Gluten-Free Cheez Its

Gluten-Free Cheese Crackers Recipe: Like "Cheez-Its", but Better!

Hey, did you know that Beyond Flour 2 came out a couple weeks ago? Neither did I!

Well, I guess technically I DID... but between a convention, Halloween, the election, etc... I managed to completely forget to formally announce it. Whoops! I'm definitely more of a recipe developer than a book marketer, so dropping the ball on promoting it probably shouldn't surprise me. Yikes, though.

It's a great book, if I do say so myself. After tackling a bunch of "Holy Grail" type recipes in the first Beyond Flour - Chewy cookies, stuffed pasta, perogies, proper pita bread, and more - I had even more confidence and experience when it came to developing the sequel, so I got to play around a bit more.

It's fun to see what you can come up with, when you throw convention to the wind. I'm particularly proud of the graham crackers and hybrid tortillas - each of which make use of *one* specialty ingredient, which makes all the difference with each respective recipe. In the graham crackers, that recipe's secret ingredient means the difference between those vaguely cinnamon flavoured GF crackers that are labelled as "Graham crackers", and proper graham crackers that are completely indistinguishable from the source material. For the hybrid tortillas, THAT special ingredient meant the ability to create a tortilla that looks and acts like a flour tortilla, but with the taste of freshly roasted corn.

SCIENCE. I love it!

Also pretty proud of the bagels and soft pretzels, but I don't want to sound like I'm bragging. 🙂

ANYWAY.

2 weeks late, I'd like to mark the occasion of the book release, by sharing one of the recipes from Beyond Flour 2: Cheese crackers. This is one of a few cracker recipes in the book, including butter crackers (Like Ritz), and a grainy rectangular cracker inspired by my favourite from my pre-GF days, Vinta.

I've just never really been into the commercially available GF crackers, you know? They tend to cost an insane amount of money, and tend to be either mini hockey pucks, or basically compressed powder. Also: They almost always taste like sadness.

I wanted crispy, flaky crackers that tasted right. Buttery, flavourful crackers with airy layers... that would also hold up to being served with toppings. It was a tall order, but I did it!

These cheese crackers were inspired by Cheez-Its... but they're so much better. The use of good cheese in these really elevates them over the source material, with a cleaner, clearer cheese taste. These puff up significantly in the oven, yielding very flaky, buttery crackers.

You may want to double the batch, as they go fast!

Also, if you're interested in gluten-free cooking and baking, you should definitely check out my gluten-free cookbooks: Beyond Flour: A Fresh Approach to Gluten Free Cooking & Baking, and the sequel... Beyond Flour 2. You can order them right here on my website, through Amazon, or through any major bookseller.

Enjoy!

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5 from 4 votes

Gluten-Free Cheese Crackers (Like Cheez-Its)

These Gluten-Free Cheese Crackers from my book, "Beyond Flour 2: A Fresh Approach to Gluten Free Cooking and Baking" are like Cheez-Its... only better!

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time12 mins

Chilling Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 32 mins

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American, Gluten-free

Servings: 18 - 175 Crackers

Calories: 146kcal

Author: Marie Porter

Equipment

Square Cookie Cutters (Optional)

2 Baking Sheets

Parchment Paper

Ingredients

• ½ cup Corn Starch
• ½ cup Millet Flour
• ¼ cup Sorghum Flour
• ¼ cup Light Buckwheat Flour
• ½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Xanthan Gum
• 8 oz Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• ½ cup Shredded Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup Cold Butter chopped
• ⅓ cup Cold Water
• Additional corn starch for rolling

Instructions

• Measure corn starch, flours, salt, and xanthan gum into the bowl of your food processor, blitz to combine.
• Add cheeses and butter, blitz a few times until mixture resembles gravel.
• Stream in cold water as you run the food processor, just long enough to start to bring it together as a dough – you may need to use a little more or less water. Do NOT over-process it!
• Remove dough from processor, knead lightly to bring it together as a ball. Wrap in plastic film, chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C) . Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Scatter some corn starch over your – clean! – work surface. Roll dough out ¼″ thick, cut into 1″ square pieces.
• Use a chopstick or small straw to poke a hole in the center of each piece, carefully transfer to lined baking sheets.
• Bake for 11-12 minutes, or until golden and puffy.
• Allow to fully cool to room temperature before storing in an airtight container.

Nutrition

Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 234mg | Potassium: 38mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 308IU | Calcium: 124mg | Iron: 1mg

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