Homemade Cheez-Its
This is the second post this week about a favorite, go-to snack that tastes even better when you make it from scratch. Why go through the trouble, you might ask, when you can easily grab a box of crackers at the grocery store and call it a day? Well, for one, these taste better. (And I am a huge fan of the non-homemade kind. I once, regrettably, ate an entire box in one sitting, and was very ill as a result.) Second, you know exactly what’s going in them, and there are only a handful of ingredients, instead of odd-sounding preservatives and trans fats. You can use organic ingredients, if you’d like, and local butter and cheese, if you’re fortunate enough to have access to them.
It takes 30 seconds to throw this dough together in the food processor and about 4 minutes to roll and cut the crackers. They bake for less than 30 minutes, and you can clean the whole kitchen and start a load of laundry in that time, so really, it doesn’t count.
Now tell me that’s not faster than a trip to Publix. That’s what I thought.
Homemade Cheez-It Crackers
makes about 40 crackers
Adapted from this Country Living recipe
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 (7-ounce) bag grated extra-sharp 2% reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, but recommended)
5 tablespoons cold water
Combine flour, butter, cheese, salt, and cayenne in the work bowl of your food processor. Pulse until crumbly. Pulse in water, a tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together. (You may not use all the water.)
Wrap dough in plastic wrap, press into a disc, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350º. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick silicone mats. Set aside.
Place dough between two pieces of parchment paper. (It’s sticky!) Roll to 1/8-inch thickness. Carefully flip dough in parchment over, and gently peel off the top layer. Using a pizza cutter, trim dough into a rectangle, then cut into 2-inch squares. Carefully transfer squares onto baking sheets, using a spatula if needed.
Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until crackers are just slightly turning light brown, and are crisp. Quickly cool and taste one for crispness. If they are not crisp, bake just a few minutes longer. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days (if they last that long!). If crackers are soggy after storing, re-crisp them in a preheated 400º oven for 3 to 5 minutes.
October 6th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Peanut butter and now cheese? You are a girl after my own heart. Yummmm.
October 6th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
I can’t wait to try these. Thanks for sharing!!!
October 7th, 2010 at 6:39 am
Katie, LOVE this!
I’m the gal who I can eat one box of cheez its in one sitting………and then start eyeing the next box!
Can’t wait to tryout the recipe!!
jul
October 7th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
I want to make these but I’m afraid I’ll eat them all!!!! They look delicious!
October 7th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
They are indeed delicious.
October 7th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
I made a similar recipe a while back…Homemade cheez-its are soo sooo good. Don’t forget a sprinkle of coarse salt on the top!
October 9th, 2010 at 9:21 am
I am making these for a neighborhood get together today. Can’t beat something that you don’t have to go to the grocery store. I almost always have all of these ingredients on hand (you just never know when you’re going to need a bag of shredded sharp cheddar!).
October 9th, 2010 at 6:22 pm
And easy enough to make with a 4-year-old…which I did today for football snacks. Delicious.
October 10th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
I made these today. Soooo good! A great nibble while watching my teams lose
Thank you for the recipe – I featured it in my Weekend Blog Showcase post. Love your blog!
November 19th, 2010 at 10:38 am
I’m sitting at my desk eating Cheez-Its, and thought I would “google” a homemade recipe. It lead me to your wonderful blog! I look forward to browsing your site.
December 5th, 2010 at 1:11 am
these would be an awesome gift for my grumpy grandpa who loves cheez-its. i’m on it. thanks for the recipe – all the other recipes call for weird cheese powder and i like that yours uses real foods!
February 3rd, 2011 at 1:16 pm
What if I don’t have a food processor?
February 3rd, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Heather, I imagine you could make the dough by hand as you would a pie dough–cut in the butter with 2 small knives or the tines of a fork. Just make sure the butter is very cold before you begin and work quickly so it doesn’t soften.
February 26th, 2011 at 7:59 am
http://abirdandabean.blogspot.com/2011/02/homemade-cheese-its.html
I made these and I love them. Thanks so much for posting the recipe. I linked back to you.
February 27th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Thanks, Erin! Glad you like them!
June 23rd, 2011 at 11:45 am
[...] The Thin Chef, originally adapted from Country [...]
July 1st, 2011 at 10:17 pm
[...] made homemade cheezits, which are even better than the store bought kind (which we both [...]
July 16th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
I tried a modified version of this recipe to make them spicier. Here is my version of Homemade Cheez-Its. I linked to you. Thank you so much for sharing. This recipe really saved my attempt to eat healthier.
To anyone who’s on the fence about making these: just do it! These things are soooooo delicious and easy to make! You will never go back to commercially processed crackers again.
August 19th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Thank you ! My husband eats the commercial ones by the truckload and I can’t even stand the smell of them – this recipe will solve that problem – even I will eat these!
August 19th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
Hooray! These really are tasty
September 28th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Thank you! I have to try these!! I love crackers of any kind!!
October 10th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
[...] but I’m worried they won’t give me the same satisfaction and keep me from the office candy jar. I have these crackers I want to try. Do you have any other recipe suggestions for [...]
November 9th, 2011 at 8:34 pm
Okay. I found this same recipe somewhere else and then Googled and found you.
I love Cheez-its, as does a co-worker.
I made these for her and they were delicious. Made them twice and they are not ‘cracker-like’.
They are never crispy. Is there something I’m missing?
Don’t get me wrong… this is going into my cookbook and I’ll make them again… But I’m going to have to tell her to re-heat them.
What am I doing wrong, if anything?
November 10th, 2011 at 7:25 am
Hi there, just make sure you’re rolling the dough nice and thin. Make sure the butter stays cold, and the dough doesn’t get too warm when rolling; the cold butter should make it nice and flaky. These don’t bake up quite as crunchy as the boxed kind, more flaky and crisp…just be sure the dough is nice and thin when you roll it out. Good luck!
November 28th, 2011 at 1:42 am
My boyfriend love, love, loves Cheez-Its. He eats them by the box, to be honest. But I figured homemade Cheez-Its would be fun and cool to make. But we don’t have a food processor. How could I make these without one?
November 28th, 2011 at 7:01 am
That’s a little tough, just because the cheese and butter need to be chopped together and finely blended. If you can get your hands on a sharp pastry cutter, that could work. But otherwise, I’m sorry, I just don’t know if doing these by hand would be the same.
January 12th, 2012 at 7:48 pm
There Is Baking Soda In Real Cheese-It’s Have You Tried Putting Baking Soda Into This Recipe?
February 17th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
[...] followed this recipe from at TheThinChef.com, although I used a white cheese that wasn’t low-fat instead of the [...]
March 29th, 2012 at 10:21 am
I haven’t…wonder if they’d puff up more?
July 29th, 2012 at 2:49 am
Oh man, you just gave me the perfect “small-reminder-that-I-love-you” gift idea for my boyfriend. He is obsessed with Cheez-its. And you say these taste better? Now I’m obligated to make them! Thanks for the recipe.
February 15th, 2013 at 8:11 pm
Made these today…next time, need to make about 4 batches at once! Loved them! And so much more healthy!