A platter of Cheddar Cheese Wafers

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Description

Cheddar Cheese Wafers are sort of like a homemade cracker, but better. This popular recipe is a combination of cheddar cheese, flour and Rice Krispies, seasoned with red pepper flakes and thyme. They have a little zing and a nice crunch, and are the perfect complement to a glass of red wine.

Recently my husband asked me to make them for a Game Night with the guys. I thought that was a good reason to try and make this old recipe gluten free. Without experimenting I simply substituted my homemade gluten free flour mix for the wheat flour and it worked.

Cheddar Cheese Wafers with red wine
Cheddar Cheese Wafers with red wine -photo credit Jim Little

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Substituting Gluten Free Flour

I learned a lot while writing my yearlong blog series on How To Use many different gluten free flours. But as an everyday home cook I can only experiment and tweak so much. Someone has to eat all the food I make and I’ve always got more recipes to work on.

But for the cheese lovers out there who get hooked on these wafers this is how I would start to tweak this recipe. Go for your definition of perfection, make some notes about what you did and you’ll be well on your way to substituting success.

  • This recipe calls for 1 cup of flour. I know the recipe worked using my gluten free flour mix. If I was being super critical I would say they spread a little bit too much and this caused them to turn a little too brown around the edges. (And none of that prevented me from enjoying them.)
  • To reach perfection I would use only ¾ cup of my gluten free flour mix and substitute the last ¼ cup of flour with a different flour. Leaving all other steps the same I could compare the result with quinoa flour, almond flour or perhaps brown rice flour. Each of these flours help make cookies nice and crisp so they would be my first pick.
How To Use Almond and Quinoa Flour
How To Use Almond and Quinoa Flour -photo credit Jim Little

The Cheese and The Rice Krispies

We love Maclaren’s Imperial Sharp Cheddar cheese sold in the little red tub. It’s the same cheese I use for my homemade Mac and Cheese because it has that tangy cheese flavour you can’t get enough of. I also find the Kraft website provides good information about which of their products are gluten free and I like that.

In Canada we can still find gluten free Rice Krispies from Kellogg’s. If you can’t get them substitute any puffed rice cereal, crushed cornflakes or even puffed quinoa. Experiment to suit your taste and what you keep in your pantry.

The Tools

Every kitchen needs some good quality scoops, the kind with a thumb release. They are perfect for portioning cookie dough, meatballs, muffins, ice cream and these cheese wafers. They make portioning quick and easy plus give you a consistent size for even baking.There are many sizes available but I seem to be able to do all of these jobs with just three sizes. Mine are 1 tablespoon, 1½ tablespoons and 3 tablespoons and I’ve been using them in my kitchen for years.

Let me know in the comments below how these cheese wafers turned out for you and what flour you used.

Ingredients

1 cup gluten free flour mix (I used my mix)
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
pinch of salt
¼ tsp xanthan gum
½ cup butter, room temperature
12 oz sharp Cheddar cheese, crumbled*
1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
1 cup GF Rice Krispies
*I use 1½ tubs (230g each) of Maclaren’s Imperial Sharp Cheddar

Directions

1
In a food processor combine flour, red pepper flakes and salt. Pulse to combine.
2
Add the butter, cheese and thyme. Pulse until a dough forms with visible bits of cheese.
3
Transfer dough to a bowl and fold in Rice Krispies.
4
Portion dough onto a wax paper lined baking sheet using a 1 Tbsp scoop.
5
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment.
6
Place dough balls 2-inches apart on baking sheet. Using your fingertips slightly flatten each dough ball into a 1½ inch disk. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
7
Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer cheese wafers to cooling racks.
8
Store in airtight container. Freeze if not using within 2 days.

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Ingredients

Directions
  • 1 cup gluten free flour mix (I used my mix)
  • ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • pinch of salt
  • ¼ tsp xanthan gum
  • ½ cup butter, room temperature
  • 12 oz sharp Cheddar cheese, crumbled*
  • 1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
  • 1 cup GF Rice Krispies
  • *I use 1½ tubs (230g each) of Maclaren’s Imperial Sharp Cheddar
  1. In a food processor combine flour, red pepper flakes and salt. Pulse to combine.
  2. Add the butter, cheese and thyme. Pulse until a dough forms with visible bits of cheese.
  3. Transfer dough to a bowl and fold in Rice Krispies.
  4. Portion dough onto a wax paper lined baking sheet using a 1 Tbsp scoop.
  5. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment.
  6. Place dough balls 2-inches apart on baking sheet. Using your fingertips slightly flatten each dough ball into a 1½ inch disk. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
  7. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer cheese wafers to cooling racks.
  8. Store in airtight container. Freeze if not using within 2 days.