I think it’s a widely agreed-upon fact that the typical “office-job” environment fosters terrible eating habits. The four years I spent working in an office could serve as a prime example of how someone should not treat their body. At my craziest, I was working between 50–60 hours a week, and allowing no time in my morning routine to eat breakfast or pack lunch. By 7:00 a.m., I’d be at my desk, mainlining coffee and grumbling out responses to emails as I typed them. Around 10:00 a.m., I’d take a break to chat with coworkers and devour an ungodly amount of cheese and crackers. (My department was never without several boxes of crackers and a block of cheese—a modus operandi I still live by, but practice on a slightly more subdued scale.) At least once a week, we’d take a trip to Panera for lunch and I’d justify buying a loaf of tomato basil bread to “take home,” which would then turn into a half hallowed-out bread shell before the day was done. And since I’d be working at least an hour or two late, 3:00 p.m. meant diet Coke and snack time. And any snack machine pro knows it’s worth it to spend the extra quarter on the Cheez-Its, because those 20%-snack/80%-air bags of chips and popcorn are for suckers.
Since I began working from home, my eating habits have improved dramatically. (Though I still shove cheese and crackers in my face on a regular basis.) And while the life of a telecommuter comes with its own set of questionable behavior (i.e., living in pajamas and not showering until noon . . . or 5:00 p.m.), it’s a drastic improvement from my office life. And I was perfectly happy with my bowls of cereal and salad wraps until a couple months ago, when Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen decided to post a recipe for Homemade Black Pepper Cheez-Its. So you’re telling me I can make a ton of cheez-its, using far-better ingredients, and put whatever I want in them? To the kitchen I go!
I held onto this post for a little while because I was actually considering remaking/rephotographing these for a few reasons. First, I’d already thrown the majority of the ingredients into my food processor when I realized the only flour I had in the house was whole wheat. I was disappointed by the unintentional healthy turn my cheez-its had taken—they still tasted pretty great, but definitely had that tell-tale, whole-wheaty color to them. Second, I would really like to make these using a cheddar or gouda that contains annatto, to get them closer to that blinding shade of orange. But I thought about it and realized that they were pretty great the first time around, and half the fun of making these yourself is customizing them however you want. So go ahead and experiment!
Homemade Three-Cheese & Black Pepper Cheez-Its
(adapted from A Cozy Kitchen)
- ½ cup of sharp cheddar, grated
- ½ cup of parmesan, grated
- ½ cup of jarlsberg, grated (if you don’t have access to jarlsberg, any mild-but-yummy cheese—young gouda, emmenthal, etc.—will work as a substitute)
- 4 tbsp (½ stick) butter, softened and cut into 4 pieces
- ¾ cup of flour
- 1½ tsp freshly-ground pepper
- ½ tsp kosher salt for dough, plus another 1 tsp for topping
- 1 tbsp half-and-half
Preheat your oven to 350°.
Combine cheese, butter, flour, pepper, and ½ tsp of salt in a food processor. Cover and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Add the half-and-half and process until the dough comes together.
Transfer the dough to a floured surface. (My dough was a bit sticky, and might have benefited from a little bit of time in the fridge, but I didn’t feel like waiting.) Carefully roll out dough into a 13″ x 7″ rectangle 1/16″ thick. Keep an eye on your dough as you roll it out to make sure it isn’t sticking to the rolling pin, and re-flour the pin if necessary.
Cut the dough into 1-inch squares using a knife or pasta wheel. Poke a hole in the center of each square using the flat end of a skewer, or whatever else you have handy.
Carefully transfer each square to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then sprinkle with the remaining 1 tsp of salt.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until the ends of the crackers just begin to brown. Let them cool for a few minutes, then snack away!
I can’t believe you actually made those. They also happen to look amazing. God, why do you live so far away again?
You should email me your new address. I love to send care packages!
Awesome! Tom will go absolutely bananas (to use a food analogy) when he sees these!
I get super excited about homemade versions of popular snacks! And these things are dangerously easy to make.
Wow – These are wonderful !!
Definitely gonna try to make them
I’m not sure if we have here jarlsberg cheese here (the name is probably different here) – so I might have to substitute
Thanks, Winnie! Yes, any sort of mild cheese—like gouda, emmenthal, or perhaps muenster—would work nicely as a substitute.
Everything homemade is a treat for me…Now, this recipe makes in between -meals -snacks even healthier without disregarding fun. It looks so crunchy and cheesy…Will definitely try!
These look GREAT! I’m just thinking about how to make the process even easier. Two questions: 1) The hole poked in the middle is just for aesthetics, right? To make them more like commercial cheez-its? and 2) How difficult do you think it would be to cut/break them up AFTER baking, instead of before? I don’t really care if they are assorted shapes and sizes. I’m just guessing that transferring each little square of dough might be an annoying step. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Either way, I’m definitely going to give these a try! Yum! And thanks for posting!
Thanks, Joy! Actually, that little hole poked in the center is both cute and functional, as it keeps the crackers from puffing up during the baking process. As far as the transferring of the crackers goes, it’s definitely a tedious process! I think it would be worth it to try rolling the dough out on parchment paper, making the cuts and poking the holes, then transferring the whole sheet onto the baking tray. They might bake together a bit in the oven, but should hopefully break apart easily enough along the cut lines. If you give this method a try, let me know how it turns out!
Good thinking! I’ll be making these tonight, and will report back…
I made them and they’re divine! Ended up following your original directions in terms of rolling out and transferring — it wasn’t too bad. Will definitely make these again, possibly within the next couple of days. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Yay! So glad you liked them. :)
You quite possibly have changed my life! Never thought to make Cheez-Its at home – they were a staple in my house, and when times were tough and my Mom brought home Cheese Nips, we revolted! No, they are not the same as Cheez-Its!
Thanks for the recipe – can’t wait to try!
Me neither! I avoid seeking out homemade versions of snacks because I know I’ll become obsessed, but sometimes fate just can’t seem to resist intervening and bringing them to me. :)
the office is such a trap for mindless snacking. These cheezits look 10x better than the generic variety
What a great idea! I love cheese its but I know they’re so bad for you. At least homemade don’t seem as unhealthy. Thanks for sharing.
These look really great, I`m sure they taste much better than the boxed kind.
Hi Carey! I am definitely linking your recipe to my blog. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be trying this recipe! I’m using meunster instead of jarlsberg since it was a lot cheaper. I’ll tell you how it goes after I’m done.
Hi Sarah! Awesome, thank you—I can’t wait to see how they turn out! :)
Really excited to give these a try! I totally know what you mean about offices creating bad eating habits. It’s way easier to throw back 3 cups of coffee when the office always have a freshly brewed pot. At home my keurig gives me *1* perfectly brewed cup! The cost of the Kcups keeps me from over indulging. :)
Hehe! My auto-drip recently broke (thanks to years of in-office use), so now my french press keeps my coffee consumption in check. :)
A month after bookmarking, I finally made these.
Oh. Dear.
This may forever be called the Cheez-It incident of 2011. They are addicting! The pepper, the cheese…oh so delicious!
I already warned my boyfriend that they are not to be consumed a handful at a time!
Hehe! Aren’t they awesome? I kept walking back to the kitchen to grab more and more and more, and finally stopped once I began to feel a bit nauseous. :P