Baking as a coping mechanism is in full effect over here. I have baked 11 times in the past 17 days. This recipe was #8. I’ve been making these crackers every now & then for a couple years. The original recipe from The Brown Eyed Baker was for homemade Cheez-its. I’ve put my own spin on it & the results are a cracker that is no longer really a Cheez-its copycat, but its own buttery cheesy cracker.

I wanted to make the original crackers a little healthier for myself, so I switched to whole wheat flour & added some nutritional ground flax. Flax is a galactagogue (milk promoter), so you can *almost* call these lactation crackers. Maybe if I added a little brewer’s yeast…

Extra sharp cheddar gives you the best bite, but mild works fine, too. Fresh shredded is the key, the pre-shredded packaged kind has anti-caking agents that will hinder your dough. After you mix all of the ingredients together (I do it all in my food processor – if you don’t have one, shred the cheese by hand & use the paddle attachment on your stand mixer) & chill your dough, the easiest way to get a nice thin dough is to roll it between 2 pieces of parchment paper.

To shape your crackers, use a pizza cutter or pastry wheel to make straight lines up & across. I did let Cupcake cut some out with a cookie cutter since she’s not quite old enough to use the pizza cutter well. Then sprinkle on some salt & bake.

You want the crackers to be crunchy, so err on the side of baking them slightly too dark. Trust me, they are delicious. Sometimes as I’m taking them off the pan I notice the ones in the very middle are soft. If that happens, I just take the done ones off of the tray & put the tray back in the oven a few more minutes.

This delicious homemade snack never lasts more than a few days in my house, but can last about a week in an airtight container.

Whole Wheat & Flax Cheezy Crackers

• 8 oz cheddar cheese
• 4 tbsp salted butter, softened
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 – 3 tbsp ice water

1. Shred the cheddar cheese in a food processor (leave the blade in the processor along with the shredding disk).
2. Add the butter & pulse together. Then add the flour & flax & pulse together until the mixture is crumbly.
3. Add 2 tbsp of water & pulse until dough comes together, using the additional tbsp of water if needed.
4. Divide dough in half & shape into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap & chill for 30-60 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Take one disk of dough out of the plastic wrap & roll between 2 sheets of parchment paper until dough is very thin (but not see-through – you’ve gone too far!) Take off the top parchment sheet & cut the dough into squares with a pizza cutter or pastry wheel. Place parchment sheet with cut dough onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until browned.
6. While the first disk is baking, repeat step 5 with the second disk. Cool & enjoy.