I have always loved Cheez-Its. Like most processed foods, however, Cheez-Its don’t have the greatest ingredients list, and while I’m not generally opposed to an occasional indulgence, these days I’m gluten-free so commercial Cheez-Its are absolutely off-limits. A few weeks ago I decided to see if anyone had tackled making their own gluten-free copycat Cheez-Its—and to my delight, I discovered that many people had! I tried out this recipe from My Fields of Green, which I subsequently adapted to fit my own preferences.
If you love Cheez-Its, or any other cheesy crackers, you must try these. I haven’t had Cheez-Its in a long time, so I can’t claim to remember exactly what they taste like, but these are certainly fulfilling my Cheez-It cravings. They are crispy, cheesy, and utterly delicious.
A couple of notes on the recipe:
I used an orange cheddar in the photo above and a white cheddar in the photos below. If you want your crackers to look more like a traditional cheese cracker, I’d recommend using an orange cheddar.
Most cracker recipes that I’ve seen tell you to roll out the dough, use a pizza cutter to score lines in the dough, then bake the crackers as is. I’ve never had success with this strategy; the outer crackers get burnt while the inner crackers are underdone. So, I use the strategy that I’ve outlined below. Feel free to experiment with the simpler method to see if you can get it to work for you. It may just be that the ovens I’ve used have been substandard or something.
Equipment You’ll Need:
2 baking sheets
Gluten-Free Cheez-Its
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup white rice flour or sprouted brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca or arrowroot starch
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar, grated or diced into small chunks
- 1/4 cup refined coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon unrefined salt, plus extra for sprinkling
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to your food processor. Pulse until all ingredients are pulverized and evenly mixed. Dough may come together as a ball in the food processor, or may remain as more ragged pieces.
- Gather dough into a ball with your hands, then split into two equal pieces. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place one dough ball on baking sheet. Set aside other dough ball for later.
- Lay a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper on top of dough ball to facilitate easier rolling, then begin rolling out dough on your baking sheet. Roll dough to about 1/16" thickness.
- Put baking sheet plus rolled dough into your freezer for about 20 minutes to allow dough to harden. (This makes it much easier to cut and reposition crackers without damaging them.) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- When dough feels stiff to the touch, remove from freezer. Use a pizza cutter or other cutting implement to cut rolled dough into crackers measuring about 1 1/2" across. Try to make your crackers all about the same size, but do not worry if some crackers are smaller or larger than others—I don’t find that size differences matter very much.
- Spread out cut crackers on your baking sheet. Crackers will expand as they bake, so be sure to spread out crackers as much as possible. Lightly sprinkle crackers with salt.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, until crackers are just starting to brown at the very edges. If in doubt, err on removing the crackers from the oven sooner rather than later. Crackers will never become particularly browned, but they will begin tasting burnt after only a few too many minutes in the oven.
- Allow crackers to cool, then remove to a lidded container. Repeat process with the other half of your dough.
- Store crackers in a lidded container at room temperature. Since they are preservative-free, I'm not sure how long they will last, but we've yet to have a batch show any signs of going bad.
7.8.1.118https://wholenaturallife.com/gluten-free-cheez-its/
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup white rice flour or sprouted brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca or arrowroot starch
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar, grated or diced into small chunks
- 1/4 cup refined coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon unrefined salt, plus extra for sprinkling
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to your food processor. Pulse until all ingredients are pulverized and evenly mixed. Dough may come together as a ball in the food processor, or may remain as more ragged pieces.
- Gather dough into a ball with your hands, then split into two equal pieces. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place one dough ball on baking sheet. Set aside other dough ball for later.
- Lay a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper on top of dough ball to facilitate easier rolling, then begin rolling out dough on your baking sheet. Roll dough to about 1/16" thickness.
- Put baking sheet plus rolled dough into your freezer for about 20 minutes to allow dough to harden. (This makes it much easier to cut and reposition crackers without damaging them.) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- When dough feels stiff to the touch, remove from freezer. Use a pizza cutter or other cutting implement to cut rolled dough into crackers measuring about 1 1/2" across. Try to make your crackers all about the same size, but do not worry if some crackers are smaller or larger than others—I don’t find that size differences matter very much.
- Spread out cut crackers on your baking sheet. Crackers will expand as they bake, so be sure to spread out crackers as much as possible. Lightly sprinkle crackers with salt.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, until crackers are just starting to brown at the very edges. If in doubt, err on removing the crackers from the oven sooner rather than later. Crackers will never become particularly browned, but they will begin tasting burnt after only a few too many minutes in the oven.
- Allow crackers to cool, then remove to a lidded container. Repeat process with the other half of your dough.
- Store crackers in a lidded container at room temperature. Since they are preservative-free, I'm not sure how long they will last, but we've yet to have a batch show any signs of going bad.
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