Homemade Ritz crackers were a challenge. Take a look:
Each column on this cutting board resulted from a slightly different recipe for homemade Ritz crackers (and the board doesn’t show all of my trials). Some homemade Ritz cracker attempts used only butter, some used only vegetable oil, and some used a combination. Some were brushed with melted butter before baking, some after baking, and some partially through baking. Some homemade Ritz crackers had salt sprinkled on top and some had salt mixed into the butter (some used kosher salt and some used regular table salt). There were varieties with more baking powder and some with less. You get the idea.
I came pretty close to getting the Ritz cracker right. The real Ritz cracker
Homemade Ritz Cracker Recipe
While this homemade Ritz cracker recipe is a Cupcake Project original, I used Jeffrey’s recipe from What’s 4 Dinner Solutions as a starting point. Huge thanks go out to him.
This recipe is made in a food processor. If you cut the recipe in half, you can fit it in a mini food processor
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp + another 1/2 tsp salt for topping
- 6 tbsp cold unsalted butter + 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2/3 cup water
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Put the flour, baking powder, sugar, and 1/2 tsp of 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! If you are really concerned, Jeffrey had luck using a pasta maker to make the dough all one thickness – great idea!
- Use cookie cutters to cut the dough out. You can make them Ritz-shaped
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 correctly – 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. 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!
Cupcake Connection
I used these Ritz crackers to make a Ritz crust for cheesecake cupcakes.
Wow, I could never do all of that testing…way to go!
Oh my word…Ritz crackers are some of my store-bought indulgences. Not anymore, thanks to your thorough experimentation. Yay!
I just love how healthy you made these. It makes me so happy when old “bad” favourites are made into something great! Love it!
Wow! Love the health factor! These looks great!
Great blog; happy I found you!
Mary xo
Delightful Bitefuls
You’re my hero-ine! These were my favorite biscuits as a child! But they got banned due to the partially hydrogenated fat. I’m so glad there’s a healthier recipe.
I omitted the salt altogether, then brushed with salted butter & dusted with powdered sugar. They make wonderful cookies. Then I used the remaining dough to form tarts & filled with cream cheese and mini choco chips. Soooo good. They do, of course, make excellent crackers.
Great idea…these look really yummy and I love the idea of Ritz crackers with out all the junk they put in them. Thanks for doing all the testing for us!
About how many crackers did the recipe make? Just wondering if I should make a half batch or a full batch…
Thanks.
approx. 50
i made full batch and they were so good they are almost gone!!
Anon – I wish I could tell you. I did so many batches and kept playing with the batter so much that I never got a good count of how many were in a single recipe.
If you make them, please tell me so I can tell others.
I made approx. 50 crackers
I will be making these in the very near future.
You have two #12 steps in the recipe instructions. I don’t mind, but thought you might like to know.
Hey Stef!! Thanks so much for your comment after I posted about your Ritz Crackers on my blog!!
Trying my best to reduce using plastics… I nearly jumped out of my chair with excitement when saw you posted this recipe
Thank you thank you thank you!!
I am so excited to make these!!
Now I am hoping to find a recipe for Homemade Triscuits! My collection would be complete.
Hey! Thanks for the shoutout! I was mentioning to Mrs J just today that we were due to make a batch of crackers. I’ll use your recipe and hope to do as well. Yay!
So cool, thank you so much for sharing, I can’t wait to try these!!
Ritz crackers are my almost 2 year olds favorite “Cookies” and now we can make them together! Thanks for this recipe.
You can roll things out a uniform thickness if you buy a dowel the thickness you need, break it in two and put them on either side of your dough. The rolling pin will roll down to the dowel(ie. 1/8 in.) and all your dough will be that thickness. This sounds like a great recipe. Thank you for your testing!
I just made these and they came out great! Thanks so much!
http://whatcupcake.blogspot.com/2011/03/homemade-ritz-crackers.html
What was the vegetable oil you used?
Anon – I used canola oil.
I hope you used organic canola…almost 100% canola is GMO!
My husband loves those, I will def. try to surprise him with this homemade version! I feel confident in trying these knowing that you tried so many versions, thank you so much!!
What did you use to poke the holes? Do you think it works with simply a toothpick? (sorry, very beginner baker here…)
fork
Dea – I used the end of a candy thermometer. A toothpick would work fine, just be sure to swirl it around a bit so the hole is a bit larger than just a little dot.
