whole wheat cheddar crackers

I love spending afternoons in the kitchen.  The kiddo is napping.  The house is quiet.  I’m making a mess of dirty dishes in the sink with hopes they will magically disappear (it never happens… at least not magically).  The other day I made these cheesy crackers, prepped a crockpot of yummy chicken noodle soup and tried a copycat dave’s killer bread recipe.  Everything turned out spectacular.  I’ll be sharing the soup and bread soon, but today I’m starting out with the crackers.

Hunter loved them, I kept telling Jacob to not eat so many since I made them for Hunter, and I secretly ate my fair share of them too.  Who wouldn’t like cheese, butter and flour all baked together?  Don’t say you…

I realized I lack in cookie cutter shapes.  I have a circle, ribbon and leaf.  Since it’s fall, I though the leaf would be appropriate.  Plus it’s super cute, dontcha think?

I followed the recipe from smitten kitchen to a T, except for the shape.  She made about 100 little goldfish crackers – must have taken a while!  I liked this size because it made about 1.5 sheets (20 big crackers) and was fast and easy to cut + bake.

The recipe uses a small amount of white flour in addition to the whole wheat flour.  I made these with the white flour, but honestly, I don’t think it’s necessary.  Next time (AKA tomorrow) I’ll be using all whole wheat flour.

The dough comes together in a food processor, which makes baking life a breeze.

And as you can see, some were a little more flat, some had some fluff to them (air pockets).  All tasted great!

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

Whole Wheat Cheddar Crackers

makes about 20 large leaf crackers, or many more small crackers

recipe from smitten kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups coarsely grated sharp cheddar, orange if you can find one you like
• 4 tbsp butter
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour (can sub out for whole wheat flour)
• ⅛ tsp onion powder
• ⅛ to ¼ tsp sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients in a food processor, running the machine until the dough forms a ball, about two minutes.
2. If the dough feels warm or worrisome-ly soft, wrap it in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge for 30 to 45 minutes. This also makes it easier to transfer shapes once they are rolled out.
3. On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out ⅛-inch thick. Form shapes with a cookie cutter, dipping it in flour from time to time to ensure a clean cut. Gently transfer crackers to a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper with a ½ inch between them. Bake the crackers on the middle rack for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are barely browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and set the cookie sheet on a rack to cool.

We are off to LEGO fest this afternoon with my SIL and nephew!  I’m hoping Hunter takes a good long nap until we have to leave.  Maybe I should hurry and make some more of these crackers to take along since our cracker supply is long gone??

Have you ever made crackers before?  They’re surprisingly easy!

Happy Friday!

Heather