Cheeze-Its! (Hopefully raw!)

[poleidopy]

These are SO flippin' delicious! I made SIX batches of them! I now have a fridge full of little baggies of cheeze-it's. I've been eating them every day for a week and I've STILL managed to lose 7 lbs! Yay! I got the recipe somewhere online a few years ago, then tweaked the amounts to my own liking. They actually taste much "cheesier" than cheese-its. Enjoy!

Oh, and forgive me if any of the ingredients aren't truly "raw." I'm still learning *blush * ...

1/2 red pepper
1/4 cup water
1 cup truly raw cashews, soaked
1 TBSP tahini
2 TBSP nutritional yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp onion powder
1 clove (1/2 tsp) garlic
2 TBSP lemon juice
optional: diced jalapeno

blend all ingredients in blender or food processor. Add diced jalapeno if desired. Spread thinly on teflex dehydrator sheets. Dehydrate until crispy then break into cracker-size pieces. Also makes a great nacho cheese dip if you don't dehydrate it. :)

[amytug]

uh, yum! :cool:

[ViolinCyndee]

They look YUMMY!

[TheRawPilgrim]

Oh I hope my dehydrator comes soon! I want these NOW :p

[RawKnitster]

Looks raw to me. And delicious! I instantly thought I must go out today and get more cashews. Then I realized I have an almost indentical mix in the fridge leftover from last night's romaine/veggie boats. (No tahini, I used pine nuts). I was going to use it on kale chips today. I will add the onion & garlic powders and get your crackers in the dehydrator right NOW! Can hardly wait to crunch into a crispy cheezy cracker.

Thanks for sharing. :D

[RawKnitster]

Crackers are in the D. There wasn't much dressing left so I added more ground pine nuts, ground flax, ground sunflower seeds, and a little water. I'll let you know how they turn out. :)

[Shelly11]

Started mine earlier today! Can't wait to try them. I'm hopeful my kids will like these as the batter tasted awesome! The last 3 things I've made went straight into the trash. Was getting so discouraged...thanks for the recipe.

[xPIXIEx]

Yum! I need tahini.

[monkapotapus]

This is one of my staples.
It's also on this site as: The bomb Cheese Sauce, or Rich Cheddar sauce :o
However, I never made it past the dipping part to put in the "D" for crackers...I'll have to try that! ;)
Thanks for sharing~

[RawKnitster]

My "cheez-its" are done! Perfect! Really cheezity!

Thanks! :D

[Dougalthecat]

These are amazing. This is actually my favorite raw recipe I've tried since going raw 10 days ago :)

[OnMyJourney]

I've subscribed to this thread and plan to make these shortly after unboxing my dehydrator! :p Thanks for sharing your recipe!!!!

[Vegansara]

Oh man, these sound great! And I actually have all of the ingredients at home! Hooray!

[Pitaya]

thank you thank you my mom will LOVE this....: )
blessings to you, CheezIts goddess heheeeee
:):p

[xPIXIEx]

Thanks for bumping this. It reminded me that I need to make more!

I made some green ones last week. :p I used a green pepper. I've got a red pepper now, so I need to make more. My husband and oldest son went crazy over these! They were fighting over the last little bit left on the deyhdrator tray. :D

[RawHealthyBeauty]

Thanks for sharing!! This sounds really good!!! :)

[TheRawPilgrim]

Holy freakin cow :eek:! These are AMAZING!!!!! I just broke them into pieces and put them back in to finish crisping and ate all the crumbs. It's going to take some serious will power not to eat the whole tray in one sitting :D

[OnMyJourney]

w0000 h0000! I just put a batch of these in my beloved Debo!!! Tasted the "batter," :eek: OH.MY.GOODNESS. They really taste like Cheez Its!! SO YUMMY! My daughter loved it too and can't wait for them to be ready! Thank you so much for this recipe!

[DRiz]

I made a double batch of these yesterday evening. Yum!!

[Revvell]

Oh yayyy! I have all that here currently so I can make them today! Thanks for sharing!

[OnMyJourney]

I made another batch of these Monday, they went over FABULOUSLY with my daughter's 5th grade classmates. She was beaming from ear to ear as she told me. :D

[amytug]

i am so sad that I can't make these because I have stupid brewers yeast and not nutritional yeast. :mad: I feel like I'm a victim of false advertisement kinda.. is brewers yeast also known as nutritional yeast.

