Cacio e Pepe Crackers

By Laurie Ellen Pellicano

Cacio e Pepe Crackers
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.
Total Time
45 minutes, plus chilling
Rating
4(237)
Notes
Read community notes

These quick, easy crackers are a crispy twist on the classic pasta dish, and an excellent cocktail hour snack. Rolling the freshly made dough between sheets of parchment expedites chilling, then cutting crackers with a pastry wheel (or pizza cutter) reduces waste. Do grate your own cheese for this instead of using store-bought, pre-grated cheese, as it plays an integral role in making the dough moist. These cheesy crackers can be kept simple, allowing cheese and pepper to dominate, or gussied up with any combination of onion powder, ground mustard or garlic powder, depending on your preference. This recipe makes a large batch, but the crackers will keep for up to one month, depending on your snack habits.

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Ingredients

Yield:5 cups (about 120 to 160 crackers)
  • 1½cups/190 grams unbleached all-purpose flour (see Tip)
  • 1tablespoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for finishing
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½teaspoon onion powder (optional)
  • ½teaspoon ground mustard (optional)
  • ⅛teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
  • 5ounces/145 grams white Cheddar, roughly grated (about 1¼ cups packed)
  • 3ounces/85 grams Asiago cheese, roughly grated (about ¾ cup)
  • 5tablespoons/70 grams unsalted butter, cold and cubed
  • ¼cup/25 grams finely ground Pecorino Romano cheese (or Parmigiano-Reggiano or more Asiago), for sprinkling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

233 calories; 14 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 261 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, pepper, salt and spices (if using), and pulse to combine.

  2. Step 2

    Add the Cheddar, Asiago and butter, and pulse several times, then let the mixer run until the dough comes mostly together around the blade, 1 to 3 minutes. It’s OK if the dough is a little pebbly, but it should clump easily when you squeeze it. (You can also prepare this dough by hand, though you’ll need to bring the butter to room temperature first. Mix all your dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Then, in a large bowl, mix Cheddar, Asiago and butter to form a paste. Add the flour mixture and knead the dough together.)

  3. Step 3

    Pull your dough out of your bowl onto a flat surface and gently knead it into a smooth ball. Split your dough in half and shape each half into a rectangle. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece until about ½-inch thick, dusting a tiny bit of flour on your pin, if needed, to prevent the dough from sticking. (If you don’t want to bake all the crackers now, you can freeze dough in ½-inch-thick blocks.)

  4. Step 4

    Place a piece of dough in the center of an 18-inch-long piece of parchment paper. Roll the dough on the parchment paper, working from the center outward. (You want the dough to adhere to the bottom layer of parchment, but if your rolling pin sticks to the surface, lightly dust it with flour.) When your dough is about ¼-inch thick, lay another piece of parchment, plastic wrap, or a silicone baking mat over the surface of your dough. Continue to roll the dough out ⅛- to 1/16-inch thick, as thin as your arms will allow, pressing together any cracks that may form. (You can also use an etching motion, moving your pin from the center out toward the edges across your dough.) Rotate the parchment in front of you with every few strokes to ensure you are rolling the dough evenly.

  5. Step 5

    Peel back the top layer of parchment and sprinkle the surface with half the Pecorino Romano and a dozen or so grinds of black pepper across the surface. Lightly roll over once more with your rolling pin so the cheese and pepper adheres to the cracker dough. Transfer this sheeted dough onto a baking sheet and chill in the fridge or freezer until firm, about 15 minutes. (If you let it chill longer, just pull it out and let it temper a bit before proceeding.) Repeat with the second piece of dough.

  6. Step 6

    When the dough is nearly chilled, arrange the racks in the upper and lower third of the oven and heat to 325 degrees. Remove one sheet of dough from the tray and place on a work surface.

  7. Step 7

    Using a pastry wheel (fluted is nice), pizza cutter or a sharp knife and a ruler, cut 1-inch squares across the surface of the dough. (A 1-inch-thick ruler or tracer made from card stock or cardboard comes in handy here.) Transfer crackers to parchment-lined baking sheets with ½-inch space in between. (They will not spread much.) If your dough warms up or is difficult to peel and place, just slip it back into the freezer still attached to your parchment paper and let it firm up, then proceed.

  8. Step 8

    Bake the crackers in the center of your oven for 14 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness), rotating trays midway through baking to ensure they color evenly. Crackers will be just golden at the edges and the surface should be firm to the touch. You want them to dry crisp. (Test by pulling one cracker off the tray, let it quickly cool and break it in half to see how it snaps.) Remove from the oven and cool on trays.

  9. Step 9

    Once fully cooled, store crackers in a tin or covered container for up to 4 weeks.

Tip
  • When working with flour, measuring by weight is always more accurate than measuring by cups, which can vary depending on whether you spoon your flour into your cups or you scoop the cup measurement directly into the flour. Learning how to adjust for your cup is like learning to adjust for hot spots in your oven. If you spoon your flour into your cup, 1½ cups is accurate, but if you pack your flour more densely by scooping it, you should use only 1¼ cups flour.

Ratings

4 out of 5
237 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

brianna

It never occurred to me to make homemade crackers before. These are SO good. The best part of using different cheeses in the crackers, is that I now have leftover cheese to eat with my crackers. Never enough cheese!

Leslie

These were great! I dumped in my sourdough discard to the mix when I added the cheese and it was a great way to do something with it. I used half measurements of each of the optional powders and the outcome tastes really a lot like cheez-its, in a very good way.

