Low Carb {2 Ingredient} Crispy Jalapeño Cheese Crackers
This recipe feels like such a blast from the past! When I first dipped my toes into the world of healthy eating, I was a devout low-carber. I felt amazing and lost weight (after coming off the standard collegiate diet of beer and pizza). And here I am 16+ years later, sharing a version of one of my favorite low-carb snacks! My Low Carb {2 Ingredient} Crispy Jalapeño Cheese Crackers, with only 1 carb per serving, are a delicious way to get that much desired CRISP back into your low-carb diet. And even if you aren’t eating low-carb they are a great way to take a break from a starch-laiden cracker for a protein packed snack!
While I’ve stayed pretty low carb over the years, eating no where near the ‘average’ carb intake of the standard american diet… at the advice of an amazing new integrative doctor, I’m back on the low-carb bandwagon! Despite my healthy eating and lower carb diet, my blood sugar isn’t at it’s optimal level which is possibly impacting my hormones, so for the next 60 days (Aug & Sept 2015) I’ll be sticking to 20-30 carbs a day. Initially I am starting out with diary and eggs, but I may need to eliminate them depending on the results of new food allergy test results. I’ll also be taking 500 mg of Berberine a day (in addition to my regular dose of Natural Calm at night).
Most often when people are embarking on a restrictive diet, they are sad or upset. I’m the opposite. I’ve been looking for a doctor who can help me fine tune my diet while working on healing my body and I think I’ve finally found my perfect partner! (if you are in the Morgantown, WV/Pittsburgh, PA areas, contact me for a referral)
I’m excited for a challenge and the prospect of putting together some of the missing pieces. Of course eating low-carb in 2015 is going to be different than what I did back in 1999, since I no longer eat processed foods, artificial sweeteners or cheap meat/diary. My diet will consist of pasture raised meats/eggs/dairy, low-carb veggies and lots of fats. Oh let’s not forget lots of water and mineral water too!
Today is my first official low-carb day and I wanted to create a fun new recipe to share with all of you, while I’ve been making crispy cheese crackers routinely over the years, the addition of sliced jalapeños makes these so much better! The best part is that you can completely control the level of heat, if you prefer mild just use a thinly shaved slice of seedless jalapeño with cheddar cheese, medium heat use hot pepper cheese and for hot use a thicker slice with the seeds included and hot pepper cheese!
Don’t they look positively DELICIOUS??
I’m sure most people would assume after tasting them that there is a complicated recipe, but NOPE! It’s just 2 ingredients; cheese & peppers!
I used 2 – 8 ounce packs of sliced organic sliced hot pepper cheese (roughly 10 slices per pack, cut into quarters) with 4 medium jalapeño peppers sliced thinly on my mandolin wearing my cut resistant glove for safety – those 2 kitchen tools for less than $30 combined are my favorite way to simplify these kinds of tasks.
Then just arrange your slices of cheese about an inch apart on your baking sheet that’s lined with a silicon mat (I have & recommend 2 of THESE 2/3 sheet pans w/silicone liner) or parchment paper and top with a slice of jalapeño…. bake for 10 minutes at 425.. that’s it!
Then the hardest part is not eating the entire batch right out of the oven before your husband get home. Unless of course you make a double batch so you can eat all you want and he’ll never know – not that I did that. No. Not me.
One last thing before we get to the recipe, these are AMAZING dipped in my Homemade Ranch Dressing! Like totally out of this world, crazy good!
Ingredients
- 1 pound sliced cheese hot pepper or cheddar
- 4 medium jalapeno peppers sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone liner.
- Cut cheese slices into 11/2 in squares and slice jalapeños (mild=thinly, hot=thickly, I recommend using a mandoline)
- Arrange slices of cheese roughly 1 inch apart on your baking sheet and top with a slice of jalapeño.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 10-15 minutes. The exact time will be determined by how thick your cheese/jalapeno slices are and the baking sheet you use. Check them occasionally, remove when they are firm and very lightly brown.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes (the crackers will become crispy) Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before storing in an air tight container for roughly 3 days (ours never last longer than 24 hours since we can't stop eating them)
Notes
Nutrition
Where do you purchase the organic hot cheese? Looks amazing!
Whole Foods
I’ve got these in the oven now. We ran out of jalapenos so i’ve sprinkled some chives on the leftover. Smells amazing.
You say 1 carb per serve and the recipe makes 16 serves – are you basing the serving size on weight? If yes, what weight is a single serve?
The entire recipe macros divided by 16
How many are per serving?
This looks delicious! I’m making them today and can’t wait sit!!!
It depends on the size you make them
Hi Hayley, they look great..I am ready to try tbem. One questioI am on the ketogenic diet. When you say there is 16 servings what is the carbs per serving? Would I just go by the cheese amout? Thank you for you time Lisa
you’ll need to calculate the cheese and jalapeño carbs – just do the total then divide by the number of crackers.
Wondering what kind of crackers are best to use?
Misty – I’m not sure that I understand your question. The entire recipe is just 2 ingredients you don’t need to purchase any crackers.
Wow…These look sooo good and simple to make. Being a cheese lover spicy person I’m definitely going to try this in the near future.
I just made my first batch, baked for 10 minutes and they all were too brown (still tasted good, but too brown). I just put in my second batch and will start checking them at 5 minutes. At 5 minutes they are perfect! I also used slice jalapenos from a jar as that’s all I had. I made sure to put the slices on paper towels so they weren’t too wet.
I can see that I’ll be making these a lot! Thanks for the recipe!
Yes, my first batch was brown and bitter. Needed only 5-7 minutes, maybe at 400. Also, the slices should be thicker to make this work well so they’re not too “lacey.” But overall, inventive, easy recipe, thanks!
OMG. Thank you so much for this recipe!! I have been low carb for a few weeks and, while I find it easy to stick with, I can’t shake that craving for something crispy. THIS SOLVES IT!! Can you imagine using these in place of chips for a low carb “nacho” dish? oh man.
Are you supposed to store in the fridge?
Our house is cool and we eat them quickly so we don’t need to refrigerate them. Do what is best for your situation.
I made these last night, and they were delicious….however, today they are not so crunchy….any suggestions? Maybe i should cook them a little bit longer?
Yes – they will stay pretty crispy
I drain on Paper towel both sides. Makes them crispier & takes slot of the grease out. My friend puts in non stick frying pan. I eat these so much. Dip in sour cream too. I’m single now so it’s a super easy cheap meal. When cheese goes on sales, I buy 3-4 bags. Coby Monterey is good also I cut jalapeños small and put a lot on them. I like hot. Use fresh jalapeños.
This looks amazing! Have you heard of the book Eat Right For Your Type? Best eating plan ever!
Sorry but I can’t figure out how to PIN it??
Julie – the “Pin It” buttons show up when you put your mouse on the photo and there is also a Pinterest button on the side of my blog (see the green buttons on the left? the P is for pinterest)
Wow, these look so, SO delicious! I can’t believe how simple they are, too! I’m definitely looking forward to trying these.
Those crackers are almost too pretty to eat! They look delicious!
Wow! Those look crazy good!
Wow! These look awesome! What a great idea! My husband will love these, going to have to make some soon. Pinned too.
heating up my oven right now…..OMG do these look great