Cheddar snack crackers

Cheddar snack crackers: grown-up goldfish

I saw a meme recently that said, "There should be a 'DID THIS' button on Pinterest, complete with loud applause when you click it."

Cue the applause.

If you're on Pinterest at all, I'm sure you've seen this one floating around. The pin promised a copycat goldfish cracker recipe.

Fail.

But fail in a good way (unless you're 5 years old), because these crackers are so much better: I'd go so far as to cal them grown-up goldfish, much more appropriate with a glass of wine than a glass of milk.

How are they different? They are much, much cheesier and, while terribly addictive, rich enough that you won't be able to eat handful after handful. Which is probably a good thing because, frankly, these aren't lowfat.

However, made with just five ingredients -- cheese, butter, flour, salt and water -- this is one of the easiest recipes you'll ever pull together. Just pulse everything in the food processor, chill the dough, roll it out, cut out shapes and bake.

Done.

Maple walnut crackers

Maple walnut crackers from The Cracker Book

Late last year, I was asked to review and test some recipes from a new book entitled The Cracker Book: Artisanal Crackers for Every Occasion.

I love self-explanatory titles, don't you?

Burford Books thought I might like to try out some of the cracker recipes from this new book by Maine author Lee E. Cart. I immediately agreed because Lee's book promises that "making your own crackers is surprisingly easy."

Now, you know about my penchant for recipes that are wicked good but also wicked easy. And easy is the key word for these cracker recipes: mix the ingredients together, roll out the dough and cut out shapes with cookie cutters.

That's it! You're practically a Keebler elf.

I love the idea behind this little book: starting with a basic foundation recipe, you can add a variety of ingredients to create interesting artisanal crackers. The book includes recipes for more than 50 different kinds, including the unique and delightful-sounding

• Bacon crackers
• Carrot and ginger crackers
• Cocoa and whole wheat crackers 
• Green tea and brown rice crackers
• Guacamole crackers
• Rosewater crackers
• Tequila and lime crackers