I try to make sure that most of the food I buy for our family is organic. Our family also has a very merger $50 per week budget to spend on groceries (of course we don’t have to buy meat, eggs, cheese, or milk). So usually expensive things like sugary cereal, chips and anything else that is processed don’t find their way into my grocery cart. BUT… I have a weak spot for crackers. I love them with cheese, I love them with honey, I love them dipped. Crackers also make a healthy snack for the kids when paired with fruit and Organic Valley string cheese. When I feel like splurging I always throw Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies in the cart. Annie’s uses Organic Valley milk in many of their products.
Hannah eating Bernie the Bunny
Most times we don’t have the budget for crackers, so I have been searching in vain for a suitable homemade replacement. I am still working on my Ritz taste a like, but I think I found a good homemade version for Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies.
The Smitten Kitchen has a recipe for Whole Wheat Goldfish Crackers. Here is my version based from hers, not many changes. So please give her all the credit.
8 ounces of Organic Valley Sharp Cheddar Cheese-coarsely shredded.
6 tablespoons Organic Valley butter
3/4 cup whole wheat organic flour (I used bread flour because that is what I had)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat)
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 table salt
Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients in a food processor, running the machine until the dough forms a ball.
I put the dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes so that it wasn’t so sticky to work with.
On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out 1/8-inch thick. Form shapes with a cookie cutter, dipping it in flour from time to time to ensure a clean cut. I had a small circle cutter. The crackers were about the size of a silver dollar.
Gently transfer crackers to an ungreased cookie sheet with a 1/2 inch between them. Bake the crackers on the middle rack for 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are barely browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and set the cookie sheet on a rack to cool.
Hannah eating her homemade crackers
The kids loved these cookies. With my small cookie cutter, this recipe made over a 100 crackers. The recipe was really easy and quick to make. Bonus, I used 100% whole wheat flour, there is no sugar and a very small amount of salt. I will probably make these when the bunnies don’t make it into the budget.
Wheat Thins and Cheez-its have always been my favorite snacks. Healthy, right? Luckily for my health, they don t have them here. Nor do they have, in my opinion, any good snack food. But it doesn t matter any more because I have these homemade cheese crackers! These don t taste exactly like Cheez-its or Goldfish, but perhaps a cross between the two.