Cheddar Goldfish Crackers

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. white ground pepper (optional)
4 TBSP cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
8 ounces grated cheddar cheese
3-4 TBSP water

Pulse the flour, salt and pepper, then add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add grated cheese a little at a time until the mixture again resembles coarse meal.

Pulse in 3 to 4 tablespoons of water, one tablespoon at a time, and only enough so that the dough forms a ball and rides the blade.

Remove, wrap in plastic, and chill for 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Roll the dough out to 1/8th-inch thickness directly onto a baking sheet.
Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut 1 inch squares, then bake at 350° F for 15-20 minutes or until crackers are golden brown. If the outer edges your pan are done but the crackers in the center still need a few more minutes- remove crackers on the edges and bake the center crackers for a few more minutes.

Remove from oven and recut any squares that may be stuck together. Store in an airtight container for up to one week or freeze.

*****
These taste amazing! I’ve tried a few different cheese cracker recipes over the years and these are the lightest, crispiest, fastest and best tasting! They are quick to make if you cut them into squares and luckily my daughter prefers the squares over the animal shapes! They taste more like a Cheese Nips cracker to me but have the light texture of a Goldfish cracker.

If you do want to make animal shape crackers, then roll dough directly onto a baking sheet, cut out crackers using your smallest cookie cutter (mine are about 1 inch by 1 inch). Using a sharp knife, remove the scraps of dough between the animal shapes by carefully lifting the scraps out (if you don’t remove them, your crackers will stick to the scraps while baking). This step doesn’t take too long but it is much faster than cutting out the crackers on the counter, then transferring them to the baking sheet.

Roll the scraps out onto a second baking sheet and continue to cut out more cracker shapes. Recipe courtesy of Country Living. Enjoy!