Make your own cheese nibs

New: Recipe - Make your own cheese nibs
What's up: Halloween cupcakes and a great new cupcake recipe 

I love cheese crackers! Cheese nibs. Ritz Bits Cheese bits, Cheese-Its, you name it, I love it. What I don’t love so much however, is the sodium and all the preservatives. If you've got a bit of time and want some incredible, flavourful cheese crackers, give this recipe a try. You’ll feel better (not great because they’re still relatively high in fat) eating them and serving them to your kids.

I got this recipe from Full Fork Ahead although I've seen it on a few other websites so not sure where the original source is. She uses a fluted pastry cutter to cut out her squares. If you've got one, by all means use it, I did not, so they don’t look quite as fancy, but the taste is all the same.

Cheese Crackers

Makes: 100

Oven: 375

Rating: 4/5

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup of butter
• 8 ounces aged cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese (something strong for a little extra kick)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tablespoons ice water (I used about 2.5)

Directions

1. Combine shredded cheeses, butter, and salt until combined well. Mix in flour until a crumbly dough forms. Add ice water carefully until dough forms.
2. Flatten dough into disc, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
3. Once dough is chilled, unwrap and roll out into a thin sheet (about 1/8^th of an inch) on a floured surface. Cut dough into desired shape, I cut them into little squares to mimic Cheese Nibs.
4. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes at 375 degrees until the crackers are puffed up and golden brown. Cool before eating so the crackers get a chance to crisp up.

Tips

• Coarsely grate the cheese otherwise it’ll just melt into the dough
• Use a straight edge to help you get straight lines when cutting out your squares
• If you like your crackers a bit saltier, feel free to sprinkle some salt on top once you’re done cutting out the squares
• The crackers will look puffy in the oven but they flatten out and are crunchy once you take it out