Make homemade cheese crackers with only 6 ingredients. These crisp crackers are a simple take-anywhere snack and have the most unbelievable salty, cheesy flavor. You’ll appreciate the straightforward instructions and quick baking time!
What’s on the menu today? CHEESE.
Store-bought crackers are obviously delicious—there’s no denying the lure of Cheese-Itz!
But did you know that you only need 6 ingredients to make cheese crackers at home? Using real cheese and zero added preservatives, you can make homemade cheese crackers with cheese, flour, cornstarch, salt, butter, and water. The dough comes together in a few minutes, then after about 45 minutes of chilling, roll it out, cut into squares, and bake for 16-20ish minutes. Yes, it’s that easy.
(My daughter makes her debut in my food photography!) 🙂
ATK’s Baby & Toddler Cookbook
This recipe comes straight from a new cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen called The Complete Baby and Toddler Cookbook. This book is packed with baby food recipes, toddler-friendly recipes, and family-loved EASY meals that have all been developed by test cooks with the guidance from a pediatric dietician and a pediatrician. The book starts with baby’s first single food purees, moving along to multiple food puree recipes, then 9+ month finger foods and recipes. There’s also 18+ month smoothies, dinner recipes that baby and toddler can enjoy, preschool lunches, and a chapter dedicated to cooking with kids. Here a list of what else I love and if you’re a parent or caregiver, I know you’ll appreciate these too:
- Highlights allergens at the beginning of each recipe
- Recipes organized by age
- Colorful photos of each recipe
- “Why this recipe works” snapshot for each
- Simple ingredient lists
- Tips for babies, tips for toddlers, and tips for “how your child can help”
If you’re a parent or caregiver, you have a lot on your mind—and I appreciate that this book offers dozens of homemade ideas, while encouraging the family to get in the kitchen. We’ve already tried the parmesan chicken cutlets, turkey veggie burgers, zucchini carrot fritters, peach spinach smoothie, and homemade cheese crackers. And I’ve already bought copies for 3 of my friends who are first time moms! This book gets my full support, especially for busy first-time parents. (While I was sent this cookbook, I’m not being paid to write this post—I genuinely LOVE the book.)
How to Make Homemade Cheese Crackers
Turns out that homemade cheese crackers are surprisingly simple! My #1 tip is to use a block of real cheddar cheese that you freshly grate at home since it has more flavor than pre-shredded cheeses. I recommend a sharp yellow cheddar, but you can use mild or even white cheddar cheese. I doubled the recipe in the cookbook and the recipe below reflects that. It’s a very easy recipe to double or halve, depending how many mouths are hungry!
- Pulse ingredients together in food processor. Pulse the dry ingredients together, then pulse in the butter until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add cold water and pulse until the dough forms large clumps, pictured below.
- Pat into a square. Pat the dough into a rough 6-inch square so that you can wrap it up and chill it. Since I doubled this recipe, I divided the dough in 2 and patted each into separate squares. Wrap each in plastic wrap.
- Chill for 45 minutes. Chill the wrapped doughs. Without chilling, the crackers lose their shape in the oven. You can chill the dough for up to 2 days.
- Roll out to 1/8 inch thick. Roll the chilled squares into thinner squares. They’re really easy to roll out since they chilled in a square shape.
- Slice into 1 inch crackers. Using a pizza cutter, small sharp knife, or fluted pastry wheel, cut each square into 64 1-inch squares. I used a fluted pastry wheel to mimic the fluted edge of the store-bought version.
- Bake. Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 16-20 minutes.
A food processor is key to this recipe. I recommend this one or this one. Different price points, but both are great products and suitable for this recipe.
As I patted it into squares, I noticed the dough felt a little dry. Have a little extra cold water nearby to moisten your fingers if needed. After you pat the dough into 6-inch squares, wrap it up and refrigerate it for 45 minutes.
After refrigerating, roll each square out until it’s about 1/8 inch thick. Trim the sides so they’re straight, then cut into squares. I use a fluted pastry wheel.
If desired, poke a hole in the center of each square. Use a skewer or large toothpick.
Before baking, I topped the crackers with a little sea salt! These crackers are obviously not the healthiest snack, but I feel better serving them compared to the store-bought versions. I know exactly what’s in them and they certainly make a fun homemade treat.
Are They Crunchy?
