Cheesy, crispy, and salty, these homemade Cheez-Its taste just like the real thing. They're super easy to make with just 5 ingredients and a super simple process.
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Why We Love This Recipe
- Just 5 ingredients: Cheese, milk, flour, butter, and salt. That's it!
- Simple recipe: Just pulse everything in a food processor, roll out the dough, cut it, poke a hole in each cracker, and bake! This is easy enough that you can do with your kids.
- Tastes just like store bought: These crackers are just as crispy, cheesy, and salty as the real thing!
Ingredients and Notes
Here's what you'll need to make these homemade cheez its:
- Cheese: We used a sharp yellow cheddar, but you can also use white. If you want the cheese flavor to stand out in the final cracker, be sure to use a sharp or extra sharp cheese variety. It's best to shred your own cheese from a block of cheddar, as store-bought shredded cheese contains anti-caking agents.
- Flour: We used all purpose flour.
- Gluten free: We have not personally tested this recipe with gluten free flour. A few people commented that they have tried it and they did not turn out very crispy.
- Butter: Unsalted is best. If you're using salted, cut the listed salt amount (½ teaspoon) in half. Make sure the butter is cold when you put it into the food processor.
- Milk: We used cold, whole milk in this recipe. 2% or skim should work as well, though we haven't tested it with lower-fat milks.
- Salt: We always use a coarse kosher salt. If you're using regular table salt, you'll want to add less than the stated quantity in this recipe.
Equipment
Zwilling Fresh & Save
Since these crackers are at their best when they're crispy, it's important that you get them into an airtight container right away so they stay super fresh and keep their snap and crunch. We highly recommend Zwilling's Fresh & Save containers to ensure your crackers stay at their best for as long as possible.
These containers can be vacuum sealed to keep food fresh for up to five times longer(!) than regular containers. We've been using Zwilling's Fresh & Save line for years now, and they're the only storage containers we use - there's a drawer in our house that's filled with them, and our fridge is packed with Fresh & Save containers.
Best of all, they're dishwasher safe, microwave safe, freezer safe and they come in plenty of sizes. The glass ones that we show here are also oven safe! So go ahead, try them out!
We also love that the Fresh & Save line has vacuum seal bags – they're ideal for long term freezer storage.
If you're looking to store dried foods in your pantry, Zwilling also has you covered with their CUBE container sets. It's the same vacuum seal technology as the Fresh & Save containers, but made for dry ingredients!
They also come with reusable labels, measuring and prep tools and more for optimal organization. I'm moving into my new house in a few months and can't WAIT to organize my pantry with these Cube containers!
Step-by-step Instructions
PREP: Preheat oven to 325˚F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
STEP 1: Add the cheese, flour and salt to a food processor and pulse several times. Add in the butter and pulse a few more times, until the dough is crumbly.
STEP 2: Add in the milk, then pulse several more times. The dough won’t come together in a ball, but it should come together when you press it between two fingers.
STEP 3: Transfer to a lightly floured surface. Roll into a large rectangle, rolling as thinly as possible. We go even thinner than ⅛-inch as they puff up quite a bit when baking.
STEP 4: Using a knife, pizza cutter or fluted pastry wheel, slice into 1-inch squares. Use the flat end of a skewer to poke a hole all the way through each cracker. Transfer to sheet pans and sprinkle with more salt.
STEP 5: Bake for 17-20 minutes, until deep golden brown on the bottom of each cracker. If they are too light, they won’t have much crisp. Let cool completely before enjoying!
Expert Tips and FAQs
- Use a fluted pastry cutter to get those trademark edges.
- Be sure to roll it out as thin as possible. If it's not thin enough, they puff up into what almost become squares.
- Add salt before cooking in the oven - it won't stick if you add it after.
- Store these in an airtight container and they'll keep for about a week, or even longer if you're using Zwilling Fresh & Save containers! If they start to lose some of their crispiness, you can reheat them in the oven for 5-8 minutes.
Related Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Homemade Cheez Its
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 150-200 crackers 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Cheesy, crispy, and salty, these homemade Cheez-Its taste just like the real thing. They're super easy to make with just 5 ingredients and a super simple process.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt, plus more for topping
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 tablespoons whole milk (cold)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325˚F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add the cheese, flour and salt to a food processor and pulse several times. Add in the butter and pulse a few more times, until the dough is crumbly.
- Add in the milk, then pulse several more times. The dough won’t come together in a ball, but it should come together when you press it between two fingers.
- Transfer to a lightly floured surface. Roll into a large rectangle, rolling as thinly as possible. We go even thinner than ⅛-inch as they puff up quite a bit when baking.
- Using a knife, pizza cutter or fluted pastry wheel, slice into 1-inch squares. Use the flat end of a skewer to poke a hole all the way through each cracker. Transfer to sheet pans and sprinkle with more salt.
