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Easy, cheesy, and wholesome, these Homemade Cheese Crackers are just as delicious as the store-bought version—but they’re a lot better for you! You’ll love the mouthwatering combination of cheese and herbs in these crispy crackers.
Easy Copycat Cheese Crackers
So I have a good friend who loves eating healthy, but has had a serious Cheez-It addiction since she was a teenager! Well, this recipe is for her, and everyone out there who just loves those tiny, cheesy crackers, including me!
These wholesome crackers have all the scrumptiousness of store-bought cheese crackers, but they use only a handful of real, whole ingredients! If you’re looking for an easy homemade snack recipe that even picky eaters will love, this is definitely a good one! It comes together easily and bakes up in no time.
Plus, this crackers recipe makes a great base for getting creative. You can turn the basic recipe into just about any type of cracker. If you need inspiration, I’ve collected a few variation ideas below to get you started.
Recipe Ingredients
You can expect a perfectly crispy texture and fabulous flavor from these easy homemade crackers, all thanks to the simple combo of cheese, butter, ice water, and all-purpose flour.
- All-Purpose Flour: Needed for the base of the dough.
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese: Adds rich, cheesy flavor but you can substitute it with white cheddar or shredded gouda.
- Salt: You could use sea salt or kosher salt.
- Seasoning Mix: Dried basil, dried oregano, dried thyme, and garlic powder.
- Unsalted Butter: Helps to bind the dough but also adds richness and helps achieve a tender, flaky texture.
- Ice Water: The cold water brings the dough together without making it too sticky.
- Everything Bagel Seasoning (Optional): Adds a flavorful topping with a mix of sesame seeds, salt, garlic, and onion. Substitute with Sea salt, ranch seasoning mix, taco seasoning, or toasted sesame seeds.
How To Make Homemade Cheese Crackers
You might think that rolling and moving thin cracker dough sounds tricky, but it’s really not! Keep reading to see just how easy making these yummy crackers can be.
- Blend the ingredients. Combine the cheese, flour, and salt in a food processor. Blend for about 30 seconds. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water and pulse until the dough comes together in clumps.
- Prepare the dough. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Cut it in half and shape each portion into a square using your hands. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 45 minutes to one hour.
- Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll and cut the dough. Unwrap the dough and place them on a lightly floured work surface. Roll them out and using a pizza cutter, cut the square into 6 to 8 strips, each about 1 to 1.5 inches wide. Then make 6 to 8 perpendicular cuts to create crackers.
- Bake the crackers. Place the crackers on the prepared baking sheets and lightly sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning or your chosen topping. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool and store. Remove from the oven and let the crackers cool completely on the baking sheet before serving. Store the crackers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
Recipe Tips And Variations
- Crunchy or soft. You can play with the texture of the crackers by adjusting the baking time. A longer bake (up to 20 minutes) makes a crunchier cracker, while a shorter bake will result in a softer, but crumbly texture.
- Scoring made easy. A pastry cutter or pizza cutter makes scoring the crackers fast and easy!
- DIY cheez-It. Leave out the dried herbs and seasonings, take a toothpick, and poke a hole in the center of each square before baking to make them look like Cheez-Its!
- Cheese options. Use shredded Cheddar, Gouda, Colby-Jack, Brick, or Tillamook Cheese.
- Seasoning. I add a bunch of dried herbs to the dough, but feel free to leave them out. You can play with the herbs or leave them out, add cayenne for heat, as well as substitute the bagel seasoning with ranch seasoning or taco seasoning.
How To Store Homemade Crackers
To store crackers, you can put them in zip-top bags or airtight containers and they will keep fresh at room temperature for a week.
To freeze, wrap the ball of dough in plastic food wrap and store it in the freezer for up to three months. Alternatively, you can store the baked crackers in an airtight tin and freeze them for 3 months.
ENJOY!
Other Easy Snack Ideas
Love snacking, but looking for healthier homemade options? You have to try these easy recipes!
- Pretzel Bites
- Garlic Parmesan Blue Cheese Crackers
- Crispy Air Fryer Onion Rings
- Honey Roasted Almonds
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Homemade Cheese Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese , white cheddar, Colby, or gouda are great alternatives
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, chopped up into pieces
- 2 tablespoons ice water
- cooking spray
- 1 tablespoon Everything Bagel Seasoning, for topping, optional (you can also use sea salt, ranch seasoning mix, taco seasoning, toasted sesame seeds, etc…)
Instructions
- Blend the cheddar cheese, flour, salt, dried basil, oregano, thyme, and garlic powder in a food processor for about 30 seconds or until well combined. Add the butter and continue processing until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, which should take about 20 seconds. Add the water and pulse around 10 to 12 times until the dough comes together in large clumps.
- Move the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Cut it in half and shape each portion into a square using your hands. Wrap each square of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 45 minutes to one hour or up to 2 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Unwrap the dough and place them on a lightly floured work surface. Roll each one out into about a 9-inch square. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut the square into 6 to 8 strips, each about 1 to 1.5 inches wide. Then, make 6 to 8 perpendicular cuts to create crackers from each square of dough.
- Place the squared crackers on the baking sheet, lightly spray them with cooking spray, and then lightly sprinkle them with the bagel seasoning or your choice of topping.
- Bake for 17 to 18 minutes or until the edges are golden brown, and rotate the baking sheets halfway through baking. For crunchier crackers, bake them for up to 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the crackers cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Store the crackers in an airtight container at room temperature for 7 days.
Notes
- Use any semi-hard cheese like gouda, white cheddar, gruyere, etc.
- This recipe makes about 36 crackers, but you can cut them up even smaller to double that.
- If you’d like to use fresh herbs, you’ll need about one tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs altogether.
- Store the crackers in an airtight container and keep them at room temperature for up to a week.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
what other cheeses can I use ? Does it have to be grate able or can I pulse cheddar ?
You can use semi-hard shredded cheeses.
My freezer isn’t large enough to put a cookie sheet onto. Can I skip this step?
Way too much going on with all the different seasonings, it hides that savory cheese taste. Adding Egg is totally unnecessary and adds calories and a potential for spoiling should you want to store some. The cheese and ice water is all you need to bind.