Cheese Nips Copycat

Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr 30 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted (plus 1/2 cup divided and reserved for kneading and rolling)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup macaroni and cheese powdered topping (from 2 packages)
• 3 tablespoons shortening
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (for tops) (optional)

Recipe

• 1 sift together 1 cup flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cheese powder in a large bowl.
• 2 cut in the shortening with a fork and knife with a crosswise motion until dough is broken down into rice size pieces. mixture will still be very dry.
• 3 stir in buttermilk with a fork until dough becomes very moist and sticky.
• 4 sprinkle a couple tablespoons of the reserved flour over the dough and work it in until the dough can be handled without sticking, then turn it out onto a floured board, being sure to keep 1/4 cup of the reserve flour for later.
• 5 knead the dough well for 60 to 90 seconds, until the flour is well incorporated. wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.
• 6 preheat oven to 325 degrees. spray a light coating of cooking spray on a baking sheet.
• 7 remove the dough from the refrigerator and use the remaining reserve flour to dust a rolling surface.
• 8 roll about one third of the dough to just under 1/16 th of inch thick. trim the edges square (a pizza cutter or wheel works great for this), then transfer the dough to a lightly greased baking sheet. use the rolling pin to transfer the dough. simply pick up one end of the dough onto a rolling pin, and roll the dough around the rolling pin. reverse the process onto the baking sheet to transfer the dough.
• 9 use a pizza cutter to cut across and down the dough, creating 1 inch square pieces. use the blunt end of a skewer or broken toothpick to poke a hole in the center of each piece.
• 10 sprinkle a very light coating of salt over the top of the crackers (crackers will already be quite salty) and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
• 11 mix the crackers around (so those on the edge don't burn) and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes, or until some are just barely turning a light brown. repeat the rolling and baking process with the remaining dough.
• 12 makes approximately 300 crackers.
• 13 note - prep time includes resting/refrigeration time.