Cheez Its!

Here we go again!  I'm in a snacky mood (what else is new), so I decided to make my very own Cheez-Its!  DISCLAIMER:  These aren't the healthiest treats ever, but at least they're homemade and delicious.  Woo Hoo!  Who doesn't love Cheez-Its?!

We start with:

Red pepper flakes, salt, butter, milk, cheddar cheese and flour.  We dump everything (but the milk) into the food processor.  Let's start with 6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese (I had an 8-oz. cube, so I just threw in the whole thing).  Then we add half a stick of butter, softened and cut into small cubes.  Then 3/4 cup flour:

This is when I remembered to start taking pictures (I'm not the sharpest tool in the crayon box).  Next, we add 1/2 teaspoon of salt:

and 1/2 a teaspoon of red pepper flakes (this doesn't make it spicy):

Here's our mixture:

Now let's pulse!

Then I add a tablespoon of milk:

Then pulse again until a dough forms and pour it onto a floured surface.  This is what it should look like:

It's pretty sticky, so you'll need some flour to roll it out.  Roll it relatively thin (thinner than mine), since they ended up puffing up a bit:

It should be way more square than my attempt, but I'm not that talented.  Now we're ready to make Cheez-Its!  Grab a pizza cutter (or knife) and cut strips in one direction:

Now let's go in the other direction:

My squares look terrible, but they're just for me so I didn't sweat it too much.  However, if I were making them for a party or occasion, I would definitely try to make them more square (and smaller).  Then I took a toothpick and made that trademark hole in the middle:

I should have used a skewer or something because these holes were too small and once baked, they were nonexistent (kinda like my social life (I live with my parents!)).  Yay Cheez-Its!

Then take the scraps and re-roll them out and keep making squares until you use all the dough.

Then onto the cookie sheet they go:

Then I baked for 12 minutes (bake until slightly browned-careful they're supposedly easy to burn):

Some of them puffed up quite a bit, so I needed to make them way smaller (with bigger holes).  Either way, they were delicious!!!

They went like hotcakes!  What is a hotcake?  Is it a pancake?  I don't really know anyone that likes pancakes THAT much, so that saying doesn't really apply in my life.  Make these today and I guarantee you will be the talk of the town!

Join me next time, when I need a forklift to lift me (and my 8 tons of Cheez-Its) out of my house.  It's amazing I have a boyfriend.  Sometimes I think he's legally blind (and probably a little deaf too).