I found this recipe from A Bird And A Bean. It is such an easy and fun snack to make!
I do not buy much processed junk food, so when we get a craving for something crispy and cheesy, I now know have the perfect recipe to make.
Next time I will roll them out thinner for more of a crunch. These had crunchy bottoms and crisp layers of cheesiness, and my girls liked them “poofy” so they were still a hit even rolled a bit thicker.
I think I will take a toothpick and poke the middle of each one before baking next time, it may help de-poof and will make them look like the original.
Thanks, Erin, for a great recipe!
I love eating a cracker with minimal ingredients and no preservatives!
Homemade Cheez-It Crackers
**I didn’t need to chill mine, I think if you add less water you can skip this step.
- 1 cup flour
- 4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small squares
- 1 (8-ounce) bag grated extra-sharp 2% Cheddar cheese (preferably orange)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in food processor, and pulse until crumbly. Add cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together. Form into ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Place dough between two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper, and roll out to 1/8 inch thickness. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet, and, using pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut into 1 inch squares. Sprinkle with kosher salt and bake for 25 minutes. Test for crispiness; crackers may take a few minutes more to finish crisping. Remove from oven when crisp and just starting to brown. Let cool and serve.
Laura
July 8, 2016 at 9:05 amThese are fun and easy to make. I want to try making a spicy version. Any ideas?
AmyNewNostalgia
July 8, 2016 at 1:55 pmOHHH….Maybe Sriracha? Or a sprinkle of ground red pepper? Spicy would be great!
page jacob
January 11, 2015 at 10:23 pmCan the dough be left overnight? More then the hour stated? For busy and didn’t have time to roll and bake! Thanks
AmyNewNostalgia
January 12, 2015 at 11:22 amI’m sure that would be fine, just keep it refrigerated.
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Anonymous
August 29, 2013 at 8:41 pmOh Wow! These are delicious & dangerously addictive. I had to force myself to leave the kitchen and stop snacking on them. I totally forgot to add the cayenne pepper and they are great. Other than that, I followed the recipe & poked holes in each square before baking. Yum, yum, yum.
Anonymous
June 13, 2013 at 2:31 amMy favorite cheezits are the hot and spicy, so I mixed in a few good squirts of Sriracha with the water. Turned out great!
Anonymous
March 3, 2013 at 6:53 pmThe puffy ones look yummy, but those of you who want more “crackery” type crackers, need to chill the dough and poke at least one hole in the cracker before baking. Chilling the dough helps retard rising so quickly while being baked.
ce58
December 30, 2012 at 4:53 pmThese are quite delicious. I used white pepper and paprika instead of the cayenne and white cheddar as well. I would say these taste more like cheese nips than cheez-its though. Us Cheez-It lovers do know there is a difference.
Laurie
December 9, 2012 at 11:53 pmOh my word!!! So nummy – thank you for sharing !! No more processed snack crackers for us!!
The Cheat
November 28, 2012 at 12:11 amOne of my new favorite recipes! Thank you so much!
Anonymous
October 30, 2012 at 8:58 pmI just made these and they are awesome! Thank you so much!
ericka
October 8, 2012 at 11:09 pmI omitted the cayenne and they tasted great. Very cheesy. Can you use less butter? These are better than the real stuff but are full of fat…deicious nonetheless.
Tiff
October 5, 2012 at 1:36 amThese are absolutely amazing!! I just made my first batch and I can’t believe how good they taste with so little ingredients. I did substitute the cayenne pepper with paprika because it was all I had, but it worked out perfectly.
Thank you for this amazing recipe and now I don’t have to buy the store ones that are loaded with crap.
Tiff
Anonymous
September 26, 2012 at 11:18 pmThese r great!!!!!! Mine didn’t puff. But they are amazinggggg!! Used whole wheat flour! Ty so much!!!!
