CRISPY CHEESE CRACKERS

CRISPY CHEESE CRACKERS

Deluxe American cheese slices (not cheese food or cheese product)

Cut one square of cheese into 16 tiny squares. Arrange on a sheet of parchment paper in somewhat of a ring around the edges of the paper. Don't place the cheese squares too close together or they'll stick to each other. Don't place any in the center of the paper or they will burn before the outer squares are done. Carefully place the sheet of parchment on the tray of a microwave oven. Microwave on HIGH about 65 seconds, or until the crackers are well-browned, but not burnt. Watch closely and add more time if needed. Remove the parchment from microwave and let the crackers cool slightly before removing them from the paper. Peel them off the paper and store in an airtight container. Repeat this process one cheese slice at a time. These will keep quite well in an air-tight container at room temperature for several days or longer.

Each slice of cheese makes 16 crackers
Can be frozen

Per Serving (16 crackers): 106 Calories; 9g Fat; 6g Protein; .5g Carbohydrate; 0g Fiber; .5g Net Carbs

These make a very nice snack, but beware; it's not easy to stop eating them. They're very good with salsa, dips or peanut butter.

You can also cut the slices of cheese into quarters for larger crackers. Watch them closely as they cook because they tend to get dark faster than the tiny squares.

TIP: It works best if the parchment paper with the cheese pieces is on a flat surface and not going up the sloping sides of a dinner plate. That's why I suggest placing the paper directly on the tray of the microwave.

I experimented with using American cheese food singles (the individually wrapped kind) and you can see the results in the photo below. Although they puff up and become hollow and have an interesting crunch, they tend to burn on the inside and have almost no cheese flavor. Deluxe American cheese is by far the best thing to use.

This is how they look before cooking

Here's how they look after microwaving

Larger crackers

Crackers made with American cheese food singles - not pretty enough to serve at a party

UPDATE: I tried making these today using the oven method that George Stella recommended on his show and it doesn't work. Some of them puffed up and some deflated. Even the darkest ones never got crisp all the way through and they look and taste terrible. Even the texture is very odd. I'll stick with microwaving these. Below you can see how they look when you bake them in the oven:

These were the better looking ones. Check out the darker ones below:

UPDATE 10/29/11: I made some nacho cheese flavored crackers by sprinkling them with Kernel Season's Nacho Cheddar Popcorn Seasoning after they cooled. I put them in a plastic container, sprinkled on some of the seasoning, put on the lid and gave them a gentle shake to coat them evenly.

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