These homemade crackers use few ingredients to make delicious crackers. Pair with white wine or Champagne, or serve to kids or company! These crackers are as fancy as you want them to be, based on the cheese used. Makes about 55 1-inch crackers.
Course: Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine: French
Keyword: cheese, cracker
Servings: 55crackers
Author: Beth Cato
Equipment
food processor
baking sheet
parchment paper
1-inch cookie cutter
Ingredients
1/2cupunsalted butter 1 stick, cut into small pieces
4ouncesComte grated, or Gruyere or Emmenthal or good old cheddar
1/2teaspoonsalt
1/8teaspoonwhite pepper
pinchcayenne pepper optional
1cupplus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
Maldon sea salt or other flaky gourmet salt, optional
Instructions
Place the butter, cheese, salt, white pepper, and cayenne (if using) in the food processor. Pulse until the butter is broken into uneven pieces and the mixture begins to form small curds. Add the flour and mix until it looks like larger curds. If the dough is stubborn, pulse a bit more to distribute ingredients.
Dump dough onto a flat surface and gently knead with hands to make cohesive. Divvy dough in half, forming each piece into a flat disk, and wrap in plastic. Tuck into fridge to chill for at least an hour or a couple days; it can also be frozen at this stage.
When time to bake, preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or nonstick mats.
Pull out a dough disk. Use two sheets of parchment to roll dough to about 1/4 inch thickness; if the dough is too hard to roll, let it rest at room temperature for a few minutes before trying again. Use a small cookie cutter (about 1-inch) to cut dough into crackers. Place them spaced out on parchment on pan. Gather the scraps to form more crackers, using a touch of water, if needed, to make it cohesive again.
If desired, sprinkle some Maldon sea salt atop crackers; only a few flakes are needed to add extra flavor.
Bake for about 10 minutes. Rotate pan. Bake for another 4 to 7 minutes, until crackers are lightly golden and firm to the touch. Let cool on pan or on a rack.
Crackers are great warm or at room temperature. They are best eaten within 3 days. After that, they soften and become more crumbly, but they are still tasty.