Cheddar Crackers

These are really good and easy-to-make crackers.

Based on a Food & Wine recipe, you can use 12 oz of cheddar cheese instead of the gruyere, and for a little bit of extra heat, you could also mince part of a jalapeño pepper and throw that into the dough when you’re mixing it.

That’s really it. There’s no big secret to these, except that they’re delicious.

What you’ll need:

• 6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 6 oz. gruyere cheese, shredded
• 180 grams (1.5 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1T cornstarch
• 1.5t ground mustard powder
• 1t kosher salt
• 0.5t cayenne pepper
• 1 stick (4 ounces) butter, chilled and cut into 0.5-inch pieces
• 3T water

What to do:

Process the cheese, flour, cornstarch, mustard, salt, and cayenne in a food processor until the mixture is well combined and forms small beads—about 30 seconds. Add the butter in 3 portions, pulsing the food processor a few times after each addition, until the mixture is the texture of wet sand. Scrape the sides of the processor down, if needed.

Now, with the processor running, pour 3T water, 1T at a time, through the food chute, processing just until the dough just comes together in a mass. After the dough comes together, stop the processor. Knead the dough for a bit on a clean counter to form it into a ball.

Divide the dough in half, then roll each half into a 9-inch log on a clean work surface—no need to flour it. Wrap each log tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate between 1 hour and 3 days. I froze one log for a couple of weeks, and it cooked up perfectly after thawing, slicing and baking.

Before you’re ready to bake, heat your oven to 375°F with racks in middle and lower third positions. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

For each dough log (one at a time): Unwrap the log (thawed, if it was frozen) and slice crosswise into 0.25-inch-thick crackers into about 30 slices. Arrange the slices about 1.5 inches apart on the baking sheets.

Bake until the centers of cheese crackers are set but not crisp and the edges and bottoms of the coins are golden brown and crisp—about 15 minutes, rotating baking sheets between middle and bottom racks halfway through baking time.

When cooked, remove the cheese crackers from the oven, and transfer them to a wire rack. Let them cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. The crackers will continue to crisp as they cool.