Cheddar Cheese Crackers

This week is mayhem in my head. I am somewhat of an OCD person when it comes to planning and being organized about those plans. Well, we are taking a road trip to two different places this weekend, and staying for two weeks. My planning began months ago.

Despite all my hard work making lists and trying to be ready for this trip as a family of 5 (John, myself, Gavyn, Alli, and my step son Kolton as well) is just such a project. Not to mention I've dedicated myself to making all of our food to avoid the processed stuff. Just because we are on vacation doesn't mean I want my family to forget our new food values. So this week has been full of more list making, packing, organizing, some anxiety attacks, and a lot of baking. I've been baking bread, granola bars, and crackers like crazy to have enough for the car rides and the whole trip. We'll be sharing them too. I finally made my final trip to the grocery store last night to bring up all that I can so our shopping there will be minimal. Hopefully, by Saturday, I can relax.

Oh wait, I have 3 kids. Oh well.

Anyway, I have made Basic Sandwich Bread, Granola Bars, Rustic Crackers, and Graham crackers this week, and plan to make all my sauces and buns while there. I also made these cheese crackers for my in-law visit last weekend and for the trip. They are one of my favorites, and so much more nutrient-packed than Goldfish crackers, which is a toddlers best friend of course. Naturally, Gavyn isn't crazy about these crackers and prefers the boxed version - but I'm working on changing his mind.

If you frequent pinterest you have probably seen recipes like this floating about. I used this recipe but omitted the red pepper flakes.

Flour (whole wheat), cheese, butter, and salt in food processor. 

crumbs!

After adding the milk, you get a ball

rolled out right on cookie sheet

baked

baked

baked again!

So the first time I made these crackers was before I started this blog, and while they were good, they were more like little cheese biscuits rather than crackers. They were soft and kind of chewy. My husband and I liked them, but the toddler didn't want much to do with them. The direction say to not overbake, but I went ahead and cooked them for 10 minutes longer than the suggested time and let them get nice and dark. That seemed to be the answer. They got pretty brown but not burnt, and they were crunchy! Delicious too.

I also decided I was done with rolling, cutting, and places individual crackers onto my cookie sheet. With every cracker I make, I just roll the dough out on the sheet itself (on a silpat) and cut them with a cookie cutter right on there. Then I break them apart when they are done. This has worked perfectly with the rustic crackers, graham crackers, and now these. I did make some fun shapes with my graham crackers but that was actually fun. What is not fun is transferring 1-- little crackers from your counter onto a cookie sheet.

So to sum up - these crackers are easy and delicious - just roll them out right on your baking sheet and bake them until they are nice and crispy brown!

Cheddar Cheese Crackers

• 6 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup butter softened and cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. milk

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place shredded sharp cheddar cheese, butter, flour, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until the dough turns into coarse crumbs.
3. Add milk and process until dough forms into a ball.
4. Roll dough out onto a silpat (or parchment paper) on a cookie sheet. Roll it to about 1/8" thickness. 
5. With a pizza cutter or knife, cut dough into 1" squares. Use flat end of a wooden skewer or a fork to poke holes in the squares. 
6. Bake 23-25 minutes or until brown. After they are cooked they should be crunchy. If you underbake them, they are still good but soft.  Store any not being eaten right away in an airtight container for 1-2 days.