Cheddar Fish Crackers
By Katie LeairdPublished on January 4, 2023
Time
1 hour, plus cooling time
Yield
Serves 4 to 6 (Makes 100 to 125 crackers)
What Kids Are Saying
“My whole family loved them!” —Charlotte, recipe tester, age 8
Ingredients
Before You Begin
White cheddar works in this recipe, but we prefer the orange color of yellow cheddar. You can use sharp or extra-sharp cheddar. You can find fish cracker cutters online or at arts and crafts stores. If you can’t find one, you can use any 1-inch cookie cutter you like.
Instructions
- Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Add cheddar, flour, cornstarch, and salt to food processor and lock lid into place. Turn on processor and process until mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Stop processor and remove lid.
- Add chilled butter to food processor, lock lid back into place, and process until mixture looks like wet sand, about 20 seconds. Stop processor and remove lid.
- Add water to processor and lock lid back into place. Hold down pulse button for 1 second, then release. Repeat until dough forms large clumps, about five 1-second pulses.
- Remove lid and carefully remove processor blade (ask an adult for help). Sprinkle clean counter lightly with extra flour. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter.
- Gently knead dough for about 20 seconds, then roll and cut into fish shapes following photos, “Step-by-Step: How to Shape Cheddar Fish Crackers,” below.
- Sprinkle counter lightly with more flour. Gather dough scraps together and repeat rolling and cutting dough until only tiny scraps remain (discard scraps).
- Place baking sheet in refrigerator and chill cut dough for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Once dough is chilled, place baking sheet in oven and bake until crackers are puffed and firm, 14 to 16 minutes.
- Use oven mitts to remove baking sheet from oven and place on cooling rack (ask an adult for help). Let crackers cool completely on baking sheet, about 15 minutes. Serve. (Crackers can be stored at room temperature in airtight container for up to 1 week.)
Time
1 hour, plus cooling timeYield
Serves 4 to 6 (Makes 100 to 125 crackers)What Kids Are Saying
“My whole family loved them!” —Charlotte, recipe tester, age 8Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
These homemade cheddar fish crackers have even better cheddar flavor than the store-bought version, plus they’re supersimple to make! Making the dough in the food processor is quick and easy, and kids will have a blast rolling and cutting out the little fish. Using yellow cheddar cheese gives these crackers their classic orange color (yes, yellow cheddar is actually orange!). If you happen to have any white cheddar on hand, have kids do a blind taste test of white and yellow cheddar while their crackers bake. Have them put on a blindfold and give them a piece of each type of cheese to taste. Which do they think is the white cheddar? The yellow cheddar? Yellow cheddar gets its (orange) color from annatto seeds, a natural and tasteless dye. The flavor difference between the two is usually pretty subtle, and could be due to what the cows ate whose milk became each cheese, or one variety might have more fat or salt than the other. New research also suggests that annatto might also have a subtle effect on the cheese’s flavor, too. Now that’s some cheesy science!
Before You Begin
White cheddar works in this recipe, but we prefer the orange color of yellow cheddar. You can use sharp or extra-sharp cheddar. You can find fish cracker cutters online or at arts and crafts stores. If you can’t find one, you can use any 1-inch cookie cutter you like.
Instructions
- Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Add cheddar, flour, cornstarch, and salt to food processor and lock lid into place. Turn on processor and process until mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Stop processor and remove lid.
- Add chilled butter to food processor, lock lid back into place, and process until mixture looks like wet sand, about 20 seconds. Stop processor and remove lid.
- Add water to processor and lock lid back into place. Hold down pulse button for 1 second, then release. Repeat until dough forms large clumps, about five 1-second pulses.
- Remove lid and carefully remove processor blade (ask an adult for help). Sprinkle clean counter lightly with extra flour. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter.
- Gently knead dough for about 20 seconds, then roll and cut into fish shapes following photos, “Step-by-Step: How to Shape Cheddar Fish Crackers,” below.
- Sprinkle counter lightly with more flour. Gather dough scraps together and repeat rolling and cutting dough until only tiny scraps remain (discard scraps).
- Place baking sheet in refrigerator and chill cut dough for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Once dough is chilled, place baking sheet in oven and bake until crackers are puffed and firm, 14 to 16 minutes.
- Use oven mitts to remove baking sheet from oven and place on cooling rack (ask an adult for help). Let crackers cool completely on baking sheet, about 15 minutes. Serve. (Crackers can be stored at room temperature in airtight container for up to 1 week.)
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