Cabot Cheese was gracious enough to send me a care package of their incredible cheeses to create some fun recipes and that’s just what I’ve been doing.  Last week I made Tuscan cheddar biscuits.  This week, I wanted to whip up some cheese crackers.  I had an old hand-written recipe for cheese crackers (not sure of the origination or the age of it) but I now know why I kept it.  These are knock your socks off good!  I had to step away from them… they are addicting!

Ingredients:

1 cup of All-purpose flour (I used King Arthur’s)
1 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of finely ground pepper
4 tablespoons of ice cold butter (I keep it in the freezer prior to use)
1 – 8 oz block of Cabot cheddar cheese, grated (medium sized grater)
3 tablespoons of ice water

Directions:

In your food processor pulse the flour, salt and pepper.  Then add all of the butter and pulse till the dough looks like coarse meal.  Add the grated cheese.  Pulse until incorporated. Then through the spout opening  located at the top of the lid, add one tablespoon of ice water at a time and while the machine is running (not pulsing here).  Keep adding one tablespoon of ice water until the dough forms a large ball and comes together (then stop adding additional water).  Wrap this in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or if using the same day, at least for 1-2 hours.  Remove from the refrigerator and let stand for about 10 minutes or more until pliable enough to roll out.  Slice the dough into two halves, working with one at a time.  Lay out two sheets of wax paper.  Place one piece of the dough in the center of the wax paper and top it with the other piece.  Roll the dough to about 1/8 of an inch thick.  That equates to about half of a pencil.  Cut the dough with small cookie cutters, pastry knife or just a regular knife.  Then refrigerate for another 10 minutes to chill.   If you’re trying to have these resemble the Cheez-It look – poke a small hole in the center of each cracker prior to baking.  

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your cookie or baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.  Transfer the crackers to your prepared sheet and bake for 12-16 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. You can place the crackers close together as they puff up and not grow outward like cookies do.  Remove and let cool.  Store in an airtight container.

— Knead to Cook