Thank you so much for your quick and detailed reply, Stef!! I’ll be making these very soon, I just went to the store today and bought the cutter!
Can’t wait!
OMG I made them and they came out excellent!! My husband’s expression when he saw them and tasted them was priceless!!
I made half the recipe and ended up with 54 crackers.
I’m sending you a pic!
What a great recipe! Finally a crispy homemade cracker! Yay! I’ve made these twice now. The first time as written. The second time I did 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat and skipped the butter/salt baste at the end. I cut the crackers using these super cute mini animal shape cookie cutters. PERFECT! I am in love! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh, and the kids loved them too
The pasta machine is a terrific tool for guaranteeing uniform thickness. I use mine for pierogi dough and for the dough for my chrustyky (Polish bow-tie cookies). Perfect every time… I can’t wait to try this recipe.
This is AWESOME! I put the Ritz crackers back on the shelf during my last shopping trip due to the hydrogenated oils. My little boy loves them, so I’ll have to give these a try!
I just made this recipe and yes, you captured the Ritz flavor. I’d like to get them thinner so next time, I’ll roll them on the silicone baking sheet. That way I can slide the entire thing right onto the baking sheet. I did have to leave them in the oven 3 minutes longer (with the convection fan running) because I wanted a more golden cracker. Wonderful recipe…
These just came out of the oven. I love that I can whip them up quickly. I had to make some modifications to make them dairy free but they are tasty and my teething toddler can actually gum at them and I don’t have to worry about him choking on the pieces he bites off. Thank you, would you mind terribly if I post the altered recipe on my blog and link it back to you for the credit?
Delicious! It’s almost too bad they taste so good – you want to gobble them up!
I used olive oil and just put them straight on the cookie sheets (w/o paper) & they came out great! I started cutting them with my bunny & duck (Easter) cutters, but then decided that cutting the rest into squares was just about as nice and way quicker! So glad to find this recipe, as we’ve banned all goods with HFCS & partially hydrogenated oils too. Next time I might try using coconut oil instead of the butter or olive oil….
~Julie
Very good. I ran out of AP, so I used whole wheat pastry flour for half. Not quite like the store-bought, but very pleasing in their own right. We ate them with this Salmon Salad. http://upstatecalikitchenadventures.blogspot.com/2011/08/dill-cucumbers-bell-pepper.html
Thank you thank you thank you for all your testing! My spouse and I are wheat free and one of the things I miss most are crackers, but when I tried to make my own I figured out just how difficult they are. Now, thanks to you I’ll be able to have *good* crackers again, yay!!! Seriously, thanks a million.
–Kate
Best of all is you can crumble the broken ones and use it as a cracker coating for fish!
My family also needs to be wheat free but we can handle spelt–the spelt crackers recipes out there leave a lot to be desired. This recipe is perfect. I can’t wait to try it tomorrow!! My teens and I miss “real” crackers!
Thank you for a simple wonderful recipe.
Just tried these and they seem to be a hit (I can’t eat wheat right now, so haven’t gotten to try them, but kids’ loved making them and eating them.) We did pumpkin shaped ones with faces poked into them.
Thanks for your testing!
Just made these… SUCCESS!!! I am a caterer and have been looking for a Ritz-type recipe. I have a salmon spread I make as an appetizer that simply taste better on a Ritz. But I Ritz is not bite-sized. This will be perfect! I rolled them out right on to the parchment then just used my pizza cutter to cut squares the size I needed. I then went crazy with a fork to make the holes and baked. The first batch I did exactly 10 minutes and while they were good, they were too soft – cookie-ish. So I left the next batch in for 12 minutes. This was exactly as needed for my purposes. And the taste is spot on! Thank you!
I tied making these, liked the pastry like texture alot, but for flavour, I didn’t like it. For me there was to much baking powder which left quite a bitter flavour. I’ll try again with less baking powder. When I cooked them I found 2 minutes to be to long and they just about burnt. 8 minutes was just right for my oven. I’ll give it one more try and see what we come up with. I love making homemade crackers!
Use aluminum free baking powder!
I also made the and endup throwing them away. They test too much of baking soda. I will try one more time with less baking soda. I guess 3 tspn is too much. When it tested like soda, I thought I must used the wrong measure spoon.
only thing i changed was the oil i used olive oil baking soda was fine once you have the salt/butter on it was just a buttery crisp was delicious!