[Basenjimamma]

Being that I don't even have my excalibur yet (it is coming tomorrow), how long would you say it takes for them to crisp up and at what temp?
Sorry if these are silly questions, but I want to make sure I do it right..I have been reading this thread over and over since monday...I am dying to try these..
Come on excalibur...

[poleidopy]

Being that I don't even have my excalibur yet (it is coming tomorrow), how long would you say it takes for them to crisp up and at what temp?
Sorry if these are silly questions, but I want to make sure I do it right..I have been reading this thread over and over since monday...I am dying to try these..
Come on excalibur...

I always just stick them in overnight and when I remember to check them in the morning they are done. I guess it would depend on how thin/thick you spread the mixture too. I put them at about 112F.

[Basenjimamma]

Thanks Poleidopy..I will the recipe ready as soon as FedEx drops it off...so ready.

[poleidopy]

:D rock on!

[erinnandjeff]

These look soooo yummy! As soon as my Excalibur gets here, I'm going to try them. My kids love store bought Cheeze-its, I would love to switch them over to something so healthy. Thanks for the recipe.:D

[TheRawPilgrim]

I love these so much :D! One thing I find interesting; if I were eating the SAD version, I could easily eat the entire box in one sitting, but I can only eat one or maybe two of these at a time, they seem so RICH! Has anyone else noticed this?

[poleidopy]

oh yes, I definitely find them "cheesier" than the SAD version.

[CathyA.]

Doing a juice fast right now. Should not even be looking at this thread because it sounds too delish. Absolutely going to make after I break my fast.

[poleidopy]

Word to the wise - do NOT estimate on the amounts in this recipe! My kids lost all my measuring spoons so I thought I would just guess on the amounts...yuck. I ended up with crackers that look and smell delicious but taste like crap. :(

[CathyA.]

will follow your advice as I have no interest in eating crap.;)

[ShelShel]

Oh, my, word...I'm waiting for my dehydrator to come on Monday....I'm so excited to try this recipe! Yeah. Thank you for sharing! :D

[ShelShel]

Oh, my, word. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't tried them. YUM! Thank you so much for this wonderful snack food, that fits my raw life. Now I truly have a yummy treat for when everyone else has popcorn at the movies. :D Delish.

[christinajade]

Ok, I have everything for this recipe so I am making tonight! I love the regular cheese itz and I can't remember how long its been since I've actually had them. This will be wonderful!! :)

[CosimaMoon]

Wow, I made these cheeze-its yesterday and am making a second batch today! Even my 14 year old brother loves them. He says they're one of the best things I've made in awhile. Thank you so much for this recipe!

[christinajade]

OMG!!!! I made these the other day and they are awesome!! I must say that I was a little skeptical at first. Being that I haven't really had much luck in the raw cheese department. So..I made these thinking, "oh no, another batch of crackers with that nutritional yeast taste". After mixing up in the processor, I tasted the mix and I was already amazed. I put them in the dehydrator and kept picking at them as they were drying!! I can't believe how good these taste!! I mean, seriously, I'm amazed. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!

[amytug]

christina- they are aren't they!? I do the same thing- I can't wait for them to finish dehydrating half the time. I'm out of raw cashews though (and have no other nuts) so I can't make any this week. WAAAHHH.

[CathyA.]

So I've been waiting to make this until my fast was over. Finally got around to it this evening. Excuse me....but can you say YUMMY?! Only about half of it got into the dehydrator. Soooo good with vegi's.

[christinajade]

I, unfortunately..shared with my SAD relatives. Ugh..now they are all gone!!! I need to make more and fast! :)

[Visorblue]

I made these a little over a week ago and love them. The recipe is a variation of one someone sent me but I hadn't tried yet. Since everyone here was lovin' these decided to try this one instead.

Downside is that the batch just barely fills a 15x15-inch tray. So, I decided to double the batch the next time. Then I thought if I double it I could leave some in sauce form for putting on flax crackers.

