Homemade Ritz Crackers
This recipe for homemade Ritz crackers is even better than the store-bought version – and it’s so easy to make!
I spent weeks developing the copycat recipe so that it would taste as close to the original as possible and would use natural ingredients. These are made without high fructose corn syrup and without partially hydrogenated oils.
Developing this recipe was a bit of a challenge. Take a look at what went into making these perfect:
Each column on this cutting board resulted from a slightly different recipe for the crackers (and the board doesn’t even show all of my trials).
I experimented with:
- using only butter, only vegetable oil, and a combination
- brushing with melted butter before baking, after baking, and partially through baking
- sprinkling salt on top, mixing salt into the butter, using kosher salt and regular table salt
- using different amount of baking powder
You get the idea.
I came pretty close to getting this recipe perfect. The real cracker [paid link] is slightly more fluffy, but the taste of mine is spot on. (Most of my tasters actually preferred my version’s flavor!)
Ingredients and Equipment
Though the recipe’s ingredients are standard baking staples, you will need some special equipment:
- Food processor (Using a food processor lets you fully combine the ingredients without over-mixing. If you make them in a stand mixer, you could easily over mix them and the crackers would end up less flaky.)
- Something to roll the dough with (A rolling pin is ideal, but you could also use a wine bottle in a pinch!)
- Cookie cutters (I use scallop-edged cutters to create the Ritz cracker look, but you can make them any shape you like.)
How to Make Ritz Crackers
Pulse flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a food processor.
Add butter a little bit at a time and pulse. The butter should be very cold – straight from the fridge. You want the dough to come together at the end, but ideally you’ll still see little specks of butter in it. It’s not totally smooth.
Add vegetable oil and pulse to combine.
Add water and pulse to combine until the dough forms a ball.
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 to make it all even and thin. The cracker recipe will be fine without it.
Use cookie cutters to cut the dough out.
Use a toothpick or a metal skewer to poke holes in each unbaked cracker. This makes it look more like the real deal, but the holes aren’t just for appearance; they help the crackers to bake more evenly.
Bake the crackers on a parchment- or silicone mat-lined cookie sheet until they just begin to brown.
Brush the crackers with salted butter while still hot.
Cool on a cooling rack before eating!
Store in an airtight container at room temperature, and add a piece of toasted bread to your container to keep the moisture level regulated.
Serving Ideas
Once you have baked your homemade Ritz crackers, try serving them with:
- cranberry jam
- cheese
- Keto cheese chips (You don’t need to be Keto to enjoy these.)
- Peanut butter
- ganache
- dulce de leche or cajeta
- caramel icing
- cream cheese
- deli meats
Related Recipes
- Peanut butter crackers
- Homemade goldfish crackers
- Homemade oyster crackers
- Web Story: homemade Ritz crackers
Homemade Ritz Crackers Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt divided
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cold
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2/3 cup water
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Put the flour, baking powder, sugar, and 1/2 tsp of the salt in the food processor.
- Pulse to combine.
- Add cold butter a few small pats at a time, and pulse to combine.
- Add vegetable oil. Pulse to combine.
- Add water a little bit at a time. Pulse to combine after each addition. The dough should start to form a ball.
- Roll dough out as thin as you can. Mine ended up being all different thicknesses. Don't sweat it; they are homemade crackers! If you are really concerned, use a pasta maker to make the dough all one thickness.
- Use cookie cutters to cut the dough out. You can make them Ritz-shaped [paid link] or any shape that you like.
- Poke holes in the dough in the Ritz pattern or any pattern you like (smiley faces would be fun!). Keep in mind that the holes are not just decorative; they help the crackers to bake evenly – so be sure to poke some.
- Bake the crackers on a parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheet for ten minutes or until the crackers just begin to brown.
- While the crackers are baking, melt the remaining butter and mix in the remaining salt. (Some people said that my crackers weren't salty enough, so add more or less salt to your taste.)
- As soon as you remove the crackers from the oven, brush them with the salty butter.
- Cool and eat!
Loading comments...