Skip to content

Can I get a witness?

DSC03782

This is probably THE proudest moment in my life so far.

I know what you must be thinking:

“Making a food product is one of your prouder moments? Do you even get out?!”

And the answer is no, no I do not.

But just think what would happen if I did get out.

I wouldn’t be able to have paved the way for you with these:

And we shall call them:

The tastiest snack in the world.

(((Too sexy?)))

I’ll be working on that one.

When I had the idea of re-creating one of my all-time favorite cheesy crackers

into a gluten-free and veganized version I thought:

Is is even possible…?

No. 

But is it…?

Maybe.

Can I…?

I don’t know…

So I did.

And let me tell you.

Holy $#!*

Proudest moment ever.

Praise Cheez-Its Recipe

They’re so good, you will really want to praise the heavens!

Makes: Not enough to share.

INGREDIENTS

  • 3/4 c. AP gluten free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill because I knew that bean flavor would work perfectly…and spoiler alert: it did!!)
  • 1/2 tsp xantham gum
  • 1 c. Daiya vegan “cheese”
  • 3 Tbs Earth Balance butter, softened
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 Tb ice water

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and cheese together until blended nicely with a hand mixer.
  3. Combine flour, xantham gum and salt in a separate bowl until fully mixed together.
  4. Add 1/2 the flour mixture into butter/cheese mix until blended. Add remaining 1/2 and mix well.
  5. Add water and stir in with a rubber spatula, making sure all scraps on the sides of the bowl have been incorporated.
  6. Place ball of dough on a piece of parchment paper and lightly knead until a smooth ball is made. Divide dough in half and place 1 of the 1/2s in a bowl and put in the fridge.
  7. Roll out other 1/2 of dough with a rolling pin (I put an extra piece of parchment paper over it to ensure it didn’t stick). Roll thin (about 1/4″ or so).
  8. With a pastry cutter (these have squiggly lines that give the fun shape to the cracker) pattern out the shapes of the squares, going horizontally and diagonally.
  9. Take a stainless steel spatula and slowly and gently place each cracker on top of a parchment lined baking sheet, making sure you give about 1/2″ worth of room per cracker. This might be the longest part of the process but you do want to go slowly in order to maintain the shape.
  10. Make a little hole in the center of each cracker. Sprinkle the tops with a little dash of coarse salt.
  11. Place the crackers on the baking sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes while you repeat the same process for the next 1/2.

Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

I couldn’t believe the crunch that these crackers gave.

Not to mention the cheesy flavor!

Daiya, I didn’t give you enough credit, my friend.

I take it all back.

You really DO know how to make a delightful vegan cheese!

I give to you the perfect little snack.

These were literally gone within in an hour.

Greg’s reaction:

“You need to sell these!” 

Oh my little entrepreneur… 

40 Comments Post a comment
  1. Vivian Cutler #

    No Way!!! I am so Amazed!!! Wow!!! I so Love this. I really miss my Cheez-its!!!
    So Very Sexy!!! So Very Cute!!! Praise Cheez-its!!! You have really done it Now!!!
    You are a Master!!! Great Job!!! xoxo

    September 28, 2011
    • Praise Cheez-Its, indeed! ***currently bowing*** haha. Kidding. And Viv, hand to the Cheez Bible, these taste just like the real thing–Daiya and all!!!

      September 28, 2011
  2. Vivian Cutler #

    Hallelujah!!!!

    September 28, 2011
  3. Any idea if other all-purpose flours would work? Our baby girl loves crackers but garbanzo beans do not like her at all…she gets rashes :(

    September 28, 2011
    • Absolutely, Heather! Try it with any all purpose flour–I am positive it should work. And if not, you can kick me :) That is a bummer about your little girl–man, if it’s not one thing to be allergic too, it’s another huh? Please let me know how they turn out!! xoxo

      September 28, 2011
  4. Awesome! I’ve always wanted to make my own Cheeze Its :) Thanks for the awesome recipes!!

    September 28, 2011
    • You got it, Shannon. It’s my duty in this life :) haha.

      September 28, 2011
  5. I love that you even punched the little hole in the middle. Well done, Cara. Is there anything you can’t do?

    September 28, 2011
    • Juggle. Ski. Overcome my fear of the ocean. Breakdance. Roll my R’s. See? There is plenty that I can’t do :) haha. Thanks Monica!

      September 28, 2011
  6. Brooke #

    I LOVE reading these daily posts… I almost always laugh out loud. :) You rock. Love to you!

    September 28, 2011
    • Now YOU just need to start a blog so I can keep up with your life on a daily basis :) Thanks for being a faithful follower, my friend. Love you lots and glad I could make you chuckle…

      September 28, 2011
  7. Ahhhh, I swear I am tasting Cheez-Its after reading this. These really *look* like the real thing, and sure sounds like you’ve got the taste right too. Must buy some Daiya. And I am sure I will eat the entire batch in one sitting. :D Well done!