Finally, I decided to make it even easier and just add the soaked flax seeds (2-cups of flax seeds soaked overnight in 3 cups of water) to the doubled mixture and see what happens. It's in the Excalibur as I type this. I'll know how it comes out tomorrow morning. It should be pretty much the same since flax seeds won't make much of a flavor change but the yield is now four 15x15 trays full. :D

I waited an hour and a half for it to firm up a bit and then scored them. Really looking forward to the cheezy flax crackers.

[FreedomSeeker]

I'll have to try these! What intense endorsements they have. Fun!

[lovenlife]

Me too. I will make these tommorow.

[FreedomSeeker]

BTW, do you have to have nutritional yeast? Is there a substitution possible? I don't know where to get it!

[Visorblue]

The cheezy flax crackers are, in a word, YUMMY! They’re not done yet but I broke off one. A bit chewy still but darn tasty. I definitely will be making more of these. My new staple! Okay, now I’ve eaten two. :D

---

The nutritional yeast is where at least some of the cheezy flavor comes from. However, I have seen raw cheez-its made without it. Ah, here's a Raw Food World video (http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=hahFOFWtwkk).

[FreedomSeeker]

Visorblue, I just watched the video and am going to go try it! Thanks so much!

[Katie P]

Would someone mind posting a pic of how they turned out?????

[lovenlife]

Oh drat! I forgot to make these today! Tommorow I will. I really will.

[Ariella]

wow these look fabulous! will be putting some on the dehydrator today!:)

[Evie]

I am ordering a dehydrator soon. This will be one of the first things I make... thanks.

[kjduf]

I have questions: I just got my dehydrator yesterday and made a batch last night. Something went wrong??

First- too salty. I used sea salt, was I suppose to? I used exact measurements.

Second- it was in the dehydrator for 12 hours and still not crunchy enough. Should I leave it in? How long did everyone dehydrate theirs? I know dumb questions but I am a newby.

third- soaking the nuts. Am I suppose to dry them out or use them soaking wet in the recipe?

I am soaking the nuts again and after church going to make another batch. My son LOVES cheese-its and I want something healthier for him.

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Visorblue]

First- too salty. I used sea salt, was I suppose to? I used exact measurements.

Salt taste, like everything else, is personal. I used sea salt and mine were fine. Maybe salt to taste next batch.


Second- it was in the dehydrator for 12 hours and still not crunchy enough. Should I leave it in? How long did everyone dehydrate theirs? I know dumb questions but I am a newby.

I'm no expert but I have learned that everyone's setups, even with the same equipment, is different. Climate changes, etc. come into play. I dehydrate my stuff until it's the consistency I want. Don't count the time at all. Also, I figure it can't get too dry so...


third- soaking the nuts. Am I suppose to dry them out or use them soaking wet in the recipe?

I drain, rinse and use them wet.

I have a batch of the flax cracker version in the food processor as I type this. Yum! Last batch didn't last long enough to try them with salsa. Maybe this batch will? :D

[somelikeitraw]

The nutritional yeast is where at least some of the cheezy flavor comes from. However, I have seen raw cheez-its made without it. Ah, here's a Raw Food World video (http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=hahFOFWtwkk).

I have made this 4 ingredient (yeast free) version a couple of times now. The first time not much of it made it into the D because as a sauce it was quite tasty. So, the second time I doubled it. On the pricey side for me so won't make them too often. Tasted great and I kept tasting during dehydrating "just to make sure they were doing ok", lol. I couldn't keep my hands off of them long enough for them to get really crunchy but they did get to where they held up on their own just dandy.

Offered DH (SAD eater) a taste and he passed at first. When I was eating the last one he decided he would try it and wasn't impressed. I thought they were fanfreakintastic! I haven't tried the original recipe on this thread yet though. When I do, it will be without the yeast.

[Visorblue]

I have made this 4 ingredient (yeast free) version a couple of times now. The first time not much of it made it into the D because as a sauce it was quite tasty. So, the second time I doubled it. On the pricey side for me so won't make them too often. Tasted great and I kept tasting during dehydrating "just to make sure they were doing ok", lol. I couldn't keep my hands off of them long enough for them to get really crunchy but they did get to where they held up on their own just dandy.

Cool! You could try using other nuts like maybe raw cashews, almonds, sunflower seed, etc. to cut the cost down and see how it tastes to you.

Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast. Whole Foods sells it in bulk in some stores and health food stores may have it, too. You can also order it online. A friend sent me some when I couldn't find any but I recently found some in flake version in Sprouts, prepackaged bulk in the bulk foods section.

I'm addicted to the flax cracker version. Curse you, Poleidopy for posting this. :D

[kjduf]

I finally remade these and THEY ARE AWESOME!! I made it per recipe bit used 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Guess I don't like things salty! lol

I am making a double batch tonight, cant wait!

[somelikeitraw]

Would someone mind posting a pic of how they turned out?????

I don't eat nutritional yeast so I made the 4 ingredient version from ~
The nutritional yeast is where at least some of the cheezy flavor comes from. However, I have seen raw cheez-its made without it. Ah, here's a Raw Food World video (http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=hahFOFWtwkk).

Here is a picture of how they turned out. I made them large because that's how I like 'em :)

[Gossy]

I have two quick questions about this recipe - hopefully someone can help!

I have all the ingredients on hand except the red pepper. Blasted pepper! Is this a pivotal ingredient to the taste or can I get along without it you think? I only ask because I spent a ridiculous amount of time yesterday at the store and then making things when I got home, and I'm trying to keep things simple tonight. If the pepper is a must I can run to the store for it . . . I'm craving cheesy sauce/crackers like no ones business so I really want to give these a go tonight.

Also, I am still lacking in the Teflex sheet department, but have parchment paper. Will these stick horribly to the paper and I'll never get it off - or will enough dehydrating make them hard enough/flipable I can transfer to mesh sheets eventually for nice crisp chips? I'd hate to make a huge batch of this and then have it ruined by paper . . .

Thanks!

[christinajade]

IMO...the red pepper is definitely necessary. It gives it that taste. It also give it that cheese color but I think it is needed for that specific taste.:D

[Gossy]

Guess I am going to the store again after work then . . . *SIGH* :D

It just figures. Oh well. Should only take me a few minutes to run in, grab a pepper, and get out! :)

[mblessed]

Gossy,

I agree with Christinajade, that the red pepper is necessarym sometimes I use orange if I can't get the red. Regarding your question about the parchment paper, I always use it, and it works out very well. The cheeze-its don't stick to it at all once they are dry. I love these! :)

[poleidopy]

made these again recently and they were, as always, FABULOUS! This is probably my very favorite recipe. I am actually going to eat some right now...

[poleidopy]

I made these a little over a week ago and love them. The recipe is a variation of one someone sent me but I hadn't tried yet. Since everyone here was lovin' these decided to try this one instead.

Downside is that the batch just barely fills a 15x15-inch tray. So, I decided to double the batch the next time. Then I thought if I double it I could leave some in sauce form for putting on flax crackers.

Finally, I decided to make it even easier and just add the soaked flax seeds (2-cups of flax seeds soaked overnight in 3 cups of water) to the doubled mixture and see what happens. It's in the Excalibur as I type this. I'll know how it comes out tomorrow morning. It should be pretty much the same since flax seeds won't make much of a flavor change but the yield is now four 15x15 trays full. :D

I waited an hour and a half for it to firm up a bit and then scored them. Really looking forward to the cheezy flax crackers. oooh, wow. total "Why didn't I ever think of that!?" moment! LOL! What a great idea.

[chaos here]

This has always been a fav of mine too.

[Eva]

Love it! I do something like this but without any nutritional yeast... but definitely respect people wanting to use it! Cheezits were once a favorite of mine!

[adobegirl]

Finally made these last night. They were SO yummy! :) Already have some nuts soaking to make more. Thanks for bumping this thread up! :)

[PunkRotten]

I am gonna try it out. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

[therawballerina]

oh my gosh this recipe looks amazing! i had a little cheap dehydrator (w/o teflex sheets) and so I just ordered a fancy one. plz get here NOW!!!!!!

[Norie]

I just made these and tried them! They were really nice! I crunched some up and sprinkled it in my raw mac and cheese. Soooo good!

[lynntofu]

These sound so good. I plan to make them. How long did you dehydrate yours for? I'd like to plan on the time it takes to make them so I can be around to take them out when they are done.

[queenbee]

These are GOOD - but dangerously good!!! My husband and I ate the entire batch before it came out of the dehydrator!! =D
We left 'em in for at least 18-20 hours.... Could have gone longer.

Cheers!