When Can You Turn Regular Crackers Into Vegan Cheese Crackers
Either you love Cheez Its or you don't. If you're in the camp of total fan girls, this is the recipe for you!
If you've ever tried Cheez Its you know how salty and cheesy they are. It's kind of addictive if you favor savory foods.
Well, the thing is, a little sea salt and nutritional yeast (nutrition diva and flavor bomb) can totally mock that flavor of the real thing without going into dairy land! It's kind of like magic.
The awesome thing about this recipe – besides the fact that it requires just 8 ingredients – is that it's quick and considerably healthy!
A mix of flours give a bit more nutritional value (oat and cornmeal + unbleached all-purpose) and instead of going for all vegan butter, I mixed in some olive oil for added nutrition. The nutritional yeast and cornmeal are what give it that vibrant yellow "cheesy" color.
About 15 minutes in the oven and you're good to go! These taste very close to the original, I'm telling you! John even agreed and he's a harsher critic than I. I think you're going to love these; they're
Salty
Tender
Slightly crisp
Ridiculously cheezy
Kind of addictive
& Highly shareable
I hope you enjoy this vegan knock-off recipe! And if you do try it, be sure to take a photo and post it to Instagram with the hashtag #minimalistbaker. I'd love to see! Enjoy!
Prep Time 12 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes
Servings 6
Course Snack
Cuisine Vegan
Freezer Friendly 1 month
Does it keep? 3-4 Days
- 1-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (add more for a more intense "cheese" flavor)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4-1 tsp sea salt (use lesser end of range, if desired, as they're pretty cheesy/savory)
- 2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour or whole-wheat pastry flour*
- 1/4 cup oat flour (or just sub more all-purpose)
- 3 Tbsp yellow cornmeal
- 1/4 tsp baking powder (optional // for fluffiness)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil or vegan butter (such as Earth Balance // I did a 1/2-1/2 mix of both)
- 2-4 Tbsp cold water
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Add dry ingredients to a food processor and process to thoroughly combine.
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Then add olive oil and/or butter and pulse again until crumbly.
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Add cold water 1 Tbsp at a time until it forms a loose dough (see photo). You don't want too much water, so go easy on it and add a little at a time. It shouldn't need more than 3 Tbsp (as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size).
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Remove from processor and form into a loose ball with your hands. It's actually good for this dough to be worked and warmed by the heat of your hands, so don't worry about touching it too much. However, you are not kneading it, just forming it into a disc.
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Lay on a lightly floured surface – I found parchment worked great as my flat surface – dust the top with flour, and roll to 1/8th inch thick with a lightly floured rolling pin. Use a knife, pizza cutter or small cut cookie cutter shape to cut the dough into square crackers. Optional: dot the centers with a fork prong or chopstick for more character/resemblance to a Cheez-It.
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Bake for 12-17 minutes or until puffy and golden brown. These are pretty tender. For a crispier cracker, bake until golden brown. Makes about 70 crackers (as original recipe is written).
*Though I didn't try making these gluten-free, it's worth a shot if you'd like with my favorite gluten-free flour blend in place of the unbleached all-purpose.
*Lightly adapted from Chef Chloe and Oh She Glows
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate.
Serving: 11 g Calories: 78 Carbohydrates: 8.9 g Protein: 1.6 g Fat: 4 g Saturated Fat: 0.6 g Trans Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Sodium: 215 mg Fiber: 0.8 g Sugar: 0 g
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When Can You Turn Regular Crackers Into Vegan Cheese Crackers
Source: https://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-cheez-its/