Buttery, salty, golden brown, and perfectly crunchy, these are such delicious homemade Ritz crackers. We think they’re perfect for a special charcuterie or meat and cheese board – particularly around the holidays when we’re all feeling a little extra. My Ritz Cracker recipe was born from a few attempts at making other recipes that I found online that didn’t quite live up to the billing (they didn’t work).
These crackers are totally delicious and while they don’t taste exactly like a store-bought Ritz Cracker (that would be pretty impossible to nail), they absolutely are a firm nod in the Ritz direction, if you know what I mean …
How to Make Homemade Ritz Crackers
These rely on butter, salt, and flour (the building blocks of most wonderful baked goods) for their structure and flavor, and really they couldn’t be simpler to make. You just throw everything in your food processor, give it a good pulsing, roll it all out, and then stamp/cut out your individual crackers.
It’s basically like pre-school craft time.
Helpful tips for making Homemade Ritz Crackers
- Make sure you flour your board really well before placing the dough down to roll/stamp. I put this step in the written instructions, sure, but I’ve had people write me before, citing troubles they’ve had with the rolling out of various sticky doughs and I always find that they failed to adequately flour their work surfaces before rolling. The flour is SO helpful and is your friend here.
- While we’re on the subject of flouring things, also make sure you give your rolling pin (or whatever implement you’re using) a good flouring as well. The flour prevents the sticky cracker dough from clinging to the pin as you try to get it nice and thin.
- Don’t take the crackers out of the oven too soon! Other recipes for these things will ask you to take them out after only 10 minutes of baking. While, yes, they might be edible at that point – they’re not going to be anywhere near ready. They need at least 20 to 25 minutes in the hot oven to achieve that iconic golden brown color that makes them look well, Ritzy. They will bake and bake and not burn on you, so just leave them be until they’re this tawny golden hue.
What ingredients do you need to make homemade crackers?
In addition to the ingredients listed below, I’d suggest using a metal kebab skewer or a toothpick to poke holes in the crackers, pre-baking. This makes them look very Ritzy. It’s a must for that reason to be sure, But the holes also help to ensure even baking and prevent the crackers from puffing up into little domed mounds.
Homemade Mounds is a post for another day.
Anyway, here’s what you’ll need to whip these crackers into shape:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 TBSP granulated sugar
1.5 tsp salt, plus more for sprinkling
6 TBSP cold unsalted butter, cut up into small bits
2 TBSP olive oil
â…” cup water
2 to 3 TBSP butter, melted
How do you make Ritz Crackers from scratch?
Pulse flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a food processor.
Add butter a little bit at a time and pulse. As with pie dough, the butter should be very cold.
Add the olive oil and water and then pulse to combine until the dough forms a ball. (NOTE: I tested, and I think olive oil adds a very nice flavor to the crackers – a little deeper than would a flavorless oil, like vegetable or canola).
Roll out the dough as thinly as you can. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect. If you have a pasta maker, then you can push the dough through that to make it all even and thin. Honestly though, the cracker recipe will be fine without it.
Use a cookie cutter or a small measuring cup to cut out the crackers.
Bake the crackers on a parchment- or silicone mat-lined cookie sheet until they are very golden brown; about 22 to 28 minutes (sometimes longer).
Brush the crackers with butter and sprinkle with salt while they’re still warm.
How to store Homemade Ritz Crackers
These buttery little crackers will keep pretty well for you, if you don’t plan to enjoy them on the day you actually bake them (a great holiday make-ahead sort of win). To store them properly, allow them to cool all the way down before placing them in an air-tight container. Keep in a cool, dry place for up to 4 or 5 days.
Can you freeze homemade cracker dough?
Yes! You absolutely can freeze homemade cracker dough, and this Ritz Cracker dough will freeze beautifully for up to 3 months if stored in a well-sealed, freezer-safe bag or container.
You want to try to prevent extra air from lurking around the dough, so even if you plan to freeze it in a plastic storage container, I’d still recommend double wrapping it in some plastic wrap.
If you like the looks of these Homemade Ritz Crackers, you might also want to try:
Homemade Berry Nutri Grain Bars
Homemade Ritz Crackers
- Yield: about 30 to 40 crackers 1x
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 TBSP granulated sugar
1.5 tsp salt, plus more for sprinkling
6 TBSP very cold unsalted butter, cut up into small bits (see note 1)
2 TBSP olive oil
â…” cup water
2 to 3 TBSP butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Adjust the rack to the middle position.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add the 6 TBSP cold butter, a little at a time (pulsing in between each addition) until all of it is in. Add the olive oil and water (you may not need all of the water) and process/pulse until the mixture forms a sticky ball.Â
- Transfer the ball of dough to a well-floured work surface and, using a floured rolling pin, roll it out as thin as you can. Using a round cookie cutter or something similar (I used a ¼ cup measure) to stamp out individual crackers and lay them on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. You should get around 30 to 40 crackers. (NOTE: Don’t worry about it if your crackers vary a little in shape/thickness. You can use a pasta machine to roll out the dough, if you’re seeking total perfection).
- Chill the crackers for 15 minutes (this helps achieve optimum flakiness).
- Bake for 22 to 28 minutes, or until the crackers are very golden brown on top, rotating/turning the pans halfway through the bake time. Brush with melted better right when they come out of the oven and sprinkle with a little more salt. They’ll harden and set as they cool. Cool completely before storing.
- These will store well in an air-tight container in a cool dry place for up to 4 or 5 days.
Notes
Note 1: Keeping your butter extra, super cold is a trick to achieving very flaky crackers. So, sometimes I will cut the butter into small bits and then throw it into the freezer for 8 to 10 minutes, so it’s VERY cold. This is is also why we’ll chill the crackers just after cutting them. We want the butter to be cold when it hits the oven, so it bursts and steams, creating flaky layers.
Note 2: Overworking the dough will make the crackers tough and un-flaky. So, be conservative as you handle it, only working it as much as is needed to achieve the thinness required.Â
