Slice and Bake Cheddar Cheese Coins

These cheddar cheese coins (aka cheese pennies) are a cross between shortbread and a Cheez-it. They're crisp but flaky, super buttery and cheesy, slightly spicy, and are a perfect snack or an amazing soup cracker. Best of all, they only require a few basic ingredients and are super simple to make.

From homemade cheez-its to rosemary olive oil crackers to gourmet fruit and nut crackers, we've made a ton of different cracker recipes at home and these might be my favorite so far. They're a simple combination of shredded cheddar, flour, butter, cayenne pepper, paprika, and other spices that's rolled into a log and coated with everything bagel seasoning. It's a slightly updated and foolproof version of a classic recipe.

As they bake in the oven, little bits of cheese melt and caramelize to create crisp, but tender and ultra cheesy, buttery crackers. These are perfect to give to friends and family as an edible gift, but be careful: you might end up eating them all before they find their way into a gift box.

If you're looking for a sweet recipe that you can slice and bake, then check out our Christmas Cookies.

What You Need to Make This Recipe

• Extra-sharp cheddar cheese: It bakes up to a beautiful orange color and its flavor is strong enough to come through against a backdrop of spices. You can also use whatever shredded cheese you have on hand, like mozzarella, asiago, or parmesan, or mix and match cheeses. We recommend shredding your own cheese versus buying pre-shredded.
• Cayenne pepper, paprika, ground dry mustard, salt: This is the spice blend we chose for these crackers. ¼ teaspoon of cayenne packs just a touch of heat that shouldn't be too spicy for most palates. If you don't want to risk it, leave it out, or if you want it spicier, add another ¼ teaspoon.
• Everything bagel seasoning: We rolled our dough logs in this to add a touch of extra flavor, but you can omit it or use sesame seeds instead.
• All-purpose flour: We have not tested this recipe with gluten free flour, but it should work fine.
• Unsalted butter: Make sure it's softened to room temperature so it's easier to incorporate into the dough.

How to Make this Recipe

STEP 1: To a medium-sized or large mixing bowl, add the all-purpose flour, softened butter, cayenne pepper, paprika, ground mustard and salt. Use a hand or stand mixer until the butter is evenly incorporated with the dry ingredients, to a biscuit-like consistency. You can also use your hands instead, which might be easier than using a mixer.

STEP 2: Add in the cheddar cheese to the butter/flour/spice mixture and mix with a mixer, a rigid spatula, or your hands, until the dough comes together and forms a ball. It should be speckled with little pieces of cheese and it should stick together when pressed between your thumb and forefinger.

STEP 3: Divide the dough in half and move to a silicon baking sheet or a lightly floured work surface. If the dough isn't completely incorporated, knead it for a few seconds to incorporate any stray crumbs and ensure there aren't any internal gaps. Use your hands to roll each dough half into a log measuring 8" (20cm) long and 1.5" (~4cm) in diameter.

STEP 4: Sprinkle everything bagel seasoning or sesame seeds onto your work surface and give the dough logs a roll through them. Wrap each dough log with plastic wrap and transfer dough to the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours or place in the freezer for 30 minutes, until the dough feels firm.

STEP 5: Heat oven to 400˚F (205˚C). Using a serrated knife, cut your dough logs into thin coins that are slightly less than ¼" thick. Too thick is better than too thin, as thin crackers will burn fairly quickly. We were able to get about 45 coins per log. You don't need to give them a ton of space, but they will spread slightly as they bake.

STEP 6: Place coins down onto a parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges just barely start to brown.

Storage

We recommend storing these in an airtight container at room temperature once they are completely cool. They'll keep for 5-7 days, and they stay surprisingly crisp. (But don't worry, they won't last that long!)

Lexi's Best Tips and Tricks

• Use room temperature butter: If your butter isn't softened, it's going to be almost impossible to incorporate your butter into the dough. If you're short on time, cube the butter and place it in the microwave for about 10 seconds, which should soften it without melting.
• Mixing: We've made this recipe with a stand mixer, a hand mixer, and with just our hands. Using a hand mixer/your hands will give you nice little chunks of cheese that will melt and bubble up and make your crackers more aesthetically pleasing, while a stand mixer or food processor will evenly incorporate everything and you won't get those little cheesy dots. They'll taste exactly the same, though.
• Kneading: If your dough isn't completely incorporated straight from the mixing bowl, just knead it on your work surface for a few seconds to incorporate any stray crumbs. The handling of the dough is important because you don't want your hands to warm up the dough, which will start to melt the butter.
• Baking: Make sure you place these on oven racks positioned in the lower-middle positions of your oven to ensure they don't cook too quickly.
• Make-ahead: If you want to make these ahead of time, we'd recommend following the recipe through step 4, where you place the dough in the fridge or freezer. Then you can just take them out of the fridge/freezer, let them thaw until workable, and then slice and bake.

More homemade cracker recipes to try

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