abisco® Cheese Nips®

Here's a clone recipe that gets one very important
ingredient from another packaged product. The powdered
cheese included in the Kraft instant macaroni & cheese
kits flavors this homegrown version of the popular bright
orange crackers. You'll need a can of Kraft Macaroni &
Cheese Cheese Topping or two boxes of the most inexpensive
instant variety of macaroni & cheese; you know, the kind
with the cheese powder. Two boxes will give you enough
cheese to make 300 crackers. As for the macaroni left over
in the box, just use that for another recipe requiring elbow
macaroni.

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour (plus 1/2 cup divided and 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 the dough 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, until the flour is well 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 to 10 minutes
 mix the crackers around (so those on the edge don’t burn) and bake
 for another 3 to 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.