Cheese-Its?

I’m notorious for trying to pass a food off as something it isn’t. My friends still laugh about stories of me trying to get them to eat something not so yummy and saying it tastes “just like….such and such.” So I am hesitant to say these raw food crackers taste “just like” cheese-its, mainly because I can’t even remember what store-bought Cheese-Its taste like, but I can say this – they are dang good!

This recipe comes from Carol Alt’s book The Raw 50. Carol Alt is a supermodel and credits her diet of raw foods to her youthfulness (she is now around 50, and I have to admit, she is stunning). She boasts that she can replace almost anything sold commercially and this is her attempt to replace the Cheese-It. I think she did a good job, plus they are easy to make, one prerequisite for me.

Raw Cheese-It-Like Crackers

3 cups thawed corn (about a 16 oz bag)

2 cup shredded raw organic cheddar cheese, loosely packed

1 red, orange or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 Tbs chopped red onion (white works)

¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

¼ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp Himalayan salt (Real Salt or other sea salt works fine)

Combine all ingredients in processor and process until corn is pulverized and the mixture is well blended. Spread onto dehydrator sheets, dehydrate at 115 for approx 6 hours or until tops are dry to the touch. Flip the crackers over onto the dehydrator tray and peel off the liner. Dehydrate for another 10 hours +, until they reach desired crispiness and break into crackers.