Cheez-Its win the prize when it comes to favorite snack. Don't give me the flavored powdered ones either. I want my cheese in the cracker. Cheesey. Crackers. Salty. Perfect.
So when I stumbled upon Homemade 5-ingredient Cheez-Its [I think on Pinterest of course! ;)] I thought "A recipe after my own heart!" In addition to loving Cheez-Its, the fact that it only had 5 ingredients--all of which I already had on hand--was a real bonus. Different food-awareness articles and blogs I've read have noted that a good rule of thumb if one is trying to avoid processed foods is to limit yourself to "boxed foods" that contain 5 ingredients or less. Cheez-Its certainly don't fit that bill, but homemade ones do. :) I also read somewhere [I do that a lot without remembering where I read things!] that if you are watching your diet in particularly your junk food intake that someone made themselves the rule that they could eat all the junk food they wanted--as long as they made it themselves. Obviously the effort to make the food usually trumps the desire to eat it so you still eat less.
Either way. This recipe wins. It has 5 simple ingredients. It is so easy to make.
So without further ado, the delicious recipe:
Homemade Cheez Its
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded
½ stick unsalted butter, at room temperature [Room temperature-ish is sufficient.]
3/4 teaspoon salt [If you use salted butter, then you may want to adjust this down a bit]
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons ice water
If you have a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to mix the cheese, butter, and salt until soft and combined. If you don't have a stand mixer, whip out the ol' handheld mixer and you'll be juuuust fine. Add the flour and mix on low speed. The dough should be dry and crumbly. Slowly add the water and continue to mix as the dough forms a ball.
Shape the dough into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour. Or you can put in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. [This step is really just to firm up the dough so it makes it a lot easier to work with. I read through an half a dozen or so recipes and they all varied on this step. Fridge for 30 minutes. Fridge for an hour. Fridge overnight. Freezer for 15 minutes.]
Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll dough very thinly (1/8 inch or less). I put the dough between a couple pieces of parchment paper and then rolled them out. This made for easier rolling pin clean up and I didn't have to add any extra flour if the dough was a bit sticky. Using a sharp knife, fluted pastry cutter [if you want the Cheez-It edging] or pizza cutter*, cut the rectangles into 1-inch squares, then transfer to the baking sheets. Use the tip of a chopstick to punch a hole into the center of each square. This helps them not to puff up as much and look more like "real" Cheez-Its. Sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt.
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until puffed and browning at the edges. I cut ours a bit smaller so they only needed about 10 minutes. Watch carefully once you get to the 9-10 minute range because of the cheese and butter golden Cheez-Its could quickly become burnt Cheez-Its**. Immediately move the crackers to racks to cool.
Let cool completely, if you can wait that long!
These things are delish! Seriously! While you're at it, just trust me and make a double batch!! You won't regret that life decision!
*I love using our promo pizza cutter for jobs like this or to cut brownies--much easier than a knife!!
**The Cheez-Its that are a bit darker/burnt a bit are actually my favorite from the box! When I was in middle school I had a friend tell me that she would write into the Cheez-It company and request the burnt Cheez-Its and they'd send them to her all the time. I was so guillible. And Em was such a good "storyteller"! :)
In reading another recipe today, I think I made mine a little differently accidentally. In the step of rolling out thinnly, I then separated each cracker before putting it on a parchment covered baking sheet. I think some cut in 1" squares then baked them all touching. So the cutting was then used a score to break them apart after they had baked. Does that make sense?! I'll have to force myself to make these again asap to see the difference! :)
Recipe Adapted from A Chow Life.
So when I stumbled upon Homemade 5-ingredient Cheez-Its [I think on Pinterest of course! ;)] I thought "A recipe after my own heart!" In addition to loving Cheez-Its, the fact that it only had 5 ingredients--all of which I already had on hand--was a real bonus. Different food-awareness articles and blogs I've read have noted that a good rule of thumb if one is trying to avoid processed foods is to limit yourself to "boxed foods" that contain 5 ingredients or less. Cheez-Its certainly don't fit that bill, but homemade ones do. :) I also read somewhere [I do that a lot without remembering where I read things!] that if you are watching your diet in particularly your junk food intake that someone made themselves the rule that they could eat all the junk food they wanted--as long as they made it themselves. Obviously the effort to make the food usually trumps the desire to eat it so you still eat less.
Either way. This recipe wins. It has 5 simple ingredients. It is so easy to make.
So without further ado, the delicious recipe:
Homemade Cheez Its
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded
½ stick unsalted butter, at room temperature [Room temperature-ish is sufficient.]
3/4 teaspoon salt [If you use salted butter, then you may want to adjust this down a bit]
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons ice water
If you have a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to mix the cheese, butter, and salt until soft and combined. If you don't have a stand mixer, whip out the ol' handheld mixer and you'll be juuuust fine. Add the flour and mix on low speed. The dough should be dry and crumbly. Slowly add the water and continue to mix as the dough forms a ball.
Shape the dough into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour. Or you can put in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. [This step is really just to firm up the dough so it makes it a lot easier to work with. I read through an half a dozen or so recipes and they all varied on this step. Fridge for 30 minutes. Fridge for an hour. Fridge overnight. Freezer for 15 minutes.]
Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll dough very thinly (1/8 inch or less). I put the dough between a couple pieces of parchment paper and then rolled them out. This made for easier rolling pin clean up and I didn't have to add any extra flour if the dough was a bit sticky. Using a sharp knife, fluted pastry cutter [if you want the Cheez-It edging] or pizza cutter*, cut the rectangles into 1-inch squares, then transfer to the baking sheets. Use the tip of a chopstick to punch a hole into the center of each square. This helps them not to puff up as much and look more like "real" Cheez-Its. Sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt.
 |
| Pre-baked--Being my first time and for our consumption, I wasn't going for uniformity! |
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until puffed and browning at the edges. I cut ours a bit smaller so they only needed about 10 minutes. Watch carefully once you get to the 9-10 minute range because of the cheese and butter golden Cheez-Its could quickly become burnt Cheez-Its**. Immediately move the crackers to racks to cool.
Let cool completely, if you can wait that long!
 |
| Deliciousness at my fingertips! |
These things are delish! Seriously! While you're at it, just trust me and make a double batch!! You won't regret that life decision!
*I love using our promo pizza cutter for jobs like this or to cut brownies--much easier than a knife!!
**The Cheez-Its that are a bit darker/burnt a bit are actually my favorite from the box! When I was in middle school I had a friend tell me that she would write into the Cheez-It company and request the burnt Cheez-Its and they'd send them to her all the time. I was so guillible. And Em was such a good "storyteller"! :)
In reading another recipe today, I think I made mine a little differently accidentally. In the step of rolling out thinnly, I then separated each cracker before putting it on a parchment covered baking sheet. I think some cut in 1" squares then baked them all touching. So the cutting was then used a score to break them apart after they had baked. Does that make sense?! I'll have to force myself to make these again asap to see the difference! :)
Recipe Adapted from A Chow Life.
I just made mine and left them together.. Ill let you know how they turned out! :-)
ReplyDeleteThey broke apart just fine...not as pretty as yours are though.. i think i would just pull them all apart next time.. plus they will cook more evenly. :-)
ReplyDelete