"Cheese"

A friend of mine does not eat sugar. That makes things complicated when I want to give him a small present because usually I bake some cookies or produce other sugar-based food when I want give something small away. In this case, I have a plan b: cheese crackers. They are delicious if not very low-fat, and they are quick to make.

Cheese Crackers

• 450 gr. grated cheese (I took Emmentaler, but I am sure you could use other kinds as well. I would only recommend a rather strong cheese to get enough flavour, Mozzarella for example might be to bland.) 
• 250 gr. flour 
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 60 to 70 ml of cold water
• about 80 gr. of cold butter, cut in small cubes
• (optional: 4 tablespoons or more of herbs and spices)

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. The cheese might still remain visible as individual pieces within the dough, but don't worry it will disappear during the baking progress. As long as the dough is soft enough to work with and does not crumble too much you are fine.
If you are feeling creative, there are many things you could add to the basic recipe. I made some great crackers with a spice mixture for pizza, but you could also add caraway seeds, thyme or other spices.
Wrap the dough in cling film and put it in the fridge for about 20 minutes. (Or in my case: as long as it takes you to go and find a shop that sells baking paper on a Sunday. I always forget to buy baking paper. It is my personal weakness...)
Next roll the dough (about 0.5 to 1 cm) and cut out squares. You can also use a cookie cutter to make cheese cats, stars, hearts or whatever, the dough is pretty crumbling-resistant and the cookies don't change their shape or size during baking.
Bake the crackers at 180 °C for 15 to 20 minutes and let them cool on a grid. They get a bit more crunchy when cold but I prefer them when they still have a soft core.

Keep them in an airtight box and munch them while watching dvds, or wrap them nicely and give them to those who don't eat sugar...