Spooky Cheese Crackers

Spooky Cheese Crackers

Children and adults alike will flip for these homemade cheese crackers. With just 6 ingredients, they are a snap to make, yet a great alternative to packaged crackers.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 3-4 tablespoons ice water
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Preparation:

  1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, cheese, salt, pepper and paprika. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the cold butter pieces and pulse a few more times until the butter is pea-sized. Add the ice water one tablespoon at a time and pulse to combine. The dough should start to come together. After adding 3 tablespoons of water, check the dough. If you can pinch it together between your fingers and it holds its shape, it's ready. If not, add up to one more tablespoon of ice water and pulse again to combine. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, shape it into a 10" disk, wrap it in the plastic, and refrigerate for 20-40 minutes.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Unwrap the dough and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into the desired shapes and place onto cookie sheets that have been lined with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets. (Gather up the scraps and reroll to make more crackers.) Bake for 12-20 minutes (depending on the size of the crackers), or until the crackers have puffed and are light brown on top. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container overnight.
  3. Makes 24-48 crackers depending on the size of your cutters.
  4. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract and black food coloring.
  5. Pour hot caramel over popcorn and stir with a wooden spoon.
  6. Grease hands with butter and form mixture into balls.
  7. Place formed balls on a non-stick cookie sheet or wax paper to cool.
  8. Repeat steps 2-7, using orange food coloring instead of black.
  9. Once cooled, stack popcorn balls in a festive bowl or place in Halloween-themed favor bags and tie closed with a ribbon. Makes 25-30 balls.