Homemade cheese crackers

Better for you than what you might find in the store, and packed with cheddar flavor, these cute little homemade cheese crackers are easy to make too. Tasty snack time awaits!

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I'm sure many people who have young kids find themselves giving their kids crackers at some point or another, and then find themselves rationing them for the next year or so.

Then there are a few crazy people who decide to try to make their own homemade cheddar cheese crackers (in fairness, I'm in good company with Smitten Kitchen on this one).

Some might feel the idea totally pointless or mad, but actually crackers are incredibly easy to make and these ones kind of bridge the gap between kid-friendly and adult-tasty. Plus, they're not as unhealthy as you might think.

I made some in a fairly familiar fish shape (and other animals), and others as squares. Funnily enough my son went for the fish-shaped ones first, but adults and kids alike enjoyed them.

There's enough cheese in there to give them plenty of tasty cheesy flavor, like many store-bought crackers, while the wholewheat flour, along with low amounts of salt and butter make them pretty good for you.

The first time I made these, I added flaxseeds for extra goodness (as you'll see below), but these were less popular with the kids. They do have a little more of a texture to them, so I can understand. But, do feel free to try them that way too if you want to feel that bit better about devouring them yourself.

How to make homemade cheese crackers

• Pulse the flour, cheese, butter and salt together in a food processor to form fine crumbs. 
• Add the water a tablespoon at a time and pulse to combine.
• Roll out, cut into preferred shape then transfer to a lined baking sheet.
• Bake until gently golden.

The mixture takes literally a minute to mix up in the food processor, then if it is warm, I suggest you chill the mixture for a bit before rolling it out. Then roll it out thinly, cut it into your preferred shape(s) and bake.

See how they come together in the short video.

If you make them as squares, I suggest you make a little indent in the middle with a toothpick, skewer or end of a chopstick. This helps to avoid them puffing up in the middle as they bake. For smaller animal shapes, this is less necessary, but it's nice to make a little eye shape.

They take around 15 minutes to bake and are ready when they are just slightly golden. They cool down pretty quickly and should just slide off the greaseproof paper. Store in an airtight container and they'll keep their crunch for at least a few days.

Whether a bit crazy or not, these are so easy to make and so tasty I would definitely suggest giving these homemade cheddar crackers a try at least once. And who knows, you may find you like them enough to make a few more times, too. 

Try some more tasty homemade crackers:

• Oatcakes (Scottish oat crackers)
• Swedish crispbread (rye seed crackers)
• Whole wheat olive oil crackers

And if you're a cheese fan, you may also like to try some cheese scones or Imeruli khachapuri (Georgian cheese-filled bread). Plus get lots more snack recipes in the archives.

I used these animal-shaped cutters to make the cut-out crackers which are a great, cute size.

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store. 

Print Recipe

Homemade cheese crackers

A slightly healthier take on cheddar crackers that are tasty and perfect for snacking.

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 70 small crackers, approx

Calories: 10kcal

Author: Caroline's Cooking

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Ingredients

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US CustomaryMetric

• ½ cup wholewheat pastry flour
• 1 cup sharp cheddar coarsely grated (1 cup is approx 3 ½oz)
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter cut into small chunks
• 2 tablespoon water

Instructions

• Mix the flour, cheese, salt and butter in a food processor until fairly well mixed - it should be like breadcrumbs. Add the water one tablespoon at a time and pulse until it comes together in lumps.
• Remove dough from the food processor, bring together in a ball and chill for 20min or more, if possible (although as long as not too hot, you can use straight away, it's just a little easier to work with chilled).
• Preheat oven to 350F/175C and line baking sheet(s) with with parchment paper.
• Roll out the dough to about as thin as you are comfortable rolling (about ⅛in/1mm) then cut out as you prefer either with small cutters or cut into small squares. Poke small holes into them, if you wish (it will help reduce bubbled up texture).
• Put your shapes on to the prepared baking sheets and bake around 15min until starting to go golden.

Video

Notes

If you would like to add flaxseed meal, add around 2-4 tablespoon to the flour-cheese mixture at the start.

Nutrition

Calories: 10kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 13mg | Potassium: 5mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 19IU | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg

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This recipe was first published in July 2015 and has been updated, primarily with new photos and video.

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