So, are these homemade cheese crackers crunchy? They can be, yes! I found that if I slightly extended the bake time to about 19-20 minutes, the crackers had a crunch comparable to the store-bought version. If you prefer a slightly softer cracker, stick with about 16 minutes. I personally loved the softer texture!
Keep in mind that since there’s no added preservatives, the crackers will soften up after a couple days. Store them in a loosely covered container to maintain some crunchiness. However, I’m not sure how much “storing” instructions you’ll need—I’m certain 1 batch won’t last more than an hour. These homemade crackers are truly addicting. I love this recipe for homemade artisan crackers, too!
More Homemade Snacks
- Homemade Soft Pretzels
- Soft Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Granola Bars
- Baked Sweet Potato Fries
- Honey Mustard Pretzel Pieces
- Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Almonds
- Homemade Caramel Corn
And for even more family friendly recipe ideas, be sure to check out this list of 30+ back to school recipes.
Homemade Cheese Crackers
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 16 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Yield: 128 small crackers
- Category: Snack
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Make homemade cheese crackers with only 6 ingredients! Chilling the dough for 45 minutes is important– the crackers won’t hold their shape otherwise. You’ll appreciate the straightforward instructions and quick baking time!
Ingredients
- 6 ounces sharp yellow cheddar cheese, shredded (1 and 1/2 cups shredded)*
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch*
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 6 pieces
- 2 Tablespoons cold water
- optional: sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Process cheddar cheese, flour, cornstarch, and salt together in a food processor until combined, about 30 seconds. Add butter and process until mixture resembles wet sand, about 20 seconds. Add water and pulse until dough forms large clumps, about 10 pulses.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide in half and pat each into a 6-inch square. (No need to use a rolling pin, just pat with hands.) If the dough feels dry, moisten your fingers with cold water. Carefully wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes and up to 2 days.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Unwrap each dough square. Place each on a lightly floured work surface and roll out into a 9-inch square. Doesn’t need to be perfect! Using a fluted pastry wheel, pizza cutter, or small sharp knife, trim dough into a neat 8 inch square. Slice square into 8 strips, each 1 inch wide, then make 8 perpendicular slices, each 1 inch wide. Each 8-inch square will have 64 squares (crackers).
- Place squares on prepared baking sheet. Use a skewer or large toothpick to poke a hole through the center of each. Lightly sprinkle with sea salt, if desired. Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 16-18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking. For crunchier crackers, bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely on the baking sheet before serving.
- Store leftover crackers at room temperature for up to 1 week. If tightly sealed, they’ll lose their crunch. Feel free to keep the lid slightly ajar to maintain some crunchiness.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: You can freeze the wrapped dough instead of refrigerating it in step 2. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature for 10 minutes before continuing with the recipe.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Food Processor (I also own and love this one) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Rolling Pin | Fluted Pastry Wheel or Pizza Cutter
- Instead of classic yellow cheddar, white cheddar is a wonderful substitute. In fact, any medium-hard cheese is great. Avoid soft cheeses.
- I doubled the recipe found in the cookbook. Feel free to halve this recipe to yield less crackers or double the recipe for more. The original recipe (which is half of this one) calls for 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, but I found 2 teaspoons made the crackers too soft. I reduced the double recipe to 1 and 1/2 teaspoons.
Recipe reprinted in partnership with America’s Test Kitchen from The Complete Baby and Toddler Cookbook
Reader Comments and Reviews
Is the dough firm enough (after chilling) to use cookie cutters instead of the fluted pastry wheel? I’m looking for a cheese cracker recipe that I can cut into different shapes with cookie cutters.
Hi Jessica, Small shapes would be fun! Make sure the shaped dough is sufficiently chilled before baking to ensure the crackers hold the shape. You can re-roll the scraps if needed.
Hi there! This recipe looks great and super straightforward, but I do have a question. Obviously grating your cheese fresh is ideal, but since this recipe also calls for cornstarch, could pre-shredded cheese be used while omitting cornstarch? And, if so, how much cheese should be used? I saw a comment say that their 6 oz of cheese turned into more than two cups, so I’m thinking that much at minimum.
Thank you for the recipe and a bit of food for thought for me to snack on today.
