Gluten Free Homemade Bacon Cheez-it Crackers

My dad is a cheez-it lover, so growing up, of course I loved them just as much as him. There is nothing better than making something out of your own kitchen, and it tasting just as good (if not better), than the store-bought brand. These cheesy crackers are not only gluten and wheat free, but are made with bits of bacon. YES, BACON!

*Makes: About 60-80 cheez-its (depending on size)

Ingredients

• 1 cup (130g) of gluten free plain flour
• 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum
• 8 oz total, 3 1/2 oz grated cheddar cheese (100g) & 4 1/2 oz shredded mozzarella cheese (160g)
• 1/2 cup (110g) of salted butter cut into chunks
• 2 tbs of ice water
• 1/8 tsp of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of hot paprika
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 4 pieces of bacon, chopped up

Directions

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375F/175C. Grease pans with cooking spray and set aside. Cook your bacon until it is crispy and let cool for a few minutes. Chop up into small pieces and set aside.

Step 2: Combine flour, xanthan gum, salt, garlic powder, and paprika in a food processor and pulse until combined.

Step 3: Add the butter, cheese, and chopped bacon in the food processor, and pulse again.  It will end up looking like coarse crumbs.  

Step 3: Slowly add the water while pulsing (you probably will only need 2-3 tbsp).  Remove, and knead into a ball ( you can stick it in the fridge for 20 minutes to make sure the dough is solid enough if you would like). Roll the dough onto parchment paper using a rolling pin and make sure to sprinkle some flour down so it doesn't stick. Once you have the dough about 1/8 of to 1/4 of an inch thick, use a pizza cutter (or a pastry cutter) to cut your lines and squares. So the dough doesn't stick to your cutter, you can keep dipping it into flour. 

Step 5: Once you have them cut into squares, separate them and using a toothpick cut in half or the bottom of a skewer, make a hole in the middle of each square to resemble a cheez-it. You can also use a fork like I did, to go around the edges, which also resembles a real cheez-it. Place them on the greased pan once you are finished with them.

  

Step 6: You made have extra dough left over. Roll that back up into a ball and roll back out and make as many more cheez-its as you can. 

Step 7: Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. You want to make sure that when you press in the middle of the cheez-it, that it is hard and not soft. It probably took mine a total of 27 minutes for mine to be completely done and hard.  Let them cool on a wire rack before serving. They taste better than the real thing, so enjoy!