Christine

I'm obsessed with these crackers! I have PCOS with insulin resistance so I need to eat low carb. I made this recipe subbing almond flour for white flour 1:1 ratio (also used 1/4 tsp salt - just my preference), and they are absolutely perfect! They remind me of a grown up, gourmet Cheez-It. I am always bummed when I crave a potato chip and I have to resist temptation, now I have these amazing crackers! Cannot recommend highly enough!

60 Cookis, lol!

It wasn't working out as crackers, so I repurposed the dough as a pressed pie crust and filled it with apple pie filling. Apple pie with cheesy pepper crust.

Daphne

I’ve never baked anything in my life but decided to try this because anything cheese always deserves a chance. Used white cheddar as substitute to the Asiago. Worked amazing! Tasty and addictive, will definitely make these again.

Jordan

These were wonderful. I substituted a third of the flour for whole wheat so I could pretend to be healthy. I did have to add a couple tablespoons of cold water to make the dough come together - I'm not sure if it was because of the wheat substitution or because my cheddar was very aged. I imagine that cheddars can vary in their moisture content. Just think on your feet and these will be delicious. It's cute how they suggest these can last up to 4 weeks...I don't plan on testing that theory!

andrea

i tried to get the dough together by hand, which took a lot longer than expected. it was *very* crumbly for a while and i almost gave up and threw it out. fortunately i kept kneading, and it finally worked out. i found that baking these to shy of golden made the flavor exactly like cacao e pepe right out of the oven, but by the next day they were not as crisp, and tasted more cheddar-y. baking til the crackers were golden provided a better texture, but more intensely cheddar-y flavor.

Katherine

I just made these and they turned out great! Cheesy, peppery, and crunchy... perfection! They sort of remind me of a gourmet, grown up Cheez-it.

jason

These are excellent! Like Jordan upthread, I ended up having to add a bit of cold water, likely because my cheeses were drier. Completely worth it, will definitely make again.

maria

i didn't have all the cheeses so I just used what I had (about 95 g ground cheddar). a lot more work than just buying crackers at the store but DELICIOUS!

Janet

Boxed crackers at the store are so expensive. Once you open the box you can see how few crackers are actually in there. These are a good substitute.

Frank Governali

If I wanted to make these with sourdough starter discard as part . What flour /butter/starter proportions would you suggest ?

Heather B

These are stupid delicious. I made them by hand (I don't have a food processor), and they turned out perfectly. I thought there was no way that cheesy flour was going to turn into dough, but I kept working it and it came together beautifully. I had to bake a bit longer than directed, but they were a bit thick. I'll try for a bit thinner next time.

SB

YUMMY! ... and also crumbly. I couldn’t get a dough that’s stick together to form and rather than roll and cut into crackers I used my palms to press loose dough into 3x8 rectangles. Once baked, I snapped the crackers into bites and it was rustic. Really flavorful cracker - add in the spices to go from cheeze-it to gourmet.

andrea

i tried to get the dough together by hand, which took a lot longer than expected. it was *very* crumbly for a while and i almost gave up and threw it out. fortunately i kept kneading, and it finally worked out. i found that baking these to shy of golden made the flavor exactly like cacao e pepe right out of the oven, but by the next day they were not as crisp, and tasted more cheddar-y. baking til the crackers were golden provided a better texture, but more intensely cheddar-y flavor.

Marie

I've learned to always double these types of recipes as they're addictive (see Dorie Greenspan's Cheez-It-ish crackers), so I doubled this & ended up needing a few modifications: I made by hand & used one full block of cheddar & ~1.5c shredded mix of asiago, parmesan, reggiano as that's what they had at the store. The pre-shredded cheese is drier so I added a few extra tbsp butter. I rolled the dough into two logs about 1.5" wide, chilled, and then sliced thinly before topping & baking for 15min

Daphne

I’ve never baked anything in my life but decided to try this because anything cheese always deserves a chance. Used white cheddar as substitute to the Asiago. Worked amazing! Tasty and addictive, will definitely make these again.

sarah c

It’s okay but not easy or simple and with the ingredients, expensive. I didn’t have a food processor and had to do the hand made process. I will buy CheezIts in the future.

krause

Along with the sprinkling of cheese and pepper, added a sprinkling of Maldon salt on half of the batch. The salt enhanced the flavors and were preferred over the non-salted batch. Excellent either way.

60 Cookis, lol!

It wasn't working out as crackers, so I repurposed the dough as a pressed pie crust and filled it with apple pie filling. Apple pie with cheesy pepper crust.

Christine

I'm obsessed with these crackers! I have PCOS with insulin resistance so I need to eat low carb. I made this recipe subbing almond flour for white flour 1:1 ratio (also used 1/4 tsp salt - just my preference), and they are absolutely perfect! They remind me of a grown up, gourmet Cheez-It. I am always bummed when I crave a potato chip and I have to resist temptation, now I have these amazing crackers! Cannot recommend highly enough!

Jordan

These were wonderful. I substituted a third of the flour for whole wheat so I could pretend to be healthy. I did have to add a couple tablespoons of cold water to make the dough come together - I'm not sure if it was because of the wheat substitution or because my cheddar was very aged. I imagine that cheddars can vary in their moisture content. Just think on your feet and these will be delicious. It's cute how they suggest these can last up to 4 weeks...I don't plan on testing that theory!

Leslie

These were great! I dumped in my sourdough discard to the mix when I added the cheese and it was a great way to do something with it. I used half measurements of each of the optional powders and the outcome tastes really a lot like cheez-its, in a very good way.

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