cheddar oatmeal crisps

i was playing around with cheese & oatmeal tonight, wanting to make something to go along with soup but not bread or biscuits (i've been trying to eliminate as much wheat as i can), and i came up with these little tasties.  they were fairly quick and simple to make, and i did the guinea-pigging for you, so you know exactly how much salt not to put in (ugh).

they went really nicely with beef barley soup (in spite of their extra saltiness), and i'm definitely making them again.

cheese cookies ;)

in a good-sized mixing bowl, whip half a cup of butter until fluffy, then add 1 cup of grated cheddar and 1 egg; mix well.  add one and a half cups of oat flour (i just toss oatmeal in the blender until it's finely ground, since that's what i have on hand), 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 3/4 tsp salt (or less), 1/2 tsp pepper, 3/4 tsp garlic powder, dash of hot sauce, and any other spices/herbs you like.  (this was my fatal flaw: i added a caribbbean spice mix which was absolutely delicious, but it was loaded with salt.  my crisps were entirely too salty - next time i'll choose more carefully!)  mix thoroughly into a dense dough.  it will have a texture kind of like cookie dough, but thicker.

for the first batch, i scooped out about a teaspoon at a time, rolled into a ball, and then flattened it on the parchment paper.  for the second, i pressed the dough down onto the parchment, flattened it with my palms, then scored it with a knife into cracker-sized pieces.  both were yummy, although it was strange eating the round ones because in the back of my mind i kept expecting them to taste like cookies.

bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet at 350*F for about 20 minutes.  the result will be a crispy cracker (somewhat thicker than a cracker, but deliciously crispy like one) with a cheesy, zesty snap.

nb, these are wheatless, but not gluten free unless you take care to purchase gluten-free oatmeal.

:)