Vegan Cheese Crackers
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 heaping teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon paprika
1 heaping teaspoon onion powder
1 heaping teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
dash cayenne powder
pinch dried thyme (rubbed)
1/2 cup ice cold water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil, chilled
sea salt (for sprinkling)
olive oil or canola oil spray
1. Set your oven to 375° F. Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, nooch, baking soda, salt, spices) in a large bowl. Use a whisk to get everything incorporated. In a separate bowl mix the ice water with apple cider vinegar and set aside. Slowly pour the well chilled canola oil into the dry mixture, using your other hand to mix it in. Continue mixing with hands until mixture appears crumbly.
2. Gradually pour in the iced water and vinegar mixture and begin working everything together until a dough forms. Mixture should be moist and pliable. If it's a little dry, add water a few tablespoons at a time until the right consistency is reached.
3. Form dough into a ball and allow to rest inside the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Take a portion of the dough and roll out to about 1/8" thickness. The thinner you go the more crisp your cracker will be. Try to roll the dough out to this thickness all around.
4. Using a small cookie cutter of your choice, begin cutting out your shapes. I used a small paring knife and a chop stick to carve in the little details on each individual cracker. Place your crackers on prepared baking sheet, spray the tops of the crackers with olive or canola oil spray and sprinkle with fine sea salt.
5. Continue the rolling and cutting process until you run out of dough. Any remaining dough scraps should be refrigerated and allowed to rest before re-rolling. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the bottoms are a light golden brown. Slide crackers on a parchment paper lined cooling rack. Once cooled, store in an air tight container at room temperature.
These should keep for about a week or so, but I doubt they'll last that long.
Tips:
Save yourself time and get some mini-cookie cutters. The first time I made these I hand carved squares to make my own cheez-its. It was not fun and the crackers were not as cool looking.
Allow the scrap dough to chill and rest about 10 minutes before re-rolling and cutting. Also place any ready to bake sheet pans in the fridge while you're working on a different sheet. The trick is to keep the crackers chilled before they hit the oven.
Source of recipe: Recipe inspired by lack of tasty vegan cheese cracker options.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
These turned out very delicious, even well worth the effort and time put into them. I always bake a recipe to the T first and then I tweak it on my own. First, I noticed even when the dough was rolled very Thin the crackers puff up alot. the puffier, softer ones weren't very good because the reminded me of stiff biscuits. The trick is to roll the dough very thin, I had to flip mine over mid-bake to get them crispy. I even baked some an extra few minutes and those were perfectly crispy. What I might try next time around for flavor is add 1tsp-1tbs brown mustard to the dough, which will add that pungent, sharp flavor I miss from cheese crackers. Usually mustard adds a missing flavor to my homemade vegan Mac and cheese, so when I try it out ill post if it made a difference. Overall, this recipe helped fill the gap in my heart that goldfish left!
Thanks for reviewing, guys! Feedback is imperative to perfecting this recipe. Since this posted I've made 3 more versions. I've swapped out water for soymilk which lends a creamier flavor and also a nice cheddar-y tang when curdled with the apple cider vinegar. I've also up'd the nooch factor, going with a full cup. I'm totally into the flavor of nutritional yeast, so it may not be for everyone. If you find you're getting a grainy texture (which I've never encountered) it's probably from your nutritional yeast flake. Grind it down into powder via food processor, just use a little less than a cup if you're afraid of the flavor (Crazy!). I've also doubled the amount of garlic and onion powder, added a couple tablespoons of faux chicken broth powder, a half teaspoon of dried dill, as well as doubled the paprika, added a few dashes of tamari (braggs is good too) and some fresh ground pepper. If you're adding the faux chix broth and tamari, decrease the sea salt by a half teaspoon. Feel free to taste the uncooked dough for saltiness. That's what I did, and it helped tons. There's always room for improvement, but I think I've got it just where I like it. My boyfriend and co-workers all agree.
As for troubleshooting, obviously if your dough is too wet, add a touch more flour. If the opposite is true, add more liquid. I've also increased a bit of the oil amount (up to 2/3 cup) (I don't give a damn about fat!) because I actually like the greasy finger action when consuming these little guys. TOTALLY reminds me of greasy cheez-its! Salty and greasy perfection. Either way these are way healthier than any similar item in a box at the store. I win.
P.S. let them cool completely before consuming. They don't achieve total crispness until then.
Thanks!
I used soy flour and they turned out wonderful! THANK YOU!
These are DARN good. I used way more spices because thats how I roll. I also added ground mustard and some smoked salt (and I topped half of them with smoked salt, mmm). It was a little time consuming, but I think it was fun and worth it. I used little cookie cutters to cut them out.
Cheez-its? What's that? :-D Oh my gawd these things are magical!! I'm in love, thanks! :)>>>
I finally got around to making these, and all I have to say is bravo!! I followed the recipe exactly as it was and they came out perfectly. Next time I think I am going to mess around with some different spice and flavor combos. Jalapeno cheese crackers are definitely going to be a must!
These do not taste like cheese crackers at all, but they were ok. They actually had kind of a 'fishy' taste, so not everyone enjoyed them. I think this recipe just needs some alterations to suit our tastes better, they were just a little overdone with the seasoning.
did you use a strong oil? such as olive oil? the fishy taste could be from using an oil with a strong flavor.
I have fallen in L-O-V-E! Thanks for this recipe. My boyfriend, an omni, keeps cheese its on hand almost always. With me being a fairly new vegan I find myself missing cheese its :( they were my fav. these crackers are better then I remember cheese its to be! thank you!
These do not taste like cheese crackers at all, but they were ok. They actually had kind of a 'fishy' taste, so not everyone enjoyed them. I think this recipe just needs some alterations to suit our tastes better, they were just a little overdone with the seasoning.
These were super awesome! Is there a possibility of maybe lessening the oil amount? My hands get a little greasy after devouring... I mean eating them. ha!
I used pumpkin puree for half of the oil, and it worked beautifully! I was a little nervous about the crackers taking on a pumpkin flavor, but they didn't at all. No one would ever know they contained pumpkin - plus, it gave the crackers an even brighter, pretty orange hue!
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