Do you think it makes a difference if you poke holes in the cracker all the way thru to the cookie sheet or if you just press holes in them, not piercing the dough completely?
You only need to perforate just below the surface of the dough.
Tried the recipe tonight and LOVED IT!
Will post soon on my blog as well.
Thank you!!
xoxo
Jasmine
Tried these in a blender as I do not have a food processor, so they were a bit tougher I thought. Will get a food processor and try again! My family loved them though just the way they were! Some people are having trouble with wheat more and more. I found out for myself, it is the bromine put in many flours. I try to stay away from them now!
I don’t have a food processor either. I cut the butter into small cubes, added them to the flour and worked it in with my finger tips until flour was mealy. I drizzled the oil in slowly with one hand while gently stirring the mealy flour with the other hand. I continued gently stirring the mealy dough with both hands working in any clumps (there were few and they were small.) Then I slowly added the water working it in with a fork. It doesn’t take very long to do this. It probably takes more time to get out, clean, and put away a food processor and they turned out perfectly.
Man oh man these look amazing! I tried to convert it to GF using Bobs all purpose flour and they definitely did not turn out as beautiful. If anyone figure out how to o it PLEASE let me know, I miss buttery crackers like crazy.
These were so good. I wonder if a coupleof super thin layers would mimic the puffiness of Ritz.
For those with little extra income.
http://arouda.blogspot.com/2012/02/recipe-for-disaster.html
Thank you for duplicating these crackers. They were an occasional childhood treat that was stopped when they were manufactured with bad quality fat and sweetener; it also changed the taste. Looking forward to eating “Ritz” again.
Thank you for duplicating these crackers. They were an occasional childhood treat that was stopped when they were manufactured with bad quality fat and sweetener; it also changed the taste. Looking forward to eating “Ritz” again.
Nope, they are not like Ritz crackers at all. Very mild taste and salt was no where to be found.
Sorry
These turned out perfectly! They were a huge hit with my kids for an after school snack. I don’t have a food processor so I just used my hands to work in the butter and oil. For fun I used a variety of cookie cutter shapes. Great recipe!
I just used my fingers to work in the butter. Add the butter to the flour in small cubes and just use your fingers to make the flour mealy. Drizzle in the oil in a small stream with one hand while stirring with the other hand and then gently stir with bare hands working in any clumps. (They will be small). Work the water in with a fork. It doesn’t take that long. It probably takes less time to do that then to get out, clean, and put away a food processor. I made mine this way and they turned out perfectly.
Thank you!!! I have been looking for this recipie for a long time! Cannot wait to try it. You have done so much work to find it! I just love Ritz-crackers but there are too many bad ingredients (palm oil etc) in the ones from the store
palm oil is actually very good for you and Coconut oil is one of the very best oils for you, just avoid the hydrogenated versions. My doctor who has gotten diabetics off of meds & insulin told me this. Plus I have done a lot of research. I controll my diabetes with diet only (brought it down to around 125 from 215). The natural fats are the bests ones to use. We have been lied to about fats. The mainstream medical establishments blindly believe what they have been told & pass it on without doing research. The polyunsaturated fats are causing a lot of health problems. Do some research. foodrenegade.com is a good place to start. I’ve seen sites run by other doctors that say the same thing.
Wow! Thank you, on behalf of my family, for your patience and determination. Tomorrow I will try them, for sure! I really enjoyed your post and your blog.
I have a question on these… What is the texture like of the dough before you roll it out to cut it? Mine was very soupy, so I wasn’t sure if it should be up to 2/3c. water or if you actually use a full 2/3 cup?
Thanks,
Erin
I just made these with my girls and they turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!
The recipe looks great, and the pictures are so vivid, but it’s your blog that has blown me away…. How did you get the top to look like that? Please share, I’m open to anything.
Thank you SO MUCH for posting such a wonderful recipe!! My kids love them and so do I
Quick question for anyone who has made lots of these- what do you find to be the best way to store them to keep them crisp? Rubbermaid? Plastic baggies? Empty cereal bags? Thanks!
I tried this recipe with several different flours and they came out ok but nothing at all like Ritz Crackers….and mind you I’ve been eating Ritz for over 50 years…..maybe that’s the problem…..can’t fool my tastebuds. Think I’ll stick to the real thing.
