Homemade Manchego Cheez-Its (Cheese Crackers)

Ingredients 

• 1 cup shredded manchego cheese
  • I used manchego cheese, but honestly, you could substitute this with any hard cheese you would like. Some other variations that might be fun would be cheddar, gouda, basque, swiss, and the list goes on.
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (128g) all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons milk
  • I used oat milk, but you can use any milk here. Honestly, when I don’t have milk on hand, you can substitute with water
• 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl of a stand mixer, add cheese, butter, and salt, and mix on medium high speed for 3 minutes or until the mixture is creamy.
2. Add 1/3 cup of the flour and mix on until incorporated. Add another 1/3 cup and repeat. Mix again with the last 1/3 cup of flour. The dough at this point should be pretty dry, but combined.
3. Add milk and water, and mix on medium high speed for 3 minutes or until the mixture comes together as a smooth dough.
4. Place in refrigerator for 40 minutes.
5. After the dough has been chilled, divide up the dough ball into 4 pieces.
6. Flour a rolling pin, and roll out each piece until very thin, like a sheet of pasta (or less than 1/8 inch thick).
7. If you’re going for the classic Cheez-It shape, using a knife cut the dough into 1 inch by inch squares. Then, using the end of a skewer (or chopstick or basically any slightly blunted pointy thing), press a hole into the center of the square. I also had a bunch of cookie cutters on hand, so I made some stars and hearts too.
8. Place the crackers onto a parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
9. Bake at 375 degrees for 17-20 minutes or until crackers are golden. If you bake them toward the shorter end, they’re softer and flaky. If you bake them toward the longer end, they’re more cracker-like and crunchy. Either way, you’re done!

Homemade Manchego Cheez-Its (Cheese Crackers) are easy to make, but so addicting to eat! They taste even better than store-bough Cheez-Its, especially when they are coming straight out of the oven. The first time I made these, I inhaled a whole cup of them before I got a chance to photograph anything. Try making these next time you want a snack, and they won’t disappoint!