-Nikki
Wicked Goodies
September 26, 2012 at 6:28 amI can’t wait to try these. Love the short list of natural ingredients. I like the idea of a poofy cracker! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Anonymous
September 24, 2012 at 4:13 amI’m lookin forward to makin these for my family. Thnx
Amy Wierks
August 21, 2012 at 10:14 pmDelicious!!!! I’m sure my one-year-old will gobble them up when he wakes up from his nap:) Waaayyyy better for him than his favourite “fishie crackers”
Mama Wheatley
August 18, 2012 at 4:57 pmThese are fantastic and so easy!! I may never buy actual Cheez-its again, thank you!
Anonymous
August 16, 2012 at 8:18 pmJust made these for a yummy first day of school snack…delicious!
Anonymous
July 22, 2012 at 7:01 pmI just made these and my husband and I had to force ourselves to stop eating them and save some for the kids. Next time I’m doubling the batch and making a few variations to the batches. Yummy!! Thanks for sharing.
Anonymous
May 25, 2012 at 12:09 amThese were so simple to make. I used a “three cheese mexican blend” and they still turned out delish!
Nibs
April 28, 2012 at 1:25 pmI live overseas in South Korea and one of the foods I miss the most is Cheez-Its. I got my hand on a block of cheddar and made these.. they are amazing!!! They taste just like the real thing. Thank you for the great recipe!
Anonymous
April 16, 2012 at 5:16 pmMy 3 kids and my husband LOVE these (me too)!!! Thank you so much for this recipe. I love that I can feed them one of their favorites snacks with all natural ingredients. They are delish!
Carrie
April 10, 2012 at 10:42 pmFound you via pinterest! Thanks for this recipe! My kids and I made it today on our spring break, rolled extra thin and they were gone in minutes. I’ll have to make another batch for my husband to try. My daughter helped poke all the holes and my two year old loved them. Thank you so much for sharing!
Anonymous
April 3, 2012 at 3:35 amAmy,
Wondering if it is possible (i.e., easily possible) for you to change the background of your recipe pages? I’m trying to copy and print this recipe so I can make it tomorrow, but can’t get rid of the peach background; and don’t have enough ink to print all that peach.
Just a thought. Don’t know if others have had same question.
Thanks 😉
–CC
Amy Bowman
April 3, 2012 at 4:17 amthere is a green “print friendly” button right above comments. Click that and you will be happy!!
devonspires
April 2, 2012 at 9:22 pmDo you know how long theses stay fresh in an air-tight container? Do you store in the fridge? Have you tried to freeze these? 🙂 thanks!! I can’t wait to try this recipe! 🙂
Amy Bowman
April 3, 2012 at 4:18 amNever frozen or saved these for very long..they get eaten up here at our house!
Anonymous
April 1, 2012 at 1:42 pmI made these yesterday with my 4 year old…..Delicious!! They were so easy to make with ingredients we always have at home. I used whole wheat flour, didn’t need to chill the dough, and poked a small hole in the center of each cracker before baking them. Everyone who tasted them agreed they are better than the boxed kind! This is a great recipe that we will make over and over again! Thanks!!
Anonymous
March 20, 2012 at 4:14 pmI made these last night with a gluten free all purpose flour and they were amazing! Couldn’t tell the difference. So glad I came across this recipe!!!
CeCe
March 19, 2012 at 4:37 amOMG! Thnx for this. Gonna try it. Just recently introduced these to my kids out of desperation one day in store, looking for a snack to keep them quiet. They loved the processed ones, of course, but I felt super guilty. Now I have these to try. How long do they keep? (I’ll use whole wheat flour also).
Anonymous
March 6, 2012 at 5:44 amDelish, the parchment is a must though…greased tin foil equals sticky (yet yummy) mess.
Anonymous
February 20, 2012 at 12:06 pmHave some in the oven now. Can’t wait until they’re done so we can try them. 15 more minutes! 🙂
Tasha
February 17, 2012 at 10:40 pmI made these in my mixer, too, and they turned out just fine. I am a little worried that my kids might think they are too spicey. I also used whole wheat. They really do taste like a puffy Cheez-It!
