Hi, Everyone! So, the other night my husband and I were sitting on the couch watching a movie, and craving snacks (like we usually do), so he got up to see what goodies we had in the pantry. He came back and said, “We don’t have any man snacks!” which I guess was true since our pantry was still filled with tons of different kinds of chocolate left over from Valentine’s Day. So I thought… what’s his favorite “man snack”? And the answer is Cheez-Its, of course! So I decided to attempt to make a homemade version, and I can’t believe how good they turned out! They literally taste JUST like the store bought kind! And the ultimate stamp of approval? My husband said they were addicting. I think they passed the test!
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HOMEMADE CHEEZ-ITS
(Recipe from BHG)
*Makes about 100 crackers*
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YOU WILL NEED:
8oz shredded cheddar cheese (I used sharp aged white cheddar)
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tbs unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp salt
3 – 4 tbs ice water
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DIRECTIONS
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1. First, mix together the shredded cheese, half of the salt and the softened butter. (I used sharp aged white cheddar cheese, but you can use whatever kind of cheese you like. I shredded my own cheese just because I think it has better flavor and melts better, but you can use pre-shredded too to save some time!) Add in the flour and mix until the dough looks like little fluffy clumps. Then, with the mixer running begin adding the ice water and mix until a soft dough forms. (use as much ice water as you need for a dough to form).
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2. Divide the dough in two, form each into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes. Then, roll the dough out on a floured surface into about an 1/8 inch thickness and using a fluted pastry cutter, cut the dough into about 1 inch squares.
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3. Preheat your oven to 375 deg F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Transfer your little cheez-its onto the parchment paper, make a hole in the center of each with a toothpick, then sprinkle them with the rest of the salt. Bake for about 7 – 10 minutes (baking time will depend on your oven, just watch them carefully so they don’t burn!), or until they have puffed up and the edges begin to brown. Let cool before eating. (They are best eaten right away, but you can store them in an airtight container).
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These homemade Cheez-Its are so quick and easy to make, and if you love the store bought version, these taste almost exactly the same! And from start to finish they only take about an hour to make! But I warn you, even though it may look like you have lots and lots of little Cheez-Its lined up on your baking sheet, they will be gone very quickly! Because they really are addicting!
Happy Baking, Everyone!
I love Cheez-its and homemade ones would be fatal. I would be at them until every single one was gone. Of course I have to make them.
These cheez-its really are good, and it was hard not to eat them all at once! Thanks for stopping by, Cathy! Have a great weekend.
I used half shredded cheese and half goat cheese, delicious
I used half shredded and half goat cheese, delicious
Ill want more, so, can a cheese flavor be used in the dough, along with a natural cheese for texture, but to expand the recipe for say a billion?
These look delicious and easy to make! I’m pinning for future reference 🙂 Thanks for sharing! -Laura @ thriftyhomemaking.com
Thanks, Laura!
Oh, these look delicious! I may try my hand at these sometimes. Thanks for popping in to see me.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia 😉
Thank you so much!
Oh my goodness! I need to make these. I love Cheez-its! Only I don’t love the hydrogenated oils, so making my own would be a fantastic option.
Thanks so much for sharing. I’m pinning this.
I would love if you would link this up at my link party.
http://www.realcoake.blogspot.com/2013/02/real-family-fun-2.html
Take care,
KC
Thank you! And thanks for the invite, I’ll check it out!
Oh my goodness I am obsessed with Cheez-Its and these sound amazing, definitely pinning these! Found your blog through Thursday’s Treasures and I’m a new follower!
Christi
http://the-not-so-perfect-momblog.blogspot.com
Thanks, Christi!
What a great idea! I will have to make some for my brother’s birthday; he looooves Cheez-its, and so do I! 🙂
Thanks, Sue!
oh yum! those look great. I may have to try them….I will no doubt eat them all and NOT share 😉
Thanks, Shannon!
Yum! These look so good! My husband LOVES Cheez-its so I’ll have to give them a try!
Thank you!
These are my favorite hubby’s snack too! It’s a must-try!
Visiting from Pint-sized Treasures
They really are good! Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!
These look so good and so much healthier than store bought. Just pinned!
Thank you!
I love cheez-it’s, these look even better!!! Shared it on google+
Thank you for stopping by and saying hi @ http://www.memoriesbythemile.com/
I have a link party that starts on Tuesday’s, hope you’ll come by!
