Homemade Cheddar Cheese Crackers (Cheez-Its)

MY NEW FAVORITE SNACK.

Imagine buttery, cheesy, crisp, yet flaky, little bites of heaven.

Imagine cheez-its but...like...a million times tastier.

Imagine Kayle eating 80 crackers over the coarse of like..2 days.

I'm sorry about that last one. You guys didn't need that mental picture. 

The point is: these crackers are the shiz-nit. 

Oddly enough, cheese was never a big part of my diet until the last few years (I know, shocking). And cheese crackers were no exception: I thought they were OK, but they were never my go to.

Fast forward to the last time my mom visited. She brought um...about 10 different kinds of snacks with her (a few varieties of potato chips, pretzels, chex mix, and-Cheez-Its). You see, my mom is a salty snack kind of gal. She rarely finds herself wanting a sweet (and when she does she's satisfied with a few ropes of red licorice). Obviously we are very different people. Anyway, from her snack peer pressure I had some of the stuff she brought. And then I was like "Um...Cheez-Its are like yummier than I remember." But I still wasn't going to buy them for myself because, um, super bad for you and stuff. (In spite of their ever so reassuring "made with real cheese" promise *eye roll*).

Then I got into making homemade crackers. And saw a few copy cat recipes on the interwebs. In the end, this recipe won out because it was the simplest. Just pure, cheddar cracker goodness. And it delivered. These are like...pretty easy to make, and just taste incredible. So flavorful. So wonderfully cheesy. They're definitely best, texture-wise, the day they're made, but don't let that deter you from leftovers. They still hold up. They're pretty much the only non-sweet snack that I think I need in this life. Perhaps you'll agree?

*Note: Don't be alarmed that in the pictures my dough is pretty much white--I used white cheddar. They still turned out a gorgeous, almost orange color after baking. You can totally use orange cheddar if that's what you have. Don't fret about it.

Homemade Wheat Thin Crackers

Look how fancy I am with my dim lighting and green base and brie spread on homemade crackers.

I can now imagine I'm the type of person who always looks impeccable, not a stain in sight, no cookie dough in my hair, nothing out of place. My kitchen is probably immaculate (and not with tons of crumbs on the floor and dried dough of various sorts hiding in various different places). I probably always say the right thing, speak at the correct volume, and know when to be silent. My manners are undoubtedly above reproach and I never use my hands when I eat. I probably speak another language fluently, probably french. I've probably also been to Europe, and I have a super classy and important job.

Ok soooo...none of that stuff is true.

Except for the part about eating brie* on homemade wheat thins. I did that.

And I'm cool with it, all loud, messy, annoying, crazy, improper parts of me.

*(but usually I ate them with peanut butter)

I'm sort of obsessed with homemade crackers these days. I just think things from scratch taste better. Forreals. And these do. AND they're like healthy and actually healthy, not like when you buy a box of something supposedly healthy at the store then look at the ingredients and go "WHAT IS IN THESE??!"

You totally aren't gonna be afraid of anything in these. A perfect snack (or breakfast, if you're me)!

*Fanciness not required

Homemade Whole Wheat Ritz Crackers

Me and Ritz crackers go way back.

When I was a kid (like...2nd-4th grades I believe) I used to have to go to the speech trailer at my school (which was a Catholic school, and I had to walk through the cemetery to get to the speech trailer)-I had difficulty pronouncing my "r's" correctly (they came out like "w's"..."wabbit"...etc.). Anyway, I had a great speech therapist and it was always fun and the problem was resolved, I can now say...well...resolved (not wesolved). One of my most vivid memories of going there was that I would always immediately attack a sleeve of Ritz crackers with glee. I don't know why. But they were there and I always ate them. And I loved it.

Now-a-days I use Ritz crackers in my cooking, as well as to occasionally spread some peanut butter on as a snack. But...you guys know me and processed stuff...it just...makes me feel ugh. Have you read the ingredients on Ritz crackers? Ugh!  Anywhozzle, one day I had a bunch of super salty homemade peanut butter at my disposal (accidentally used dry roasted peanuts) and I like really wanted to use it on Ritz crackers. But I didn't want to buy them. So I figured....how hard could they be to make? I did a little google-ing, found a recipe, and turns out-not very hard at all! These crackers definitely don't taste exactly like Ritz (although perhaps the fact that I healthified these by subbing in half whole wheat contributed) but they are still super good. Definitely best on the day they're made, but I always manage to eat them leftover too. And the best part is-I don't feel bad at all about eating them. Nothing but pure contentment here.

(That's pure contentment here...not puwe contentment hewe :P)