Homemade Cheez-Its

Why should you spend your evening making these delectable treats instead of just running out to the grocery store?

Because you can. And you should. And they are 10 times better and healthier (don't read the ingredients too carefully....). Oh, and they have red pepper flakes in them, so they've got a kick. Delicious.

You start by grating a lot of cheese. Get your muscles ready.


Mix the cheese with flour, red pepper flakes, salt, and butter (the amounts are at the end of this post). I used a pastry cutter; the original recipe suggested a food processor (I definitely don't have that luxury).

It should look like this when you're done.




Add the milk....

And it will come together in a beautifully cheesy ball of dough.



Roll it out with a rolling pin (or your hands, or a glass, if you don't have a rolling pin....) until it's about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick.

Trim the edges. I saved them and rolled them back out later.

I cut the dough into strips, because the original recipe is for cheese straws, and I wanted a mix of straws and squares.

I transferred these to a baking sheet and stuck them in the oven.

Then I rolled out the edges from the first batch (I tried to make these even thinner than the straws) and cut those into little 1-inch squares. I poked the tops with a fork so they wouldn't expand too much.

Cute!

These really taste similar to a cheez-it, but they are so much better. They bake up to be slightly puffy and flaky. You need to make these, ASAP.

Homemade Cheez-Its

1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon milk

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.