Wanda Ann @ Memories by the Mile
Thanks, Wanda! I’ll check it out! Have a great weekend!
Yummy! My family would go nuts!
They really are yummy! Thanks for stopping by!
Those look like fluffy little goodness!
That’s a good way to describe them lol! Thanks for stopping by! Have a great rest of the weekend!
Oh! Those look so much better than the real thing! I will have to put this on our list of recipes to try this summer when the kids are home and want to make a snack!
Thanks, Lorie! They make for a great snack!
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Yumm! These look delicious! We love Cheese Its at our house and will definitely be trying these!!
Sorry, my first comment got deleted by my 2 year old! AHG!
http://www.workfromhomewithkids.net
Thanks, Heather!
These look so yummy Maria! Pinned and shared on Facebook! Thanks so much for linking up to Mom On Timeout!
Thank you, Trish!
I have to make these. What an easy recipe. The only problem will be not eating them all. Thanks for sharing on Thursdays Treasures.
Not eating all of these at once really is a problem! 😉 Hope you enjoy them!
Kiddos had the day off from school today and we made these! Fun, easy, and YUMMY! My only “complaint” would be the recipe didn’t make NEARLY enough. I will definitely make these again and again, but I will surely have to double (or triple) the batch. I found this recipe on Pinterest and have re-pinned it. I can’t wait to try again using different cheese combinations. Thanks for a great recipe!
Glad you liked them! They are one of my favorite things to make!! And however big a batch of these cheez-its I make… it’s never big enough!
I have a batch in the fridge, but no parchment paper. What can I use instead?
You can use a silpat instead
Hi maria! 🙂 would you recommend not putting a tsp of salt if the butter is salted? Because thats all i have right now?
Yes, I would just skip the salt in that case. The butter will be salty enough, and the cheese is salty too so that should be enough, I think! Hope they turn out great!
Thanks 🙂
Made these twice already not sure who loved them more me or the kids.. Also made a batch using hot pepper cheese hubby loved them.. Thanks for sharing
Glad you liked them!! And the hot pepper cheese addition sounds REALLY good! I’ll have to try that sometime too! Have a great weekend!
I wonder if it will be the same with whole wheat flour? i’ll have to try this later!
I’ve wondered about whole wheat flour too, let me know if you try it! Have a great weekend!
Super great idea and a fub things to do with the kids on a rainy day.
Thanks! It’s a fun snack to bake on a rainy day!
I am printing this right now. As a certified rep of the “man-snack nation” I can tell you that I sincerely appreciate your valiant effort to make delicious wholesome treats for us guys. I love Cheezits, but I hate knowing they are full of horrible chem-stuff. Thank you!
-Lance Rubin Art
https://www.facebook.com/LanceRubinArt
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you love these!
Thanks so much for the recipe! Can you explain step #2? Form into a disk?
Thanks again!
Forming the dough into a disk simply means forming it into a ball, and then flattening it out, so that it’s easier to roll out later. Hope that helps!
is the cheese melted? and can I just use a pizza cutter to cut them up (I know they won’t look as fancy, but it’s what I have)?
The cheese is shredded, and you can definitely use a pizza cutter, or even a knife!
Where could I find this little fluted tool? Bed Bath and Beyond? It’s Sunday and my semi small town doesn’t have a ton of specialty kitchen shops!
I think I got mine at a specialty kitchen store, but maybe Bed, Bath and Beyond would have it too, I’m not quite sure. Hope you find one somewhere! If not, you can always just use a knife or a pizza cutter, that works too! 🙂
You can find fluted cutters at Walmart too.
I didn’t know that! Thanks for letting me know, Heather!
Really good! I made them with Daiya dairy free cheese, dairy free margarine, and gluten free flour because of allergies and they were great! Very simple!
I’m so glad you liked them and were able to make a dairy free and gluten free version, that’s awesome! Thanks for stopping by to tell me! Have a great day!
These are great for those of us that have an MSG allergy! Most of the soltore bought crackers have it in them! Thank you!
Hope you like them, Amy! I love that I know exactly what I put in them, unlike with the store-bought kind! Thanks for stopping by!
I made them with whole wheat flour. They turned out great!
