Gluten and Dairy Free Cheez-its

When I saw this I almost fell over. I can't even say how much I miss cheez its. I miss them something fierce. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. This gal is unbelievably creative. I found this on her blog here at forkandbeans.wordpress.com.

Makes: Not enough to share.

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 c. AP gluten free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill because I knew that bean flavor would work perfectly…and spoiler alert: it did!!)
• 1/2 tsp xantham gum
• 1 c. Daiya vegan “cheese”
• 3 Tbs Earth Balance butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tb ice water

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and cheese together until blended nicely with a hand mixer.
3. Combine flour, xantham gum and salt in a separate bowl until fully mixed together.
4. Add 1/2 the flour mixture into butter/cheese mix until blended. Add remaining 1/2 and mix well.
5. Add water and stir in with a rubber spatula, making sure all scraps on the sides of the bowl have been incorporated.
6. Place ball of dough on a piece of parchment paper and lightly knead until a smooth ball is made. Divide dough in half and place 1 of the 1/2s in a bowl and put in the fridge.
7. Roll out other 1/2 of dough with a rolling pin (I put an extra piece of parchment paper over it to ensure it didn’t stick). Roll thin (about 1/4″ or so).
8. With a pastry cutter (these have squiggly lines that give the fun shape to the cracker) pattern out the shapes of the squares, going horizontally and diagonally.
9. Take a stainless steel spatula and slowly and gently place each cracker on top of a parchment lined baking sheet, making sure you give about 1/2″ worth of room per cracker. This might be the longest part of the process but you do want to go slowly in order to maintain the shape.
10. Make a little hole in the center of each cracker. Sprinkle the tops with a little dash of coarse salt.
11. Place the crackers on the baking sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes while you repeat the same process for the next 1/2.

photo from http://forkandbeans.wordpress.com

Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

I couldn’t believe the crunch that these crackers gave.

Not to mention the cheesy flavor!

Daiya, I didn’t give you enough credit, my friend.

I take it all back.

You really DO know how to make a delightful vegan cheese!

I give to you the perfect little snack.

photo from forkandbeans.wordpress.com