The following is a fabulous guest post from Kris Bordessa of Attainable Sustainable. Do me a favor and go say something nice on her blog or her facebook page so she’ll write more of these for us!
After reading my true confession about Cheez-Its, a reader took pity on me and sent a recipe for homemade cheese crackers (thanks, Amanda). My sixteen-year-old son took it upon himself to try his hand at making cheese crackers and deemed them “awesome,” not to mention really easy to make. Trouble is, I follow a gluten free diet. And let me tell you: just smelling those homemade Cheez-Its just wasn’t cutting it. Taking a cue from this recipe, I decided to attempt a gluten free version.
The results? Yum!
When I was invited to write a guest post for Little House in the Suburbs, I thought this seemed like a perfect recipe to share.
Homemade Gluten Free Cheez-It Crackers
makes roughly the equivalent of a small box of Cheez-Its (otherwise known as enough for me)
- ½ cup sorghum flour (plus more for rolling out dough)
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 cup cheddar cheese (sharp or mild)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 5 tablespoons cold water
1. Combine flours and butter in the bowl of a food processor.
2. Pulse several times, then add cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper.
3. Pulse until crumbly.
4. Add almost all of the water and process just until the ingredients come together, adding remaining water as necessary.
5. Preheat oven to 350º.
6. Sprinkle a baking sheet with sorghum flour. Use your hands to form dough into a ball.
7. Sprinkle liberally with flour, and then gently roll dough out into a thin sheet (Use more flour to prevent sticking if needed). Aim for no more than 1/8-inch thick; too thin is preferable to too thick.
8. Use a pizza cutter to cut into one-inch squares. For a more authentic looking cracker, poke a hole in the center of each with a chopstick. Sprinkle with coarsely ground salt, if desired.
9. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until crackers are lightly browned and crisp. Break the crackers apart and cool. Any that don’t feel crisp enough should be popped back in the oven for another five minutes or so. Crackers not eaten immediately (ha!) can be stored in an airtight container.
Kris Bordessa lives on an island and dislikes depending on a barge for her needs. She strives daily toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle, writing about her successes (and failures) at Attainable Sustainable.
the cheez it crackers look amazing and since I cannot have gluten I am anxious to try them. One question, what other flour could you use in place of coconut flour? I am allergic to coconut 🙁 so hopefully I can replace it with something else.
Thanks!!
Stacy
I don’t know. I guess you would have to email the author at frugalkiwi.com
I made this recipe last night FABULOUS! I am not a fan of Sorghum flour, so I substituted the Sorghum for White Rice Four, and I substituted the Coconut flour for Tapioca Flour. The little crackers came out light, crispy, extremely tastey. The dough was easy to work with. And so you know, I am a Cheez-It Fanatic. It was the hardest thing to give up when needing to go gluten free.
Cathy
OMGoodness – how awesome do these sound? I’m going to try these soon for hubby who is addicted even more than me (I haven’t eaten “CI” crackers for eons but not because I don’t love them – trying to cut the crap in the body fueling dept…. — am vegetarian teetering on edge of vegan with alkaline philosophies so will be subbing the sorghum flour for oat as that’s the most alkaline, using organic cheddar (without casein/antibiotics/growth hormones as in most dairy), using Earth Balance organic vegan butter (dairy-free). If they earn 4+ stars in our “Med-Veg Test kitchen”, I’ll post a follow-up comment – definitely sharing with members of our page now with big thanks to creator Kris and LHITS staff for sharing it in the first place! Say, if you stop by our little FB page (link above) – please give a LIKE if you like what you see and post a comment that you are a mutual fan of “Little House”… Thanks! 😉
You R the swellest!
thanks, Ivory — will be testing my version tomorrow with another batch of KALE CHIPS (SO yummy and healthy!) — and add to collection of recipes growing at my http://www.facebook.com/MedVegFusion page — would be honored for you to visit and if you deem us worthy, for your LIKE and please feel free to post related content – link to your page/blog and participate in the conversations — lots of gems in our NOTES section as well as in archives of posted articles…. I’m using it as a combo blog/website until I can get those going better after my books are starting to launch – working on debut book, “We the Sheeple” now… 😉
these were delisius
I made these last night, and they were awesome! My oven temp is off (I live in a rental, sigh), so they baked unevenly, but they all still turned out delicious. Not to mention how easy they were. I don’t have problems with gluten, so I did use a.p. flour instead of the sorghum. It seems to be just fine. Oddly enough, my roommate just got some coconut flour, so I got to try that out. I also added about 1 tsp baking powder to give them an airier texture. I will definitely make these again. Thank you!