Glad you liked them, Colette!! I’ve been wanting to try them with whole wheat flour too, I’ll have to do that next time! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I really want to make these! And I have all the ingredients, except the unsalted butter so I guess I’ll just cut out the salt to make it work. I’ve been trying to go healthy and cut out processed foods from our diet. I linked to this recipe on my blog today here: http://realinspired.blogspot.com/2013/04/inspired-fridays_19.html
If that’s ok with you. I can take it down if you like:)
I hope you love the Cheez-Its! 🙂
My 6 year old daughter used to eat Cheez Its every day. I’ve been working hard at getting the chemicals out of our diet these days, so I bought a healthier brand version of them. Needless to say they were gross- and even though I put them in the Cheez Its box, she still wouldn’t eat them! I know if I have her help me make these she will be excited to give them a try. Thank you!
I hope you like this homemade version and that your daughter enjoys the baking (and eating!) of the Cheez-Its! Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!
Oh, I have to try these!
Hope you enjoy them, Sharon!
Hi Maria,
I was just wondering after you make a batch, does it need to be kept refrigerated or can I leave them in the pantry type of thing ?
Once they are baked, keep them in an air tight container in a dry place, so they don’t get soggy. Hope you enjoy them!
Maria,
Did you make this recipe yourself? I first saw your cheese-it’s on Pinterest. I have made your recipe several times. They are so good! I even tried them once with mozzarella cheese and they tasted like cheese sticks! They would’ve tasted great dipped in pizza sauce! 😀
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe,
Rachelle
Hi Rachelle! Making these with mozzarella sounds delicious, I’ll have to try that too! The recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens.
thanks to you and a high school cooking instructor I made these. Cut down on the salt by half but … awesome.
Glad you liked them! Thanks for stopping by!
Could these be made gluten free?
They probably could, I’m not a gluten free expert so I’m not sure. But I’m sure you could make substitutions to make them gluten free. Hope they turn out great!
I wonder if these are good with almond flour or coconut flour?? 🙂
I’ve never tried them with either one of those, but let me know if you do! 🙂
I just made them with almond flour as I am mainly a paleo eater… they are amazing! I also added garlic
My son has been on a Cheez-itz kick lately, pointing them out and asking for them every time we shop. Since I’m trying to cut both processed foods as well as gluten from our diets I’ve had to repeatedly tell him no. I see that someone else has already successfully made these GF, so he will be very excited to hear that he can finally have some. Especially since he also loves helping me in the kitchen!
Hope they turn out great, Danielle!!
Delicious! I just made these! I made them with an italian blend shredded cheese and used whole wheat flour and omitted sprinkling with salt on the top. But they didn’t turn out very crunchy. Any suggestions as to why? But they are still delicious and my 15month old loves them as well!
Glad you liked these, Jessica! Hmm, if they weren’t crunchy enough, maybe bake them an extra couple of minutes to get a little more crunch, that may help!
Alright so I just had round two with them 🙂 I forgot to poke holes in the center which I think was my first mistake and I also had to bake mine a bit longer because my smallest pastry cutter was a bit bigger than the ones you made. Lesson learned. Poke holes and the bigger they are the longer they need to cook. Still loving your recipe! will never buy cheez-its again!!
Hi Jessica! Glad you liked them! The crunchiness/baking time definitely depends on the size of the Cheez-Itz, and on the type of cheese you use (some cheeses have more moisture/fat, and that will affect the baking time and texture of the Cheez-Itz) Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend! 🙂
This might be really random, but I watched this program on the food network maybe? And the “secret ingredient” of cheez-its is paprika!
Hi Diane! I could see how the paprika flavor would work well in these! I’ll have to add a pinch next time I make these, thanks for the tip! 🙂
Yay! I’m an American living in Australia and reaaallly missing Cheez-Its (can’t buy them here), so I’m gonna bust out this recipe tomorrow! Thanks so much! 🙂
Thanks! I hope you love these! 🙂
I just made a batch, and they’re incredible! Will definitely make these again. Thanks! 🙂
Glad you liked them! 🙂
I made these and they are awesome!! Thank you!
Glad you liked them!
I made these and they turned out perfect!! They are super easy! a little time consuming but TOTALLY worth it! my hubby loved them! He said they taste just like real cheez-its and i think they do too! (jut like you claimed):) Thank you soo much for sharing!!! 😀
So glad you liked them!!! I absolutely love making these using different cheeses, and I’m still always shocked at how much they taste like the store-bought Cheez-Itz! Have a great weekend!
