Day 1 … Cheddar Old Bay Crackers

Ok, here we go! The first of the bunch of our 3 dough, 12 crackers for all your holiday snacking needs and we’re starting off with the four cheese varieties. First up is a good one – Cheddar Old Bay Crackers. Sort of like a zipped up Cheez It. To start, make the Cheese Base Cracker Dough I posted the other day, divide it into four even pieces and use one for this recipe. Refrigerate or freeze the rest – we’ll get to it. (This works best if you make the base dough and flavor right away but I realize that’s not always possible. If the dough is frozen, let it thaw in the fridge overnight. If it’s cold and hard, let it sit on the counter for a good 10-15 minutes so it’s cool but pliable.) This round is sort of like pie dough, you want to keep the butter kind of chunky, or as best as you can as it’s going to get worked over a few times, both in the initial mix and in the flavoring mix.

I used a white cheddar, and not a particularly fancy one, but make sure you buy extra sharp as anything milder gets a bit lost. Grate it yourself on the large holes of a grater and avoid the pre-grated stuff. That added cellulose is no good. For the flavoring, Old Bay Seasoning gives just the right amount of salt and zest. It’s a combination of paprika, salt, celery seed, mustard and god knows what else but really, you could use whatever you like. Mix your own Old Bay-ish blend? Sure. How about Cajun seasoning? Of course. Seasoned salt? Yes but maybe a touch less to account for the salt. What you’re looking for is a salty, herby, paprika-y, slightly spicy blend so use what you’ve got. I used the Chesapeake Bay Blend from The Spice House and it was delightful.

The key is to roll these really thin, as thin as you can manage, so they bake up nice and crispy. If the dough gets too warm and sticks to the pin, use a little flour and/or pop it in the fridge for a bit. Also take care to make all the crackers the same thickness so the batch bakes up evenly.

Do ahead: you have a bunch of options. Remember the holidays are stressful enough. Don’t add to it if you can help it.

• Base dough: refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months
• Flavored dough: refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months
• Rolled dough sheets: refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 1 month (the thinner sheets are a little tougher to wrap tightly and have a tendency to dry out faster.)
• Cut unbaked crackers: refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 2 months tightly wrapped. Bake directly from the freezer.

To start: base cracker doughs

SHARP CHEDDAR & OLD BAY CRACKERS
Makes about 6 dozen or so 1 ¾” sized crackers
These things will go from perfectly baked to over browned in a heartbeat so keep an eye them. Bake halfway, rotate from front to back and top to bottom, bake for a few more minutes and check. You can always add time but you can’t take it away.

¼ batch cheese base cracker dough
3 ½ ounces coarsely shredded extra sharp cheddar (about scant 1 cup)
1 ½ teaspoons Old Bay seasoning + more for topping

1. Into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, break the cool but pliable base dough into several small pieces.
2. Add the grated cheese and mix on low until the cheese just starts to work in – maybe 30 seconds or so. Do not overmix.
3. Add the Old Bay and mix on low until just combined, about another 30 seconds or so. Do not overmix.
4. Between two sheets of lightly floured parchment paper or plastic wrap, roll 1/3 of the dough to about 1/8-1/16” thick. Repeat with the remaining dough. If the dough sticks to the pin, add a bit of flour or pop the sheet back into the fridge to chill.
5. Slide the dough sheets onto a sheet pan and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days, tightly wrapped.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
7. Remove one dough sheet from the fridge, remove the top sheet of parchment/plastic wrap and cut shapes with a 1 ¾“ cutter (or any cutter /shape you like).
8. Transfer shapes to a parchment lined sheet pan, ¼” apart.
9. Sprinkle the top of each cracker with a pinch of Old Bay.
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden brown and firm, rotating the pans front-to-back and top-to-bottom halfway through baking. Keep an eye on them – they go from perfect to burnt in seconds.
11. Slide the parchment from the sheet pan and let the crackers cool on a wire rack.
12. Crackers will keep, tightly wrapped, for 5 days.