Cheese Crackers (goldfish style)

This week has certainly been a test of my culinary skills and today was no exception.  I made a batch of cheese crackers.  A mama on Diaperswappers linked these yummy crackers on a homemade food thread.  The post comes from stef at Cupcake Project.  On that post, you will find that this recipe has traveled around several blogs and might have started at Country Living, but regardless of its beginnings, it has made it way to my kitchen.

I've made cheese crackers from a different recipe a couple times before and they were ok, but I found that if they sat very long, they got greasy really fast and then sort of soggy.  Not a good quality in a Cheese-it type cracker.  These, on the other hand, were flaky and crispy.  This is in spite of me not rolling the first batch thin enough.  They sat on the counter for a couple hours and they were still as good cold as when I took them from the oven.  I'll have to wait and see how overnight goes another time, because the batch was eaten before I could even get any pictures!  I used a 1 1/2" biscuit cutter because I don't have any cutsey little cutters, but I think I might have to invest in a goldfish!

Recipe

• 1 C all-purpose flour
• 4 T cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 8 oz cheddar cheese (You can use whatever you like.  I picked a yellow sharp cheddar)
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t fresh-ground pepper
• A fish cookie cutter (or a biscuit cutter)

1. Pulse the flour, butter, cheese, salt, and pepper together using a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. Pulse in 3 to 4 tablespoons of water, one tablespoon at a time, and only enough so that the dough forms a ball and rides the blade.
3. Remove, wrap in plastic, and chill for 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.
4. Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper and set aside.
5. Roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness. (If you roll it thicker, it will still work, but the crackers won't be quite as crunchy. This dough rolled out so easily; you'll wish that you always worked with cheddar!)
6. Cut out as many crackers as possible.
7. Place them 1 inch apart on the prepared baking pans.
8. Bake at 350 F until golden and crisp - 15 to 20 minutes.