Sweet Potato Cheddar Crackers
Sweet potatoes, cheddar cheese, and whole wheat flour come together in these simple homemade crackers that are sure to please adults and kids alike.
Can I tell you a secret?
Homemade crackers are just about the easiest thing to bake.
When I posted the photo below to Instagram, a member of my family commented “Oh, fancy!” But the truth is these sweet potato and cheddar cheese crackers are about as simple as you can get.
Just mix the dough either by hand or with a food processor, roll it out, slice, and bake! Okay, maybe the slicing can get a little tedious, but the crunch of a freshly-baked homemade cracker will make it all worth it. Promise.
So skip the overly processed stuffed at the grocery store, and bake your own instead. Better yet, get the kids involved too. They’re going to love ’em!
baking tip:The best way to measure flour
Too much flour can cause problems in your baked goods, causing them to be dry, crumbly or simply have the wrong texture. And since flour has a tendency to compact over time as it sits in the supermarket and in your pantry, if you simply dip your measuring cup into the flour and scoop it out, you’ll end up with more than you should. For best results, use a kitchen scale. Or use the “spoon and sweep” method:
- Fluff the flour in the bag or container with a spoon.
- Spoon flour into measuring cup until it’s overflowing.
- Sweep a flat edge like your knife or finger across the top of the measuring cup, sweeping away the excess.
More detailed info can be found in my full tutorial How to Measure Flour.
Sweet Potato Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (113 grams)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary , chopped
- ¼ cup butter , cold and cut into cubes (56 grams)
- 1 cup cheddar cheese , grated (113 grams)
- ½ cup mashed sweet potato , see Notes (106 grams)
- 2 tablespoons milk
- Coarse salt , for sprinkling
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, salt, pepper, paprika, and rosemary. Add the butter and grated cheese and toss lightly until coated in the flour mixture. Pulse in short bursts until the butter is the size of small peas.
- Add the mashed sweet potato and pulse until combined. With the food processor running, add the milk. After a few moments, the dough will come together in a ball. Shape into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. If the dough becomes sticky, add more flour. Cut the dough into 1-inch squares and transfer to the prepared sheet pan.
- Use a toothpick to poke a hole into the center of each square. Sprinkle with the coarse salt and bake until the edges are just starting to turn brown, about 12-15 minutes.
- Let cool, then store in an airtight container. Crackers are most crisp fresh from the oven.
Notes
- For mashed sweet potato, wash one small sweet potato and pierce a few times with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees until soft, about 1 hour. Peel off skin and remove any discolored spots. Mash with a fork or in a food processor.
- To keep crackers crisp during storage, place a slice of sandwich bread in with the crackers. The bread will absorb any moisture in the air and the crackers will remain relatively crisp.
Tools for this recipe
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Note: This recipe was originally published October 2013 in partnership with Wisconsin Cheese. Thank you for continually supporting partnerships with brands I love. All opinions are always my own.
I made these with several tweaks. I used some of my sour dough discard, so didn’t use the milk and added a bit more flour which was not whole wheat, to get the correct consistency. I also used smoked paprika and some granular garlic. They took much longer to bake, no doubt because the dough was not as dry as it should be. However, they are yummy. My husband said tastes like Cheeze Its! Next go round I will use less discard and the whole wheat. That will make the dough more dry.
This was a really fun success!!!
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