I eat 80/20 paleo so I used almond flour instead and added some garlic and these things are amazing! Cheese is my one thing I can’t give up for paleo haha
Glad you liked them, Jessica!!! I always love hearing how readers adapted the recipe to suit their diet/taste! 🙂
I have been doing paleo too and I was doing a good job sticking to it today until I made these. Now I can’t stop eating them. I will have to try it with almond flour this weekend so I can feel less guilty about cheating!
They really are addicting!!! Hope they turn out great with almond flour!
Any recommendations on how to store these? They turned out wonderful right out of oven but the next day while they still tasted good, they lost a lot of their texture.
Hi Jessica! I store them in an air-tight container (although I usually don’t have any left to store lol!), they do sometimes lose a little bit of the texture over time, but storing them in a cool, dry place helps!
I am SO going to make these as I love Cheez-its! One question, for the ice water- do you literally put ice or just really cold water? I only ask because I don’t have an ice maker at home.
Hope you love them! And I usually just use really cold water!
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haha my sister made different starwar shaped ones she got excited and now I am excited….I am gonna try my hand at making them…..I love cheese its lol
Hope you love these! Have fun baking!
These are great. I made them with gluten free flour. Turned out tasty.
Glad you liked them and that they came out well with gluten free flour! I always love to hear how substitutions worked in the recipe! Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!
I am going to try these.. I love those little cheese crackers. Thanks for the recipe!
Hope you love these! 🙂
Love Cheez-Its but I’m betting these are a thousand times yummier!
They are really good! Hope you love them if you make them! 🙂
My hubby is a Cheez-Its fanatic! Thank you so much for this recipe! He will love them as well as my 4 year old who is also addicted to this yummy snack!
Hope you love the Cheez-Its!!!! They are so good! Thanks for stopping by, have a great week! 🙂
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Thanks a lot for the recipe that I have found trough pinterest.
I made them this week-end with ‘comté’ instead of cheddar (french cheese, same sort than cheddar, a bit less salty and more fruity). Turned out tasty and everything disappeared very fast !
I post the recipe on my blog with a link to yours; cf http://mapetiteboheme.canalblog.com/archives/2013/06/30/27540711.html
For info and if your French spoken readers are interested in I make the translation into french but above all I converted the ‘measures’ : I mean from cup/spoon /oz to grams 😉
Pour les personnes parlant français et qui seraient intéressées, j’ai traduit la recette et surtout fait la conversion des quantités en grammes !
Do you have to use unsalted butter or can you use regular butter?
We love Cheeze-its! Can’t wait to try these!
Yummy!! Must try these. My kids will love them, including my husband.
I am going to try making these vegan! I’ll let you know how they turn out. We are always looking for a good cracker recipe, thank you for sharing!
Made these last night with sharp cheddar and they came out wonderfully! Thank you for the recipe!
So glad you liked the Cheez-Its! 🙂
I made them at home and they came out to be delicious!! Thanks for sharing the recipe Maria.
I’m so glad you liked them! Thanks for stopping by to tell me 🙂 Have a great week!
Yum! Can’t wait to try!
Thanks so much these were so yummy my 2 year old loved them. They are way better than cheez its .I will definitely be making these quite often although mine don’t look as pretty as yours 🙂
I made mine with medium chedder btw
I’m glad you liked these! And it doesn’t matter whether they are pretty or not… as long as they taste good, that’s all that matters! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by to tell me! Have a wonderful rest of your week!
I had pinned this recipe a while ago but I tried them today.I almost always screw up baking but was pleasantly surprised how easy these were to make ad how much they tasted like the actual Cheez its.I just used a pizza cutter to cut them and added some paprika to the dough.Also skipped the extra salt.It is such a good thing to get some cheese into my daughter’s diet who isn’t a huge fan of it otherwise but loves crackers…!
Thanks…:)
I would like to make these for my husband…however I don’t have a mixer..just a hand mixer (with a dough attachment) and a Vitamix, and of course wooden spoons! What would be the best method for mixing for this recipe?
These look SOO GOOD! I’m so going to try them out! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
The recipe says “They are best eaten right away”. I don’t think that will be a problem!! 😉
Thanks for the recipe!
Do you know of a flour alternative for us gluten intolerant people?! I MISS cheese its so much! and would love to know if rice or potato (or any other flour) would taste as good
I made some and my husband tried them. He said they taste too much like baked flour and that I should try potato flour instead. I have not done this yet but he is a chef that has cooked with potato flour so he very well may be right. I will try and make them this week and get back to you.