Hi Vic, I’m not sure as I haven’t tested it without the cornstarch. (I’ve used flour in its place and that works.) I really don’t recommend pre-shredded. It’s obviously Ok to use, but you’ll get better flavor and texture from the fresh stuff.
Hi Sally … lovely recipe… so if you do not have a Food Processor.. you can’t make these delicious biscuits
Hi Belmera, A blender should work or you can use a pastry cutter and make the dough by hand.
I am never buying cheese it’s again!! I left them in longer because I love crunchy! I used a combination of Swiss and Colby jack. Amazing. Just go ahead and double that recipe!
Have you tried making these gluten free?
Hi Barbara! We haven’t tested these crackers with gluten free flour but let us know if you try!
Amazing recipe, super fast and simple to whip up in the food processor!
love these! I made them with white cheddar and gruyere. they turned out great!
Hello
Can I use any other cheese for this recipe like mozzarella cheese or chilli cheese .
Or can I use cheddar cheese slices ?
Hi Shivani, any medium-hard cheese is great. Avoid soft cheeses. We do not recommend cheese slices. You’ll want to freshly grate your cheese from a block of cheese.
I found this recipe for my wife and she nailed it with no changes! They are great. When I make them I will add toasted seasame seeds and turn it into 6*.
These are delicious and so easy. I’ve been trying to make more homemade snacks for my kids other from granola bars and sweet stuff. They loved them, it’s going to be so hard not to eat them all right away!
Question. Do you think after a few days if you throw them back in the oven for just a few minutes they’d return to some of their former crispy glory? Kind of similar to how heating up a buttermilk biscuit for a bit brings it back to life?
Hi Michelle, so glad you love these homemade cheese crackers! We haven’t tested heating them up in the oven again so can’t say for sure, but would love to hear how it goes if you give it a try.
Why is baking so hard for me! 🙁 I just pulled my dough out of the fridge and it crumbles like frozen cheddar after it thaws. There’s no way this is gonna hold together.
Hi Sam! Did the dough seem dry? Did it look like the step-by-step photos above? Make sure to spoon and level your flour when measuring to avoid adding too much flour to the dough.
Can you use cookie cutters on the dough or does it spread too much? I have some mini cutters and was thinking about cutting the dough into stars and hearts for my daughter
Hi Laura, Small shapes would be fun! Make sure the shaped dough is sufficiently chilled before baking to ensure the crackers hold the shape. You can re-roll the scraps if needed.
These are amazing and I love that it comes together in a food processor! I would add a little more salt next time and they could alwayssss use a little more butter but they’re a great snack for the kiddos.
Been looking for this recipe for awhile
Can this recipe be made without cheese? Has anyone made this as just a classic cracker?
Hi Ashley, making a plain cracker would definitely require some testing. We recommend searching for a plain cracker recipe with good reviews – let us know if you find one you love!
Hi can you freeze the dough or must you bake the crackers first if you want to freeze it?
Hi Jeff, yes you can freeze the dough. You can freeze the wrapped dough instead of refrigerating it in step 2. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature for 10 minutes before continuing with the recipe.
Can I make this with salted butter and omit the 1/4 tsp salt?
Hi Nancy! That should work just fine.
I LOVE this recipe and so do family and friends. BUT can someone please tell me how to “lightly sprinkle” sea salt? I’ve tried grinding it over a paper towel or saucer with an electric grinder & sprinkling pinches, holding the grinder above the tray of crackers and grinding while passing it quickly over the whole tray, but no matter what I do I get waaay more salt on each cracker, so that if I’m going to serve them, I have to wipe excess off each individual cracker. Couldn’t find anything helpful anywhere. Or am I not supposed to grind it, would make it easier to control? Any help would be so appreciated as I even make them FODMAP friendly and gluten free for a friend with IBS but this salt is too much. Thank you
Hi Carla, you can use less salt, or leave it out completely, if desired. You don’t need to grind the salt if you’re using it. We’re so glad you love the recipe!
Thanks, Michelle, I had to get going on another batch and just made one pass over each row with my grinder. Then I was getting so tired after a out five hours of experimenting with lactose-free cheese and gluten-free flour, that I forgot to put salt on two trays, so you’re exactly right: salt or no salt, either way is still delish. Can’t wait ’til my friend tries them next Sunday. I also couldn’t get square ones to come out this time, so I used an empty diabetes test strip canister to stamp out round ones a little larger than a nickel but smaller than a quarter. A lot easier than squares, with the very soft dough these “-free” ingredients made. Thanks again for your quick reply, and thanks for the sensible advice!
