March 10, 2024
February has been an exciting month of holiday celebrations for us. This year, Lunar New Year landed in the month of February, and so we traveled back to Brooklyn, New York to celebrate with family and friends. Right after Lunar New Year, we celebrated Valentine’s Day with Z at home. Z had quite the haul from both holidays. She received a stack of red envelopes from our family for Lunar New Year and then another stack of Valentine’s Day cards and toys from her classmates. Here are some photos of our holiday celebrations:
We had a small celebration at home with some homemade chicken and cabbage dumplings.
Shortly after the February holiday celebrations, we took another short trip up north to see the Ice Castles in the heart of New Hampshire. Z marveled at the icy tunnels and structures and made her way through the icy walkways. Here are some photos from our short trip:
Z with grandma walking through the icy walkways.
Grandma and Z passing through an icy tunnel.
Aside from all the February fun, I’ve been making smoky cheddar heart crackers throughout the month, testing and retesting my recipe. These snack crackers are very loosely inspired by my love of Cheez-It growing up. My version of the addictive cheddar crackers is made with super simple ingredients and are the perfect snack to pack for long (or short) car rides. With Z now more mobile than ever, we often find ourselves packing a lot of books, toys, and snacks to keep her occupied on road trips. These smoky cheddar crackers do the trick of helping satisfy her hunger and keeping her occupied at the same time. When making these cheese crackers, I like to use a fun scalloped heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut these crackers out as the fun heart shape makes them appealing to Z. I’ve packed these smoky cheddar crackers on multiple car rides with Z from short trips to much longer road trips. Z snacked on a handful of these crackers throughout our trip to New Hampshire and during snack time in the mornings and afternoons at home with grandma. The best part is I could whip these up in no time and keep them in the refrigerator for a few days. Not only are these crackers toddler-friendly, they are also adult-friendly. Whenever my cravings for savory snacks kick in, I could easily grab a handful of these snack crackers to enjoy as either a mid-morning snack or a late afternoon snack. To make these smoky cheddar heart crackers, I pulse together all-purpose flour, salt, sugar, smoked paprika, freshly cracked black pepper, butter, grated sharp cheddar cheese, and a couple tablespoons of cold water. The cold water works to bind everything together. The process I use for making these smoky cheddar crackers is similar to the process I use for making pie dough. Essentially, I drop all the ingredients into the food processor and let the food processor do its job to bring everything together. I then roll out the dough as thin as possible and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour before cutting out the heart-shaped snack crackers. Right before I pop them into the oven for baking, I artfully arrange the heart-shaped crackers on a parchment-lined baking sheet. About 18 minutes later, I end up with the perfect snack crackers. I have even left the crackers in the oven for a smidge longer (about 3-5 minutes) on a couple of tries to yield a toastier version of the cheddar crackers. As an optional step, I top these snack crackers with a pinch of Maldon salt just before serving. I love making these crackers on weekends when the weather outside turns chilly. This month has brought us multiple cold and somewhat snowy weekends. These snack crackers kept my cravings (and my family’s cravings) at bay throughout the mostly chilly February month.
Smoky Cheddar Heart Crackers:
(makes about 60 crackers)
For the dough:
· 1½ cups all-purpose flour
· ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
· ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
· ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed
· 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
· 2 tablespoons cold water
· Maldon salt, for serving (optional)
Special equipment:
· food processor
· scalloped heart-shaped cookie cutter
Directions:
1) In a food processor, pulse together the all-purpose flour, sea salt, granulated sugar, smoked paprika, and black pepper for 5 seconds. Add in the cubed unsalted butter and process until coarse crumbs form, about 8 seconds. Sprinkle in the grated cheddar cheese and pulse for another 6 seconds. Add in the two tablespoons of water and pulse until a dough begins to form, about another 6-8 seconds. Carefully remove the dough from the food processor.
2) On a clean working surface lined with a couple sheets of plastic wrap, roll the dough out as thin as possible, leaving about ¼ inch in thickness for the dough. Use the plastic wrap to wrap the dough up and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
3) After an hour has passed, preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
4) Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Let the dough sit for about ten minutes before cutting out the heart-shaped crackers. Working quickly, use the scalloped heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out as many crackers as possible. Transfer the heart-shaped crackers onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Reroll the excess dough and work quickly to cut out additional heart-shaped crackers. Continue this process of cutting out crackers and transferring the crackers onto the parchment-lined baking sheet until all the excess dough has been rerolled and reused.
5) Arrange the heart-shaped crackers on a baking sheet alternating between rows of the heart crackers facing upward in the first vertical row and downward in the next vertical row. Continue this process until you get thirty heart-shaped crackers onto the large baking sheet with five heart-shaped crackers on each row for a total of six rows. Repeat the process using the second baking sheet.
6) Transfer the baking sheets into the oven and bake the crackers at 350°F for about 18 minutes. Remove the sheet pans from the oven and let the crackers rest for at least five minutes before enjoying. If desired, top with Maldon salt right before serving. Enjoy!
Takeaways: These snack crackers can easily be customized with a variety of different cheeses. I’ve used a variety of cheddar cheeses and even blended in Parmigiano Reggiano cheese when making iterations of these snack crackers. The addition of the smoked paprika was necessary for giving these crackers a hint of smokiness in every bite. For toastier cheddar crackers, let the crackers bake for an additional 3-5 minutes in the oven. These snack crackers also keep well in the refrigerator. I’ve stored them in an airtight container for up to three days. I usually eat them cold out of the refrigerator or warm them in the oven for about 2-3 minutes at 350°F before letting Z enjoy them.