Gluten-Free Cheddar Cheese Crackers Recipe

TikTok, with its slew of trad wives, may have given homemade crackers a bad name, but there's nothing hokey or unnecessarily complicated about this gluten-free cheddar cheese crackers recipe. They're so easy to make, and taste so much better than anything you can buy in the store, you'll be tempted to make them a part of your weekly meal prep.

According to Ksenia Prints from At the Immigrant's Table, kids and adults alike love these salty, crispy-on-the-outside, sandy-on-the-inside cheddar cheese crackers. There's just something so more-ish about the cheesy interior, and the better the quality of the cheddar you use, the tastier the crackers will be. It's hard to stop at just a couple, so make a double batch if you want to have leftovers.

Made from almond flour and shredded cheddar, these crackers require only a few ingredients and less than half an hour of active prep time. They're flavored with the sharp unami bite of the cheddar, as well as a simple but potent mix of smoked paprika and mustard powder, and the final dusting of flaky sea salt enhances all the flavors. Store-bought crackers don't hold a candle to these homemade gluten-free crackers, which will fly off the plate faster than you can say "goldfish."

To make these gluten-free crackers, you'll need almond flour, mustard powder, smoked paprika, fine sea salt, grated sharp cheddar cheese, unsalted butter, and a large egg. If you want a touch of hit in your crackers, you can add cayenne pepper to the batter, and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt after baking.

Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a food processor, pulse the almond flour, mustard powder, paprika, sea salt, and cayenne, if using.

Add the grated cheddar and butter cubes, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add the beaten egg and pulse until the dough comes together. Avoid overmixing.

Shape the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

Place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll it to ⅛-inch thickness.

Cut the dough into desired shapes with a sharp knife or cookie cutter; the typical design includes a small hole made with a skewer in the middle of the cracker.

Slide the crackers along with the bottom parchment sheet onto a baking sheet.

Bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes until the edges turn golden, rotating halfway.

Using parchment paper, transfer the crackers onto a wire rack.

Let the crackers cool completely about 30 minutes to 1 hour on a wire rack before cutting them again with a knife or dough cutter.

Serve, sprinkled with flaky sea salt if desired.

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Let's be honest here: The flavored crackers available at the store may look tempting, but some of the flavor combinations can be pretty disappointing. You may not be a fan of pepper Jack Ritz crackers, which were voted as one of the worst flavors out there, and we can't say we love them, either. But don't let that discourage you from playing with the flavor combinations of these crackers.

One thing we love doing is adding a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese right before baking these. It crisps to a nice, crunchy layer and adds more cheesy flavor. Another favorite is to substitute half the cheddar for another cheese like Monterey Jack. If you are a fan of spice, don't skip the chili in the mix, and even go further by adding a few shakes of Frank's hot sauce to the dough. If you're going that route, you can amp up the buffalo wing flavor profile by subbing a bit of the cheddar with some crumbled blue cheese.

For a flavor kids love, fold some black and white sesame seeds into the batter once it's been processed. The little ones are also a fan of a bit of honey added to the mix, for a sweet and cheesy combo, or a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar when they come out of the oven in place of the salt.

These gluten-free cheese crackers will keep for a few days at room temperature in a well-sealed container. If you want to make a double batch, you can either make them ahead or store them a bit longer, and we've got some ideas to share from years of making them. If making these in advance, prep the unbaked dough up to three days before baking and store it in the fridge tightly wrapped in plastic. The dough also freezes exceptionally well for up to three months, as do the formed and unbaked crackers.

To store baked crackers, cool them completely at room temperature, then arrange them in a flat, tightly sealed box with parchment paper between the layers. This way, they'll keep up to a week. And if you end up having any crackers that go stale? Just use them in place of bread to make extra-special breadcrumbs.

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