Hi Carla. May I suggest Diamond Crystal Kosher salt? The hollow salt crystals make it easy to crush them between your fingers and avoid over salting. Elevate your hand while doing so, above the tray of dough. Most chefs use it. 🙂
Hi Carla, go buy Morton fine sea salt.
Or another brand. It comes in a shaker so you control how much. It is alittle saltier than table salt so go slow.
I’m wondering if almond flour can be used? Trying to keep it low carb. Any suggestions?
Hi Caroline, we don’t recommend it — almond flour has very different baking properties than all-purpose flour and would require changes to other parts of the recipe. If you do decide to do any experimenting, let us know what you try!
I just made these and they are good. I made a few mistakes along the way, but that is par the course for me when making something new. The crackers are crispy, but after carefully measuring the cheese, both my husband and I desire more cheese. So when I make them again, I will measure by weight and not by the cup. I believe I am also going to cut them into long sticks .
All in all a great recipe Sally. I’m so happy I found your site just two months ago.
Writing this review right after eating the entire batch with my husband. We don’t have any kiddos either! So good and so easy! We used pre-shredded Monterey Jack cheese, excited to try other flavors next.
I used almond flour and 3 Tbl butter instead of 6 to reduce carbs and fat. Delicious! I’ve been searching for a keto friendly salty snack recipe. So good!
Hi sally,
I really want to try this recipe but I don’t have a food processor, what can I use instead? A blender?
A blender should work or you can use a pastry cutter and make the dough by hand.
Pastry cutter method worked great! Thanks!
Can I use whole wheat flour instead?
Hi Yvonne, I don’t recommend ALL whole wheat flour, but you could definitely replace some of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat.
Worked perfectly and they taste delicious! I can’t wait to start experimenting with other cheeses. Thinking like a jalapeno cheese could be fun.
These are so good! I used white cheddar in a block and light whole wheat flour. I found that 10 minutes baking was enough for crisp crackers and the half block that I refrigerated 24 hours rolled out thinner and were perfect after puffing in the oven.
Thank you so much for this recipe, I have been having great fun experimenting!!
Not with just the cheese used but also the form of the cracker. Because of the way it puffs up a bit, and I don’t really have a good hole poker, I thought I’d try some long thin shapes. These worked GREAT with Parmesan, just a long thin rectangular stick, offering a really nice sharp cheesy bite.
But by far my favourite now is MANCHEGO cheese!! Buttery and nutty and smooth. I used straws made out of tinfoil to shape them into long thin spiral shapes! They’re delicate and airy and perfectly crunchy. They were a little finicky to put together at first but they turned out SO delicious. The manchego has a powerful yet smooth flavour that lends itself perfectly to this. I wanted to try Asiago as well, but I think the manchego is gonna be my go-to!
How did your process work with the Parmesan? Did you use the shaker kind in a can or did you go more like grating it off a wedge? I wanted to try experimenting with a spicy Italian flavor palette for these.
Do the crackers spread at all during baking? Should I leave any room between them on the pan or can I just roll onto parchment paper then place that on my baking sheet? Thanks!
Hi Andrea, They do puff up a bit when baked. We like to leave a small space between them on the baking sheet (see the photo in the post above for a good visual).
Can the crackers be made in advance and frozen?
Hi Trish, They can. Thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
I am shredding the 6 oz of cheese at the moment, and it is turning out to be well over 2 cups, as stated in the recipe. So, which is it? Although I imagine it will taste delicious no matter how much extra is in the dough!
I’d go by the starting weight of the cheese, not the measure after.
Hi! Do you think you could freeze these? Thank you!
Hi Ashley, Yes you can definitely freeze the baked and cooled crackers. When they thaw, however, they won’t be as crunchy as they are fresh out of the oven.
These crackers are delicious! Sprinkled my “anything bagel” topping on them! Yummmm!
Going to make these for my charcuterie board this year! All the lovely comments and positive reviews are awesome! Will definitely add some cayanne pepper and possibly some smoked gouda.
Omg! These turned out sooo good. The girls and I may or maynot have eatten half the pan straight out of the oven. I will definitely be making these again!