Tuesday, February 19, 2013

As seen on pinterest ~ Cheese crackers

A while ago I made the jump into pinterest, and I fell in love.

 If you have an addictive personality, I may suggest that you stay far far away from it. But if you like to try new things, new ideas, new recipes and you just want a quick way to organized your "plan to" ideas, it's a wonderful site to do it.

If you are like me, you might have pinned many many many things on your "will try this one day", but this week I planned to try to make or do at lest ONE of my pins, and share it with you. So here we go.

My girls are addicted to "Goldfish" crackers, really, seriously addicted. One particular little girl will wake up in the middle of the night asking for them, silly goose. Being a mama that love giving in to the food love language of those precious princess, wanted to try a alternative to the store bought crackers.

There is nothing wrong with the store bought product, it's quick and easy, open the bag and serve it to the little one, but that was the problem for our family, it was too accessible. So my attempt to give them what they want, in moderation, made me look to pinterest for a easy recipe of the cheesy treat they love.

I first found this pin and someone recommended this one instead . She said that she really like it, after looking at it, I wasn't a bit fan of the idea of having all the spices in the cracker, and wanted to be careful with the salt content of it all.

Here is my version of the "Sharp Cheddar Cheese Crackers"

Start by having your butter room temperature. Do not try to microwave, it's not the same trust me, I know.

Here are what you will need

  • 4 tablespoons of unsalted (room Temp) butter or 1/2 a stick
  • 8 oz of cheese finely graded, I use mild cheddar in mine (that was what I had on hand)  
  • 1 cup of all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoon of cold water
I don't have a fancy stand mixer, or a mixer not even a egg beater, ya my kitchen needs a bit of new appliances but that will come with time. If you think you need fancy tools or mad baking skills, think again because I made these without either of those.

Lets begin with putting on a cute apron, isn't baking more fun with a apron on! Then turn on your oven at 375 degrees. Get all your ingredient and your strong arms ready and follow these simple steps.

Step one: cute the butter into small pieces, if you have kids they can do this part for you.

Step two: add the flour to the pieces of butter in a bowl and mix it all together, again the kids can help with that too. Look like you know what you are doing while they are doing all the work!

Step three: add the water to the mixture and  the cheese use your hands to make a ball of dough (you may need a bit more water if too crumbly) You may want to dived the dough mixture (I put some on mine in the fridge and used two days later. It can also be frozen. Just remember to bring the dough out in room temperature before doing the next step)


Step four: Using a rolling pin, roll the dough very thin and start cutting the shape of your crackers (I use the smallest cookie cutter I owned)

Step five: on the cookie sheet place the crackers about 1 inch apart. Also go over each cracker with a fork and make some holes (this will help during the baking time for the crackers not to puff up too much)

Step six: bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Step seven: let them cool on a cooling rack (warn the kids that the cheese makes the crackers super hot and they have to wait before eating them, might insert a lesson on patience while you are at it)

Now after they are cooled, it's time to enjoyed those yummy crackers. They are a excellent with a nice warm  bowl of soup. But what I like about making those the most is that because the girls were part of the making the crackers, doing some of the work, they have learn to appreciate the treat better. Remember all things are good, in moderation.

Now how about you, have you tried any pins this week? If you did, would you be so kind and share it with me. Leave a link in the comment with the pins you have tried.

You can follow me on pinterest here


12 comments:

  1. I'm glad you liked them! :) The others may have been just as good or better, who knows? ...I just thought I'd let you know I'd tried and liked these ones.
    Today I'm making some cream puffs...special treat for our anniversary. Have you tried making them before? They are so easy!
    Speaking of Pinterest, I pinned an article a couple of weeks ago, and when I came to the end of it, saw that the author was a homeschooling mom of three named Renee. That wasn't the funny part. The funny part was that she looked enough like you in her profile pic for me to do a double take. Here she is: http://simplehomeschool.net/anchoring-an-organizational-tool/
    It was a good post, too. :)

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    1. Nelleke, that is hilarious... she does sorta look like me :-) No haven't made cream puffs yet, on my do to list on things to try soon.

      Happy anniversary, I forgot that it was this month :-)

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  2. I just made the jump into Pinterest last weekend and I'm trying not to spend too much time on there. It's tempting, though! ;)

    Those crackers look very tasty!

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  3. Fun to read! I plan to do about one "pin" per week as well. Makes it less overwhelming! One time someone said "if I only spent as much time doing what was on my boards as I do pinning stuff." So true! (=

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    1. Yes, Carrie Lane, 1 pin a week is very do-able, we have to remember to use pinterest as a tool and not just a online hobby

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  4. I bet more frugal too especially since they eat them almost in their sleep. LOL. That was so funny. Thanks for sharing this I want to try. I love your quest for trying something each week. Good idea. I think we are all a little addicted to pinterest. I enjoyed meeting you today and visiting. I signed up to follow in my little blue slippers.
    Come by and visit me.
    Have a great day,
    Sherry

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    1. Yes pinterest addiction is very common :-)Not really frugal, cheese is expensive over here, but it's lots of fun to make :-)

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  5. Oh those look great! Id love to try them but my son is dairy free... doubt theyd work the same with a butter substitute eh...

    Sophie
    Simply Sophie

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    1. Hey Sophie, I found this one that uses olive oil instead of the butter http://bottomupfood.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/homemade-crackers/ and if you add some lactose free cheese they might turn out good, who knows :-)

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