Buckwheat Cheese Crackers with Rosemary

We were at the store to pick up a cart’s worth of water when I spotted it: a red box of those classic yellow cheese crackers in someone else’s load. I haven’t had cheese crackers like those in six years or more, but as soon as I saw them, just like that, I couldn’t get the salty, cheesy taste of them off my mind. When we got home, it turned out we were out of all flours but buckwheat, but then I spotted this recipe online. And if you, like me, don’t immediately think buckwheat when you think cheese cracker, let me tell you, this recipe could be the thing to make that change. These crackers are killer! Addictive and salty and easy to pop by the handful. I used Bob’s Red Mill organic whole-grain buckwheat flour

, which creates a darker, grayer look than some other brands, but the taste was, no question, such a perfect, nutty complement to the cheese, I am honestly shocked I’ve never had buckwheat and cheddar together before. I don’t usually go posting new recipes within 24 hours of one another (sorry to steal your thunder, kale bowls!) and I don’t expect it to be a regular thing around here, but I made these crackers again today, with a few little tweaks to the texture, and I am so obsessed with them, I had to tell you. If you live in Nashville, you’ve probably heard there’s a storm coming tomorrow, which means all the grocery stores are under attack today, but I would recommend jetting out to Kroger or Whole Foods, fighting the crows and grabbing buckwheat and cheddar ASAP because, I don’t know about you, but the next time all the roads are closed, I want to be stuck at home with these.

Buckwheat Cheese Crackers with Rosemary
Adapted from 84th and 3rd
Makes a couple dozen little triangles, depending on how large/small you make them

Both times I made these crackers, I used raw cheddar cheese, the first time a store brand (Trader Joe’s? Whole Foods?) and the second time raw mild from Organic Valley

. Both times I found the dough needed a little more liquid—but obviously this may vary depending on what cheese you use, so if you swap in a goat cheese or gouda or something, plan to adjust the liquids as needed in order to be able to smoosh the mixture together into a dough.

Ingredients:
1 cup grated raw cheddar cheese (see headnote)
1 1/2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon water (or more if dough still isn’t coming together)
big pinch sea salt, plus more for topping crackers

Directions:
ps! this recipe is yet another reason to buy a food processor

. SO EASY.

In your food processor, combine all the ingredients and blend for a minute or so, until the crumbly mixture starts looking like it’s mixed together and beginning to form a dough. If all that mixing still isn’t bringing things together and the crumbles look like there’s no way they’ll blend, add a little bit more water at a time until the dough starts to form.

Dump the dough out onto plastic wrap, use your hands to form two discs, and chill them for about 30 minutes.

Place one of the discs on parchment on the counter, and top with another piece of parchment. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough as thin as you can. Then use a pizza cutter to slice out squares and then, slicing through the squares, triangles. Lay this parchment of little triangle-cut dough on a baking sheet or plate and chill in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.

Remove the sliced dough from the freezer and gently, gently pop the little triangles off the parchment onto the new parchment-lined baking sheet. You can place the triangles close together, but they should not be touching.

Use a utensil of some kind to mark a little dot in each triangle (I found the end of a bamboo skewer worked perfectly here). Sprinkle some salt on the top and bake crackers for 10 minutes.

Repeat process with remaining dough and that’s it! Enjoy! Try not to eat them all in one sitting! Oh, who are we kidding, it’s okay if you do.

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