- Bake for 17-20 minutes, until deep golden brown on the bottom of each cracker. If they are too light, they won’t have much crisp. Let cool completely before enjoying!
Notes
Storage: These will last up to a week in an airtight container. If they start to lose some of their crispiness, you can reheat them in the oven for 5-8 minutes.
Gluten free: We have not personally tested this recipe with gluten free flour. A few people commented that they have tried it and they did not turn out very crispy.
Butter: Unsalted is best. If you're using salted, cut the listed salt amount (½ teaspoon) in half. Make sure the butter is cold when you put it into the food processor.
Salt: We always use a coarse kosher salt. If you're using regular table salt, you'll want to add less than the stated quantity in this recipe.
Cheese: It's best to shred your own cheese from a block of cheddar, as store-bought shredded cheese contains anti-caking agents.
Be sure to roll it out as thin as possible. If it's not thin enough, they puff up into what almost become squares.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Snacks
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 10 crackers
- Calories: 89
- Sugar: 0.2 g
- Sodium: 133.3 mg
- Fat: 6.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 5.2 g
- Fiber: 0.2 g
- Protein: 3.3 g
Kim says
We've given up on processed junk. I found this recipe a few months ago and finally got around to making them. The only complaint is that I didn't make them sooner! These are SO much better than Cheez Its!!
Lexi says
So glad you enjoyed!
Parker says
These are SO GOOD. Question- can I make the “dough” and freeze it prior to baking? I’d love to triple it and freeze some for later!
Lexi says
Yes, that should work just fine!
Cherylanne says
I didn’t purchase block cheese but have shredded cheese and I did read not to use store shredded cheese - could I still try (I didn’t do the shopping this week HaHa)
Lexi says
Yes it should be fine!
Agustina Rodriguez says
Amazing recipe! I added a bit of turmeric for that pop of color. Thank you!
Lexi says
So glad you enjoyed!
Andy says
They were EXCELLENT! I love these. I make make these twice a week! I haven't had any homemade snack this good in my life. I'm 14 years old and these are easy to make.
Lexi says
So thrilled to hear that! Thanks so much for your review!
Sue says
These are SOOOOO much better than store bought ones! We loved them and it was nice to get this great taste and crispiness with quality ingredients!
Lexi says
So glad you enjoyed! Thanks so much!
alyssa says
Made these and they were so good!! I ran out of butter so is it possible to substitute margarine for the butter?
Joyce says
Thank you for this recipe! It was super simple with magnificent results! I made a vegan version experimenting with two brands of plant cheese (Daiya and Vevan), Miyoko's salted butter from Costco, and organic soy milk from a local tofu shop. Both brands turned out AMAZING! I didn't add any salt to the dough since the butter is pretty salty as it is, but I did crack Himalayan sea salt on top before baking. For one batch, I added 1/8 tsp chili powder which really enhanced the flavor. Also, I chilled the dough before rolling. This was very time consuming but the crackers are 100% better than store bought. The cheese flavor is so much more robust! Do you have any tips on making the cracker-transfer to baking sheet faster? Or is this something that we just get faster at the more we do it? Thanks again!
Texan Amateur Baker says
I will start by saying I'm not much if a baker, but this was so easy. I made them with gluten-free all purpose flour and macadamia milk they came out amazing! I added an extra tablespoon of unsalted butter since I didn't have whole milk (figured I needed it since my milk lacked fat of whole milk). Now whenever I have a craving I will make my own!
Lexi says
So glad you enjoyed! Thanks so much!
Mandy says
Which gluten-free flour did you use? Did they end up being crispy? We're looking forward to experimenting with this recipe in our house!
Elizabeth says
What if you don’t have a food processor?? Could a dough cutter do the trick??
Lexi says
A dough cutter should be fine, the cheese just won't be quite as evenly mixed into the dough. If you have a blender, you can blend the cheese and flour quickly to incorporate the cheese and then use a dough cutter to work in the butter
Jenna says
Hi, do you need to separate each of the cracker squares before baking or can you keep it as one sheet with the cuts and just brake up after baking?
Lexi says
They may be difficult to separate after baking so I would suggest separating ahead of time! But could be worth a try to save time.
Heather says
I'm about to make these again for the second time, the first time came out amazing but I think my dough was a little too dry. My dough kept sticking to the roller so I couldn't get it as flat as it needed for some of them. - does that sound like dryness? this is my first time using my roller.
Lexi says
If it's sticking to the roller, it actually could be too wet! Try sprinkling some flour on top of the dough and/or the rolling pin and see if that helps.
Karla Piacentini Souza says
Can you use 2% milk with this recipe?
Lexi says
Yes!
Kate says
These look delicious! How long do they stay fresh for in a air tight container?
Lexi says
They should be good for about a week!
Amanda says
Taste like the real deal without all the crap! Great recipe but user error! I didn't roll them thin enough so they got puffy but still tastes amazing! Thank you for sharing!