Anonymous
February 12, 2012 at 1:44 amI just made some with whole wheat and they are yummy!
EdHead
February 7, 2012 at 10:00 pmI wonder if anyone has done this with whole wheat flour?
KitchenQween
January 29, 2012 at 2:04 pmI used my mixer instead of a food processor and I had no trouble with it. I also made these with 6 oz of Swiss cheese and 1 tsp of Smoked Paprika and Garlic seasoning instead of the cheddar and cayenne. They turned out wonderful!
Gabi
January 27, 2012 at 3:19 pmI made these the other day and they were awesome. I poked a hole in the middle of each with a knife and that gives them the cheese it look and it keeps them from poofing.
Anonymous
January 25, 2012 at 5:35 pmIf you don’t have a food processor, you could use a pastry cutter or just two knives and criss cross them to “cut” the butter/cheese into the flour. If you look up how to make a pie crust, I would think the technique would be the same.
Anonymous
January 21, 2012 at 2:23 pmAny ideas for those who don’t have a food processor.
Wendy
January 18, 2012 at 4:49 pmI just made these, using regular flour. They poofed! Very tasty. But I think next time I’ll try harder to find the EXTRA sharp cheddar cheese. All my store had was just sharp. Still yummy though!
Danielle B
January 12, 2012 at 10:37 pmIs this all purpose flour you are using or self rising? Mine did not “poof” as I was hoping they would.
Emily
January 12, 2012 at 6:40 pmI just made these. What a great snack for a snowy winter day!
Cecelia
January 8, 2012 at 7:55 pmAny idea how many Weight Watcher points these would be? They look delish…I know my grandbabes will love them! I will too…thus the reason I need to get an idea of WW points! :-/
Anonymous
January 12, 2012 at 12:31 amI haven’t made yet, so not sure. You just need to calculate the nutritional info for the entire recipe, then divide by the number of servings, then put in your calculator.
Anonymous
January 20, 2012 at 3:42 amIf you calculate the recipe using the WW Recipe Builder…the entire recipe is 48 Points Plus points! Yikes! Depending on how many servings this recipe makes, it could be a “good deal” or not a “good deal” as we like to say. maybe when I get to my goal I’ll work them into maintenance!
Jenn Miles
January 2, 2012 at 4:27 pmOMG! I just made these using gluten free all purpose flour mix and they are amazing! I thought when I couldn’t eat gluten that I would not be able to find any cheese crackers I would love and this recipe is it! Thank you so much for such an easy and yummy recipe!
Cheryl D
November 13, 2012 at 12:39 pmI will be trying these gluten free also. Thanks for your post.
Anonymous
July 28, 2011 at 5:50 pmThis recipe is SO easy and DELISH!!! Glad to have a yummy new snack!
Ruth
June 16, 2011 at 12:01 amBeing in New Zealand, I’ve never heard of Cheese-Its, but this recipe is just like one my mum used to make when I was little and that I rediscovered about a year ago. Mine always end up poofy too (unlike Mum’s) but I know that’s my fault for treating the dough like a pastry and folding it in 3 when rolling it out. Still, they always taste good and I am completely unashamed at keeping on trying to perfect them 🙂
Amanda@ISewDoYou
May 10, 2011 at 3:04 amI’m gonna try these!
Megan@SortaCrunchy
April 26, 2011 at 6:26 pmThese look DELICIOUS. We totally need to make these. YUM.
erin
April 23, 2011 at 11:59 pmThanks so much. I’m glad you liked them. I’ve made them thinner since my first post, but my kids liked them poofy too! 🙂 haha.
Happy Easter. He is risen.
Pat Harris
April 22, 2011 at 9:36 pmCheese-Its are my favorite snack. Can’t wait to try them. Sounds so easy. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Oh and Happy Easter. Blessings, Pat