Thank you very much for this recipe! I have a nephew who’s allergic to soy and nuts. Try finding a store-bought Ritz that doesn’t have soy or isn’t made in a facility with nuts! I live in a rural area, so no specialty stores. These crackers fit the bill and allowed me to make a family favorite recipe that he could have, too. No worries about those nasty allergens! We subbed canola oil for vegetable oil, and they turned out fine. I liked these better the second day. Thank you, again, for these fine crackers!
Hi and thanks for this recipe! I know this is kind of old but if you get this message. . . I was wondering if the salt in the dough is important or if it is just for taste. I’m trying to make low-salt versions for my cracker loving toddler and would like to reduce the salt but I’m worried that it is important for proper rising etc. Do you think 1/4 tsp would be ok? I’m so excited to make ritz without that nasty cottonseed oil!!!
THinking about using the palm oil shortening I have instead of butter but I know that is iffy because of the water content of butter.
I made these tonight to have with sausage and lentil soup for supper. I used a teacup to cut them out as I wanted bigger than ritz crackers. When I took the dough out of the food processor I thought maybe I should have held back some of the water-but it was super easy to roll out. I got 30 crackers out of this recipe. I had only 10 left to put away. They turned out wonderfully. Thank you for all your testing.
my wife just made them, here are some of our LAZY changes.
1.used canola instead of vegetable because that is what we had
2.rolled them out and just cut squares (oh, the heresy)
3.used a fork for holes and just moved it around a bit to enlarge them a bit
4.did not use parchment
dough was moist but okay
real real thin ones not as good as medium ones
lowered heat to 390 as the first batches were browning too much
made a tad over a pound
will make them again but next time will roll them out on the underside of a cookie pan, score them, prick them and bake, brush, and break -lazy tom
I agree–I liked the medium thick ones better than the thinnest ones.
I also rolled them out on a pizza stone and used a pizza cutter to cut into rectangles. They separated as they baked and were very easy to remove from my stone.
I used palm shortening instead of butter to make them dairy-free. And no butter baste and the end and they taste great! Not identical to Ritz, but they are definitely the best homemade cracker I’ve ever made. I’d say they’re like a cross between Captain’s wafers and Ritz. I’ll be making these again–thanks!
Oh, I also did a half batch and it worked great in my little Chefmate food chopper. Thanks for the suggestion–I don’t have a full-sized one!
Thank you for this delicious Homemade Ritz Cracker recipe. I have made them several times using homemade oat flour in my food processor. I still use about 1/2-3/4 cup of regular flour to 1-1/2 cups of oat flour since the oats don’t seem to absorb the wet ingredients as well. I use Extra virgin olive oil and also substituted 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar and 1 teaspoon of baking soda instead of the 3 tsp of baking powder to eliminate the aluminum. Oh and I also substituted Stevia “cup for cup” for the sugar. I add enough flour when kneading the dough so that the dough doesn’t stick to the surfaces of the rolling pin or the stainless sheet I roll them out on. I use a pizza cutter to cut them in squares and with a pie slicer/server and some flour I pick up the pieces to transfer to the pans. I don’t poke them either. They turn out light and fluffy when cooked to a golden brown, about 10 minutes on either a baking sheet or a wire rack. And since my oven is a tad hot I set it at 390 degrees. I then dip the crackers in butter flipping them over with tongs to coat the other side then set them on a cooking sheet to cool. They seem to absorb the butter uniformly too. I don’t add any more salt as they taste good just with the coating of butter. This last batch I used unsalted butter for the coating and still love them just as much. My wife does too! Thanks again. Very healthy crackers. Now to try them with some cream cheese, Neufchâtel sounds delicious too! I need to learn to make that homemade next.
can you make it in a blender…i don’t have a food processor.
If I were you i wouldn’t use a blender for doughs. I’ve tried making dough with a hamilton beach that I had just bought and the dough was so tough to mix that it ended up blowing out the motor. Just use your hands it’s less clean up
Delicious! I think next time I’ll ratchet up the flavor by adding shredded cheese. Mmmm.
Thank you for sharing the recipe. <3 I made those, and posted it on my blog. I did some small changes on the recipe, but I linked your blog in the post. Mine didn´t become as pretty as yours, but they tasted delicious!
I’m glad you enjoyed! And – I checked yours out. They look cute!