Homemade Ranch Cheese Crackers

As the beginning of the school year approaches, I always start brainstorming for lunch box ideas.  You see, my son, Austin, is the pickiest eater in the world.  Well, maybe not the world, but it’s up there.  We can rotate pretty much a handful of things to keep him eating and happy, and otherwise he doesn’t eat! I know, I know, ‘he will eat when he is hungry’, but this just isn’t always the case. He will literally go 9 hours at daycare without eating because he doesn’t like the food they are offering him. His teacher tells me all the time, “he is SUCH a picky boy!”…this, I know.  Now that he is starting preschool though, I am happy I get to pack his lunch because I know he will at least eat it!

One thing he will eat is pizza, but I know pizza isn’t the healthiest option, so I like to pack something somewhat healthy as well.  I was talking with one of my friends about healthy snack options, and she clued me in to making homemade cheez-its…say what?! Browsing around Pinterest, I found out this is a pretty easy and popular thing to do. I decided to spice things up though, but adding ranch seasoning to the crackers, and using whole wheat flour to make them healthier than the white flour alternative.

These are so easy to make, and really require little effort (scroll all the way down for full recipe).  I add these bad boys into Austin’s lunch box along with his pizza, and a fruit squeeze pouch on the side.  

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Homemade Ranch Cheese Crackers

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour {reg flour works fine too}
• 2 tsp ranch dip powder
• 4 TBS of COLD butter cut into small cubes
• 8 oz cheddar cheese grated
• 3-4 TBS water

Instructions

1. 1. Place food processor bowl in freezer for 5-10 minutes to chill.
2. 2. In a food processor, pulse flour, ranch dip powder and cheese to combine. Add in butter and pulse until mixture looks like coarse meal {do not let machine just run because it heats up ingredients too much}.
3. 3. Add the water, 1 TBS at a time, and pulse between additions. Dough will form into a bowl. {I used about 3 1/4 TBS water for mine}. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4. 4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with baking sheet in oven.
5. 5. Remove dough from refrigerator and let sit for 5 minutes. Roll out to 1/8" thickness. Using a pizza cutter, cut into 1" squares and place on preheated baking sheet lined with parchment paper {careful, it's hot!}.
6. 6. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

Recipe Notes

Store in an airtight bag or container to keep from going stale.

Thanks for visiting!

– Allyson