One of the things that many of use have never regularly made from scratch is crackers. We have so many choices at the grocery store that it feels like a no-brainer to simply go with the packaged option. But, this vintage recipe for snappy cheese sticks uses a clever shortcut to make your own crackers at home that have a wonderful cheddar flavor. Think of them as homemade Cheezits.

The original recipe called for a stick of pie crust mix. Back in the old days that’s how the dry mix came, wrapped in wax paper in a pack of two. This recipe uses one 9-ounce package of pie crust mix to replace the stick of mix.

If you don’t want to use a boxed mix then you can use a pie crust recipe that calls for 2 cups flour instead for great results. Steer clear of crust recipes that use cream cheese or sour cream though as these can be too soft in the end.

I poured all the ingredients into my food processor with the dough attachment and whirred it until the dough was all the same color. But, be advised that this dough will be quite crumbly.

Roll it out very thinly for the crunchiest, crispiest crackers. The thickness is incredibly important to the final texture. Cut into strips to make sticks or use a square cookie cutter to make crackers that look more like store bought.

The other step that’s crucial to getting the right texture is docking the crackers. I did this with my fork at an angle so that it would be a sort of decorative feature. Docking keeps the dough from puffing up in the oven, making these very snappy indeed. With docking you make tiny holes in the top of the dough without going all the way to the underside, so don’t press too hard with the fork.

These tasty sticks make a great appetizer, but they’re also wonderful for snacking. And, it’s easier than you might think to make your own crackers at home!