"Cheese It, It's Da Cops!"

Once upon a time, this was an alert sounded by the kids who were acting as look-outs during minor street crimes on the streets of old New York.

Today, Cheez-Its are small, square yellow crackers flavored with cheddar cheese and salt.    While idly staring at the news pop-ups online, I was startled to see recipes for using them not only as a snack but as a mac and cheese topping.  Other ideas included exchanging crushed Cheez-Its for the bread crumbs in Italian meatballs.  I don't think folding bits into milk chocolate ice cream would prove rewarding, but what do I know?  Another suggestion was to mix sour cream and crushed Cheez-Its as a coating for baked chicken breasts. 

But don't rush out to squander hard-earned money on a box of Cheez-Its.  Here is a recipe for making your own!

CHEEZ-ITS
8 oz. cheddar, coarsely shredded
1/2 stick sweet butter
1 cup all-purpose flower
2 T ice water

Cream the butter and cheese together, gradually stir in the flour.  You'll have a crumbly mixture so use the ice water judiciously to turn the mixture into dough.  Roll it out to Cheez-It width and score it with a knife.  Carefully put this on a cookie sheet and bake it at 375 for 15 minutes.  Check on it from time to time, don't just set the timer and go whistling off to do something else.

It also occurs to me to use this dough for the crust of an apple pie... it's just pie crust  anyhow.