Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Try making homemade Cheez-Its, the popular cheddar cheese crackers. Homemade is always better: healthier, more economical, and made with wholesome ingredients.
How long it takes: about an hour (that includes chilling time)
Equipment you’ll need: food processor, baking sheet, parchment paper
Servings: Makes 15 dozen small crackers
About homemade Cheez-Its
Easy to make. Crisp golden cheddar cheese crackers are wholesomely addictively delicious. They are surprisingly easy to make (it’s actually kind of fun!). You probably have everything you need in your pantry and refrigerator: sharp Cheddar cheese, butter, flour, ground mustard, salt, and water.
Absolutely delicious. If you’re wondering how the homemade version compares to the store-bought crackers, be assured that homemade wins hands-down!
Perfect with Diet Coke. Did you know that the best combination in the world (okay, maybe “the world” is a bit of an exaggeration) is Cheez-Its and Diet Coke? The Cheez-Its are best if they are on the extra brown side, and the Diet Coke is best out of a can. Trust me on this one.
Ingredient Notes
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese: You’ll need 8 ounces of sharp cheese. Avoid using pre-shredded cheese. It just doesn’t work as well in this recipe. The sharper the cheese, the tastier your crackers will be. (I like extra sharp cheddar cheese.)
- Butter: Use cold butter, no substitutes. This is not the place for butter spreads. I usually use unsalted (sweet) butter, but if you use salted butter, decrease the amount of salt you add.
- Flour: Plain all-purpose flour is all you need.
- Ground Mustard & Salt: Dry ground mustard is found in the spice aisle of the grocery store. The crackers don’t taste like mustard, I promise you, but the spice adds depth to the flavor of the crackers (if you don’t have it, don’t worry, they can be made without it). Crackers also just need a bit of salt or they won’t taste like crackers. If you’re concerned about sodium, cut back on it a bit but not too much.
- Food Processor: A food processor makes it easy to shred the cheese and to mix everything together. If you don’t have one, the dough can be stirred up by hand but it will take a little arm power.
How To Make Homemade Crackers
Shred cheese. Begin by shredding the cheese in your food processor. Use the shredding disk. HELPFUL TIP: Well-chilled cheese shreds more easily than warm cheese.
Make dough. Remove the shredding disk and the shredded cheese. Insert the normal, S-shaped blade. Add the flour, butter (cut into little pieces), dry mustard, salt, and cheese.
Pulse the mixture several times. Stop when it looks like coarse crumbs.
Add the water, a tablespoon at a time, and pulse briefly each time. The dough should come together. Don’t overprocess it.
Chill dough. Remove the dough from the food processor, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes so it will roll out easily.
Roll the dough. On a floured surface, roll the dough out nice and thin. If you want to divide the dough into two portions first to make it easier to roll it, that’s up to you. The thinner it is, the crispier your crackers will turn out. Shoot for ⅛-inch or even less.
Cut the dough. Cut the squares with a pastry cutter to give them that trademark crinkle edge. If you don’t happen to have one, a pizza cutter or sharp knife works fine. Cheez-Its are about one inch square. You’ll get a lot of crackers, about 15 dozen, but that depends on the size and thickness. Re-roll the scraps to use up every bit of dough.
Make the center hole. For that little trademark hole in the center, use a chopstick, skewer, knitting needle or whatever you can find. A toothpick is too small.
Why is there a hole in Cheez-Its?
The center hole makes the crackers crispier. It allows the steam to escape while the crackers are baking and keeps them from looking like little pillows. (If you think about it, most crackers have small holes in them.)
Arrange on baking sheet. Arrange the crackers close together on a parchment-lined baking sheet. They won’t spread, so put them as close as you can so you can fit a lot of them on.
Bake. Bake the crackers for 17 to 20 minutes or until they are as crispy as you like them. The browner they are, the crispier they are. Pop the tab off a can of Diet Coke and snack away! (If you want, you can share them with the kids.)
By the way, these homemade crackers are perfect for a cheese board or charcuterie board. Your friends will be really impressed when they try your homemade crackers.
Recipe Variations
- Try a different cheese. I haven’t tried anything other than extra sharp cheddar but if you want, try another type of cheese. I recommend a sharp cheese rather than a mild cheese. Try to shred your own (it’s easy to shred cheese with your food processor). I find that pre-shredded cheese doesn’t work as well as block cheese.
- Experiment with seasoning. I’d love to hear some of your combinations. Try adding taco seasoning, all-purpose seasoning, or curry powder!
- Cut them into fun shapes. Be creative! Maybe the kids would like to help. I recommend keeping your designs small. Add homemade crackers to an after school snack board.
