Cheese Nips Copycat Recipe

Another great snack option to make at home!

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
(plus 1/2 cup divided & reserved for kneading and rolling)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Cheese Topping powder
(or 2 packages dry cheese powder from 2 boxes Kraft macaroni & cheese)
3 tablespoons shortening
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt (for tops, optional)

1. Sift together 1 cup flour, baking soda, baking powder and cheese
powder in a large bowl.
2. Cut in the shortening with a fork and knife with a crosswise motion
until dough is broken down into rice-size pieces. Mixture will still
be very dry.
3. Stir in buttermilk with a fork until dough becomes very moist and
sticky.

4. Sprinkle a couple tablespoons of the reserved flour over the dough and
work it in until it can be handled without sticking, then turn it out
onto a floured board, being sure to keep 1/4 cup of the reserve flour
for later. Knead the dough well for 60 to 90 seconds, and the flour is
incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least
one hour.
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a light coating of cooking spray
on a baking sheet.

6. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and use the remaining reserve
flour to dust a rolling surface. Roll about one-third of the dough
to just under 1/16th of inch thick. Trim the edges square (a pizza
cutter or wheel works great for this), then transfer the dough to a
lightly greased baking sheet. Use the rolling pin to transfer the
dough. Simply pick up one end of the dough onto a rolling pin, and roll
the dough around the rolling pin. Reverse the process onto the baking
sheet to transfer the dough.
7. Use a pizza cutter to cut across and down the dough, creating 1-inch
square pieces. Use the blunt end of a skewer or broken toothpick to
poke a hole in the center of each piece.

8. Sprinkle a very light coating of salt over the top of the crackers
(crackers will already be quite salty) and bake for 8-10 minutes,
mix the crackers around (so those on the edge don’t burn) and bake
for another 3-5 minutes, or until some are just barely turning a
light brown. Repeat the rolling and baking process with the remaining
dough.

Makes approximately 300 crackers.