people) and I have failed to create a replacement cracker for the occasional special snack. I finally got around to it the other day when I was baking food to bring on a trip with us.

This recipe turned out smashing but I am interested in trying a few more as well!

These aren't as crunchy as a Cheez-It or Goldfish but they are buttery, salty, cheesy, and delish.

They do require a certain amount of elbow grease to get them rolled out thinly. If you have a stronger male-counterpart hanging around have him do the rolling. Or you can do it and consider it part of your daily strength training.

Cheese Crackers 

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
1/4 lb. cheese, grated—I used a heaping cup of sharp cheddar and 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan (Gruyere would be great!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper, optional
1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour

You can mix this up in either your food processor or your Kitchen-Aid fitted with the paddle.
Combine butter, cheese, salt, and pepper(s) in the bowl of your Kitchen-Aid or food processor and mix/pulse until small curds form.
Add the flour and mix/pulse again until small curds form and then until it begins to come together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a couple times to bring it all together. Flatten slightly and wrap loosely in plastic wrap and then flatten even more-either by hand or with your rolling pin. Place dough in fridge for about an hour (mine didn't need that long).
Once dough is more firm go ahead and roll it out to about 1/4-inch thickness, I went slightly thinner. I opened up the dough from the plastic wrap and placed a piece of parchment under it, so one side had the plastic and one side had parchment. Then I rolled my little heart out!
Preheat oven to 350°.
After dough is rolled to your desire thin-ness you can use whatever you want to cut out shapes: cookie cutters, biscuit cutters, ravioli cutter, pizza slicer, etc. I used my ravioli cutter and then poked the centers with the end of a hand-mixer beater.
Place cut crackers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can put them close together; they don't really spread they get puffy.
Sprinkle with kosher salt.
Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Recipe slightly adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures