One of my guilty pleasures that started way back in high school are those little cheese crackers you could buy in the small bags from the vending machine at lunch. While my tastes have grown up in many ways I still have a soft spot for them. They’re so cheesy and salty and crunchy- and this is problematic because once you have a few you tend to want more! So when I saw this recipe for a gluten-free, low carb version of cheesy crackers I knew I had to go for it.

The ingredient that makes these crackers possible is blanched almond flour. It used to be a niche product but now just about every grocery store carries it. If you have blanched almonds you can make your own by grinding them very, very finely.

This flour is used for flourless chocolate cakes, but can be used to make savories like these crackers as well. It can make a very thick dough or batter, but in this recipe we’re keeping the crackers super thin so this isn’t a worry.

Pop the flour into the food processor along with one egg, some spices, olive oil, and both cheddar and parmesan cheeses and you’ve got your dough made up in no time.

You’ll want to have some extra almond flour on hand to keep the dough from sticking as it is very wet when it first comes out of the food processor. Since there’s no gluten you don’t have to worry about over-working the dough which is nice.

The trick to getting these crackers to come out super crispy and delicious is to roll them out very thinly- about 1/8″ thick. It’s ok if it’s not perfectly thin, but I’ve made these enough times now to know that the best ones in the bunch are the thinnest so I aim for as thin as possible now.

The fats in the olive oil and cheeses combined with the thinness ensures that the crackers crisp up in the oven, almost as if they’d been fried or air-baked. And, of course, docking the crackers also helps to ensure they don’t puff up while baking, too.

I just use a fork, but they do make special docking tools for just this purpose if you’re so inclined. I also used a small square cutter for this but any cutter 2″ across or under will work.

Aside from the glorious crunch of these crackers there are couple other things I love about them. The first is that I can use almost any cheese I want in this recipe for a distinctive taste. Smoked Gouda, white cheddar, Manchego, Gruyère, or romano would all work well here. Basically you want any cheese that’s got a lot of flavor, but is fairly dry in consistency.

The other thing I love about these crackers is that they taste amazing without the guilt of store bought snack crackers. With only a nominal amount of carbs in the entire recipe you can enjoy these crackers without worrying about carbs or sugars. And, there are no preservatives or anything like that. The only thing is that they are best the first and second days after you make them since almond flour holds onto moisture differently than wheat flour. But, that’s no matter because these don’t last long anyways- they’re too delicious!