There's a reason a sleeve of Ritz disappears so quickly, and it's that buttery, salty, slightly sweet flavor that most homemade crackers never quite get right. Our version uses butter and a few simple folds to build those signature flaky layers, and they come out of the oven crisp, golden, and tasting exactly like the ones in the red box. Actually, they're even better!
Yes, You Can Make Ritz Crackers at Home!
Ritz crackers have been on our Better Than Store-Bought list for a long time. The flavor is easy enough to match with butter, a little sugar, and salt. The texture is the tricky part, because a Ritz is tender and flaky in a way that most homemade crackers aren't.
The answer is to treat the dough a bit like pie crust or rough puff pastry. We leave a good amount of butter intact in the dough, and then roll and fold the dough three times so the dough has a layered structure. In the oven those layers puff apart, and you get a cracker that's crisp on the outside and flaky on the inside.
This recipe started with the dough from our Copycat Ritz Peanut Butter Cracker Sandwiches. That dough had too much baking powder and too much salt, and it used bread flour and more water.
A few of you told us those crackers rose and shrank into tiny bite-size biscuits, so we reworked them to make this new and improved version. Switching to all-purpose flour and cutting back the baking powder, salt, and water got the flavor exactly right, but that first batch came out pale and tough instead of flaky.
Folding the dough is what finally gave us the layers. It took a couple more rounds after that to get the thickness right, but once we got that right, these had the taste and texture of the store-bought version!
Serve them with our marinated cheese, Christmas tree cheese ball, pile them onto a charcuterie board, or eat them plain!
xoxo, Lexi & Beth
Once you have a batch, turn some into peanut butter cracker sandwiches or cheese cracker sandwiches. If you love a homemade cracker project, try our gourmet fruit and nut crackers and white cheddar spritz crackers next.
Key Ingredients Needed for Homemade Ritz Crackers
- All-purpose flour: Our original dough used bread flour, and the extra protein made it stretchy, which meant crackers that shrank in the oven and baked up tough. All-purpose flour gives the crackers enough structure to hold their layers while staying tender. We recommend weighing it (190g) if you can. We haven't tested this recipe with gluten-free flour.
- Baking powder: Only 1 teaspoon. Our original dough used 2½ teaspoons, which was part of why those crackers rose like little biscuits. A small amount gives you a light, crisp cracker that still bakes flat.
- Heavy cream (for the wash): A thin coat of heavy cream gets brushed on right before baking. We tested four washes side by side (heavy cream, milk with a pinch of sugar, egg yolk with cream, and melted butter), and heavy cream was the winner. We wanted golden tops without the shine of a classic egg wash, since a Ritz is golden but not glossy. In our tests, an egg yolk wash left the tops shiny and a little patchy, and brushing melted butter on after baking left the crackers too pale.
How to Make Homemade Ritz Crackers
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below. Here's a quick look at each phase so you know what to expect.
Make the dough
To a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt, and pulse to combine. Add the cold butter and pulse until the pieces are about the size of peas. Keep pulsing while you drizzle in the cold water (the butter will break down into smaller pieces as you go), and stop as soon as the dough no longer looks powdery. Turn it out onto the counter, and if it isn't quite holding together, knead it for a few seconds to bring it into one piece.
Roll and fold
Pat the dough into a rectangle, roll it out to about 6×12 inches (15×30cm), and fold it in thirds like a letter. Turn it 90 degrees, then roll and fold two more times. There's no need to chill between folds. Wrap the dough and chill it for 1 hour.
Roll and cut
Roll the chilled dough into a 12×14-inch (30×35cm) rectangle. Try to hit those dimensions, since the size of the sheet sets the thickness of the crackers. Cut with a 2-inch (5cm) fluted cutter. One sheet makes about 25-30 crackers.
Brush and bake
Brush the crackers with a thin coat of heavy cream, then use a thin skewer to poke 7 holes all the way through each one and sprinkle with salt. The holes let steam escape so the layers rise evenly instead of ballooning. Move the crackers to a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake at 350°F/175°C on the middle rack for 18 to 22 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden brown and the tops are no longer completely pale.
Top Tips from the CK Test Kitchen!
- Keep everything cold. Cold butter is what makes these flaky. If the dough starts to feel soft or greasy at any point, put it back in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes before you keep going. You'll also want to use cold water to make sure the butter stays cold.
- Add the water when the butter is the size of peas. The pieces get smaller as the water is pulsed in, and those small pieces of butter and the folds work together to make the flaky interior.
- Roll the sheet to the full 12×14 inches. Thickness makes a big difference here. When we rolled the dough too thin, we got 37 crackers that baked flat with no lift. A 12×12-inch (30×30cm) sheet gave us 25 crackers that were a touch too thick. At 12×14 inches (30×35cm) you'll get 25 to 30 crackers.
- Poke the holes all the way through. Shallow holes close up as the crackers bake, and then the layers balloon instead of rising evenly. We use a thin skewer and poke one hole in the center, four more in a square around it, and one on each side of the square in line with the center hole.
- Watch the edges. The crackers are done when the edges start to turn golden brown and the tops are no longer completely pale, which takes 18 to 22 minutes.
- Know what to expect from scraps. We tried re-rolling the scraps, but the crackers baked from the scraps were super tough and didn't have that flaky texture we wanted.
- Make ahead: Refrigerate the dough overnight, or completely assemble the crackers and then refrigerate them until you're ready to bake.
- No food processor? We haven't tested it, but a pastry cutter or your fingertips should work for cutting in the butter, as long as you work quickly and leave the pieces about the size of peas.
How to Store Homemade Ritz Crackers
Let the crackers cool completely, then store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight at room temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why aren't my crackers flaky?
The butter most likely got too warm or was blended in completely. Start with very cold butter, add the water when the pieces are about the size of peas, and chill the dough if it starts to feel soft.
Why did my homemade crackers puff up and shrink?
This usually comes down to too much gluten or too much leavening. Our original dough used bread flour, more water, and 2½ teaspoons of baking powder (which was too much), and readers told us the crackers came out like tiny biscuits. This version uses all-purpose flour, less water, and just 1 teaspoon of baking powder to fix that.
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Recipe
Homemade Ritz Crackers
Ingredients
Method
- To a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt, and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the pieces are about the size of peas.
- While pulsing, drizzle in the water until the dough no longer looks powdery. The butter will break down into smaller pieces as you pulse.
- Turn the dough out onto the counter. If it isn't holding together, knead it for a few seconds, then pat it into a rectangle.
- Roll the dough out to about 6×12 inches (15×30cm). Fold it in thirds like a letter, turn it 90 degrees, then roll and repeat the folding process two more times (no need to chill between folds). This is what creates flaky layers.
- Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C with a rack in the middle position, and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Roll the dough into a 12×14-inch (30×35cm) rectangle.
- Cut the dough into circles with a 2-inch (5cm) fluted cutter.
- Brush the crackers with a thin coat of heavy cream. Using a thin skewer, poke 7 holes all the way through each cracker (one in the center, four in a square around it, and one on each side of the square in line with the center hole), then sprinkle lightly with salt. Transfer to the prepared sheet pan.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden brown and the tops are no longer completely pale. Let them cool on the pan.
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