Okay I tried this recipe with all purpose flour, quinoa flour, almond flour and potato flour. All worked just fine but I prefer the almond flour. Though I ended up using the entire bag of almond flour ($10 a bag OUCH!) because it was the wettest dough and I felt like I had to add more. For the future, I am going to use almond flour but I am going to buy some bulk almonds and make meal myself. Also the crackers made with the almond flour were more filling so I ate less. And out of all of the flours, almond has so many other healthy side effects (good for headaches etc.) so unless you are allergic to nuts, I think almond is the way to go. Nuts and cheese are great together, it just makes sense.
Delicious! I added a little bit of Parmesan cheese to mine. YUMMY!
Glad you liked them!
These were delicious! Can I use your recipe for a blog post?
Hi Rachael! Glad you liked them! Sure, you can use it.
I found that mine tasted a lot like flour. I am going to try potato flour as a substitute.
That’s strange, I’ve never found that. Hope the potato flour works better for you then.
when you use your mixer did you use the regular beaters or the bread dough ones?
I just use the regular beater, not the dough hook. Hope you enjoy these!
Wow! Looks Amazing and ez! I will be trying these soon 🙂 I will pin and share so I can’t lose this recipe! Thanks for sharing!
a cheez-it fan
Just made these. They were so simple and amazing! I used a bit of garlic and garlic salt and got a delicious garlic cheeze-it. Thanks for this recipe!
Glad you liked these! The addition of the garlic sounds great!
I have a question. …is it possible to use a cookie press instead of rolling them out?
Hi April! Hmm… I am not sure that these would work with a cookie press, I just got one a couple of months ago but haven’t used it yet, so I am not quite sure. But let me know if you try it! It may just be a great idea! 🙂
Add a little red pepper flakes for spice! My mom used to make these and did that. Very good!
Found this on Pinterest. Followed the directions to the letter and I have to agree with a previous commenter: they just taste like baked dough. Someone else mentioned using regular beaters, I used my dough hook; can’t really see that making a difference in the taste. Maybe this recipe just wasn’t to my taste; I’ll have to tweak it and try again.
Okay I tried this recipe with all purpose flour, quinoa flour, almond flour and potato flour. All worked just fine but I prefer the almond flour. Though I ended up using the entire bag of almond flour ($10 a bag OUCH!) because it was the wettest dough and I felt like I had to add more. For the future, I am going to use almond flour but I am going to buy some bulk almonds and make meal myself. Also the crackers made with the almond flour were more filling so I ate less. And out of all of the flours, almond has so many other healthy side effects (good for headaches etc.) so unless you are allergic to nuts, I think almond is the way to go. Nuts and cheese are great together, it just makes sense.
wow i wont to try them now
My husband loves Cheez-its, I have to make these! I have a tiny heart shaped cookie cutter that can finally get some mileage!
I made these tonight and had to guard them in the kitchen because my little siblings kept stealing them from the pan! Im from canada so these are HARD to find, this made finals week soo worth it! thank you again for the little bites of happiness
Do you think these would work if I used a small cookie cutter instead of a pastry cutter? I think my 2 year old would love these!
That should work fine! Hope you love these! 🙂
I just made these. They’re really good but not ad crunchy as I would like. They’re kind of soft. What did I do wrong?
These look good & we are going to give them a try…a few thoughts though. It would have been helpful to know at the start of step 1 we were suppose to be mixing these in a mixer. Already started in a big bowl so wasn’t making more dishes and the food processor was already in the sink after shredding the cheese, 2. Since you shredded your own (as we did) did you weigh it, eyeball it, try to make it equal parts cheese & flour to figure out what 8 oz was?
Having all the information is helpful. Particularly when your attempting to make things with toddlers helping.
Hope you enjoyed them.
Just started the Feingold Diet & with this recipe, my kids have a great snack that tastes like normal food to them. Thank you!
Glad you liked these! They are a great homemade version of the store snack!!!!
are they supposed to turn out crispy like cheez its? mine were more chewy than crispy. did i do something wrong?
Hi Christine, yes, they should be more crispy than chewy, just like the store-bought kind. They are definitely best eaten as soon as possible, they do soften the longer they sit.
I love this recipe! I have used Colby jack cheese(because we always have a good supply in the fridge or freezer), and also have added taco seasoning to mine!! Makes a nice treat!