Homemade White Cheddar Cheez Its!

Hey all and Happy Tuesday! I just came back from teaching a wonderful Zumba class and feel great! If you've never gone to a class you owe it to yourself to try it. I love being an instructor. It's the one hour of the day I get to go out and be a total goofball and people are goofballs right along with me! I sing, I laugh at myself, I mess up all the time...and I don't care. :)

I also love being an instructor because it keeps me in shape while surrounded by all the yummy treats I'm constantly making. Awesome! Speaking of yummy treats...The other day while walking through the grocery I stopped at my favorite section, the cheese section, and noticed this yummy block of goodness:

I'm sure I've walked past it a million times but never noticed it. For some reason the package reminded me of those white cheddar cheez its and a plan was formed! Since I'm super-crazy cheap frugal we never buy those yummy crackers on less they're on sale or I have a great coupon...but then I remembered I bake! Duh! I keep having to remind myself pretty much anything I can buy at the store I can remake at home for a fraction of the price. That's when I decided to go home and try to make my own. So this is my version of Homemade White Cheddar Cheez Its!

I know what you're thinking. They aren't white! I get it. They turned slightly brown during baking, but they still taste just as amazing as the ones in the big orange expensive box from the store. First you'll combine your butter, shortening and cheese together. Throw in the dry ingredients and mix it all up until it's very crumbly. Toss in the water and form into a big ball of awesome seasoned cheese. 

After a half hour in the fridge, you'll roll the dough to as thin as you can get. If you have patience (which I don't) make sure you really roll out the dough super thin to get that authentic cheez it crunch. My personal preference is to have a little thicker cheez it so I rolled my dough to about 1/8 inch, but you'll want to shoot for 1/16 inch thickness.

Cut into squares using a pizza cuter, or any kind of dough cutting utensil you prefer, poke a hole in the middle, salt, bake and eat eat eat. I actually had to tell myself to stop eating these so I could take pictures. They're amazing! I was literally eating them by the handful.

Make these your own, too. If you like sharp cheddar, use that. Don't like dill? Use something else...or nothing. These would even be great with just salt!

Ingredients:
8oz sharp white cheddar, shredded (I used Cracker Barrel's block sharp white)
3 Tbsp butter, cut into small squares
2 Tbsp shortening
1 Cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp dill
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp water
Salt for topping

Directions:
In your mixer combine the cheese, butter and shortening on medium. Add in the flour, salt, basil, dill and garlic powder and reduce the speed to low. Mix until it becomes a crumb like consistency. Add in the water one tablespoon at a time and stir on low until it comes together in a lump.

Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Set in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. Remove and roll the dough onto a floured surface. Roll the dough as thin as you can to really make these like cheez its. I was ok with mine being a little fluffy and lacking some crunch, so I didn't go super thin.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the dough into inch by inch squares and transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet. Poke a hole in the middle of each square and sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 13-15 minutes. Remove and top with more salt (or don't if you don't want to, or try some Parmesan cheese). Allow to cool and enjoy!

I think I had 20 as soon as they came out and had to put them away before they all disappeared. This recipe made about 100 yummy cheesy squares.

So have you ever Zumbaed? Do you love it or hate it? Or are you like most of my students and only hate it while you're doing it but love it before and after class? :)

Need a dough cuter?


Thanks for stopping by!

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