Cheddar Crisps (Recipe)

 

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (6 ounces)
1/2 cup cold water
2 tablespoons white vinegar
Coarsely ground black pepper

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 375c.  Grease a large baking sheet.  Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, sugar and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter or margarine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

3. Using a fork, stir in the shredded cheese, cold water and vinegar just until the mixture forms a soft dough.  If necessary, knead the mixture in the bowl until smooth.  Shape the dough into a ball.  Wrap the ball with plastic wrap and refrigerate about 1 hour or until it is firm enough to handle.

 

4. On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll one-fourth of the dough into a paper-thin round approximately 13 inches in diameter (edges may be ragged).  Keep the remaining dough refrigerated.  Using a fluted pastry cutter or a pizza cutter, cut the round into 8 wedges.

5. Transfer the wedges to the prepared baking sheet.  Sprinkle the crackers with the black pepper. Firmly press the pepper into the dough.  Bake in the 375c oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until browned and crisp.  Transfer the crackers to wire racks to cool.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Store the cooled crackers in a tightly covered container.

Tips:

For variety, sprinkle the crackers with sesame seed or poppy seed instead of pepper.  Or, substitute pepper cheese for all or part of the cheddar cheese.

The crackers can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer, although they will lose some of their crispness.

For smaller wedges, divide the dough into 8 equal portions.  Roll one-eighth of the dough into a paper-thin round, approximately 10 inches in diameter.  Cut into 8 wedges.  This will yield 64 crackers.