    September 28, 2011
    • Thank you Jennifer! I am still tasting them too despite the fact that I ate them within the first hour of making them :) hehe. Let me know how it turns out for you!

      September 28, 2011
  8. This is amazing! Cheez-its are my dad’s favorite cracker. His birthday is this weekend so I just might have to make these…

    September 28, 2011
    • What a great birthday idea, Audrey! He will love them. He might even forget to say thank you because his mouth will be stuffed with these :)

      September 28, 2011
  9. Yeah!! My cat and I have missed cheez-its so much since I’ve gone GF. Thanks!

    October 2, 2011
    • I love the fact that your cat eats Cheez-Its! ha.

      October 2, 2011
  10. Making these ASAP!

    October 5, 2011
    • You will be eating all of them as soon as they come out of the oven too :) Guaranteed.

      October 5, 2011
  11. Carrie #

    I have plain chickpea flour and all of the other ingredients EXCEPT xanthan gum. Do you think some corn starch or maybe agar would be a suitable replacement? Trying to decide if I should make these- they sound great!

    October 12, 2011
    • Oooooh, good question, Carrie! You MIGHT be able to get away with no xanthan gum because of the size of the crackers and the cheese will be a good binder. However, I don’t think either corn starch or agar could replace it. But what do I know? Are you gluten free? Because if not, you can just use regular flour without the gum… Does this help?

      October 12, 2011
      • Carrie #

        Success! I just subbed cornstarch. Now, they did taste kind of chickpeaish since I used chickpea flour, but still so crunchy, cheesy and good! I’m really excited that I can make my own snack crackers! And it was so easy that I don’t know why the whole world isn’t doing this.

        October 12, 2011
        • Woo-hoo! Sweet success, I love it, Carrie! Next time, maybe use a blend of chickpea flour, cornstarch and potato starch to lessen the amount of chickpea flour you use/taste. That just might do the trick. So glad that they were easy to do though! xo, Cara

          October 12, 2011
  12. Hi love! Ummm yes, I think we are officially blog dating :) HA! I hope Greg and Chris don’t get too jealous…

    YAY, these crackers look amazing! I need to make these…and ASAP! I’ve been craving cheesy crackers…perfect!!!!!!
    lots of hugs, Nora

    October 14, 2011
    • I already informed Greg and he says that he approves :) He thinks we make a good couple. hahahaha

      October 14, 2011
  13. Laurel #

    Why weren’t you on my RSS feed until now?

    October 22, 2011
    • I’ve been asking myself that same question, Laurel *shaking head in shame* haha. Kidding folks, I have no idea whose RSS feed I am on, it was a joke…

      October 22, 2011
      • Laurel #

        Of course, it was a joke. You’re actually pretty funny. Plus, I totoally deserved the ribbing. You should have gotten out a court order for all the stalking I was doing.

        October 23, 2011
        • Or was it is joke? *cue suspicious music* And maybe I’m stalking *you*, not the other way around… *cue creepy music*

          October 23, 2011
  14. AMAZING! I am so going to make these. I was seriously just saying the other day how I needed to figure out gluten-free cheez-its. You go!

    November 1, 2011
    • Autumn, I am reading your mind. (That was my next gig if this whole blogging thing didn’t work out: Cara, the Fortune Teller) :) I am so glad that you are going to get your GF Cheez-Its. Eat them fast because I will smell them from afar and come running for them…

      November 1, 2011
  15. are you kidding me? yikes, you are amazing. you should be like a professional chef person. i am passing your blog to a friend who has kids with similar allergies.

    January 7, 2012
    • I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT YOU!!!!!! What an AMAZING and delightful surprise to see your name :) I was talking to someone about the fake arm. You remember the fake arm? OF COURSE you remember the fake arm :) haha. Can you believe that *I* am doing this? ME. The person who had *the* worst eating habits ever. I still don’t believe it. HOW ARE YOU??? xoxoxoxox <–to you, Spark and the kiddos!

      January 7, 2012
  16. OH I have looooonged for Cheese Its. You’ve convinced me that this is a recipe to try :) Love it!

    January 7, 2012
    • Oh Lexie, seriously, these are AMAZING. In fact, I’m going to have to make a batch of Cheez-Its and No-Wheat Thins tomorrow, myself… Happy cracker making :) xo, Cara

      January 7, 2012
  17. Yes. Sell them to me! I want some right now and I don’t want to wait while they bake. I’ve been missing cheez its for years!!! You’re amazing.

    February 9, 2012
    • Now you don’t have to miss them anymore :) Hooray!

      February 9, 2012
  18. Rachael #

    My Cheez-Its loving daughter suggested the name Veeg-Its. Thanks for your creation. I hope to try this one out this weekend.

    February 9, 2012
    • Okay, your daughter is a genius and I couldn’t love the name Veeg-Its any more!!! That is brilliant. I’m taking it and slapping it on as its official name :) xo

      February 9, 2012
      • Rachael #

        Hooray!

        February 10, 2012

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

You may use basic HTML in your comments. Your email address will not be published.

Subscribe to this comment feed via RSS