Let crackers cool completely before storing in an airtight container. They’ll keep for at least a week at room temperature. For longer storage, put them in a freezer-safe container and freeze for a month or even longer.
More Snack Recipes
Homemade Cheez-Its
Ingredients
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese (see note)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- ¾ teaspoon salt (if you use salted butter, decrease to ½ teaspoon)
- ½ teaspoon dry ground mustard (optional)
- 2 tablespoons cold water
Instructions
- In a food processor, shred cheese using shredding blade. Remove shredding blade and cheese from food processor and replace the blade with the normal blade (s-shaped).8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
- Add flour, butter, salt, mustard, and shredded cheese to the food processor and pulse until mixture looks like coarse crumbs.1 cup all-purpose flour, 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, ¾ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon dry ground mustard
- While pulsing, add water 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together.2 tablespoons cold water
- Remove from food processor, wrap in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare baking sheet by lining with Silpat or parchment paper.
- On lightly floured counter, roll out dough quite thin (⅛ -inch or less). The thinner they are, the crispier they get. Cut into one inch squares. A pastry wheel or pizza cutter works well. Use the tip of a chopstick or skewer to poke a hole in the middle of each cracker (see note).
- Place crackers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can place them close together, not touching, as they do not really expand.
- Bake for 17 minutes or until crispy, up to 20 minutes. They should be lightly browned on the bottom and firm to the touch. The browner they are, the crispier the crackers will be.
- Cool the crackers in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Notes
- Cheese: It’s important to grate your own cheese for this recipe for best texture. Don’t use pre-shredded. It only takes a minute using your food processor.
- Yield: Yield depends on the size and thickness of the crackers you make. I usually end up with about 15 dozen crackers.
- Storage: Your Cheez-Its will keep for at least a week at room temperature. For longer storage, put them in a freezer-safe container and freeze for a month or even longer.
- Why the hole? There are two reasons. A one inch square with a hole in the middle mimics the Cheez-It crackers. Additionally, the hole helps the crackers get crispier because it allows the steam to escape from the center of the cracker as it bakes, and keeps it from puffing up like a pillow.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
What is the serving size for this recipe?
No specific serving size. Eat as many as you want! :)
I don’t have a food processor, so I used my blender. Make sure you put the cheese in last or the heat from the blade might melt it. That’s what happened to me, not a bad thing, just difficult to clean. They’re about to go in the oven. I can’t wait! I also used mozzarella because I didn’t have cheddar. I’ll let you know how they turn out.
So this may seem strange, but I don’t own a food processor. :-) Do you think they’d turn out using a blender? Can’t wait to try them out…my three boys are addicted to Cheez-its!
Hmm…I’m not sure. They might jam up a blender. Depends on the quality of the blender. You’ll definitely just want to pulse it. Good luck!
This is fantastic! I will be trying these soon! Thanks for posting the recipe.
My hubby is very anxious to eat these as I just put these guys in the oven…but the dough was very crumbly. Is this true for when you made them?
Not super crumbly. I was able to easily roll it out. Did they turn out?
OK, I don’t even drink soda, but I’m almost tempted to go buy a Mexican coke to go with these. I am fixin to prepare them, but with gluten free flour and a greased cookie sheet (forgot parchment when I went for the cheese) – I’ll report back on the GF version. Thanks!
Let me know how it goes!
How did the GF version go? What mix of flour did you use?
My crackers are a little chewy… But still amazing. I would compare it to a cross between red lobster cheese biscuits and cheese-its :)
Glad you still liked them! It’s all in how thin you roll them…mine were a tiny chewy too.
Try substituting vegetable shortening for the butter. Butter has a lot of water per volume and that might be the problem with it being chewy. By the time the water is baked off, it hasn’t had time to crisp. Bakers use shortening for flaky and crispy pie shells and butter for tarts that are denser and chewy.
I have a batch of the dough in the fridge right now. I used 2/3 aged cheddar and 1/3 smoked cheddar, and added a little cayenne and black pepper. Can’t wait to taste them. Thanks for sharing. I’m not familiar with “Cheese Its” but they sound like a popular American snack cracker. Glad I can make them at home.
Sounds fantastic! Hope you love them!
Just had a craving for Cheez-Its and figured I’d search the online world for a recipe. Google directed me here :)
I just made these — actually have one more pan full in the oven. These aren’t going to last two days in my house. Delicious! Thanks!
Glad you liked them! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I totally love this! I keep a jar of cheez-its or goldfish on the cabinet all the time for the boys to snack on. They would totally love them homemade.
PS. You should get some sort of amazing mom award for teaching E sign language!! Amazing.