Warmer weather is starting to wane and the hours of daylight are slowly getting shorter, creating a strong desire to gather together. But the season brings with it hectic schedules making any shortcut a welcome addition to the menu. So, let’s stir up some easy snacking for casual entertaining.
Salty, savory, and highly habit forming, these delightful little snacks fall into the category of things that are ridiculously simple to make. All that’s required is a little measuring, a bit of whisking followed by an overnight chill.
My Mom, like many of her friends would make snack mixes by “doctoring up” a menagerie of ingredients – cereal, pretzels, nuts or crackers. They would toss in some spices or herbs along with a bit of seasoning and in no time an “off the shelf” item had been elevated to new levels.
This is one such snack. No doubt we’ve all enjoyed those famous round buttery crackers – they’ve been around since the 1930s. But the little cheese bits are a more recent addition to that familiar brand and they lend themselves quite nicely to an extra dash of seasoning and herbs. All the ingredients are pantry staples that you might already have on hand – a packet of ranch dressing mix, dried dill, celery salt plus both garlic and onion powder and rich extra-virgin olive oil.
Whisk everything together and throw in a generous amount of those tasty cheese bits crackers. Then give them an overnight chill so they have plenty of time to soak up all that goodness.
That’s it. Nothing hard or even remotely complicated.
Bag up a bunch for an unexpected gift or serve them up with your favorite cold brew!
Herb and Garlic Seasoned Snack Crackers
2 boxes Ritz Bits Cheese Crackers®, 8.8 ounces each, about 6 cups
1 package Hidden Valley Original Ranch® dressing mix, 1-ounce
1 tablespoon dried dill
1 teaspoon garlic powder
¾ teaspoon celery salt
¾ teaspoon onion powder
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
Toss the crackers into a large mixing bowl. In a separate mixing bowl whisk together the dressing mix with the dill, garlic powder, celery salt, and onion powder.
Pour the olive oil into the herb and seasoning mix, whisking to blend together.
Drizzle the seasoning mixture over the crackers and stir to coat well. Transfer the crackers to a container, cover and chill for 24 hours to allow the seasoning mixture time to soak into the crackers.
Keep refrigerated. Let the crackers warm slightly to room temperature before serving.
Makes about 6 cups of snacks.
Herb and Garlic Seasoned Snack Crackers
Ingredients
- 2 boxes Ritz Bits Cheese Crackers®, 8.8 ounces each, about 6 cups
- 1 package Hidden Valley Original Ranch® dressing mix, 1-ounce
- 1 tablespoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon celery salt
- ¾ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Toss the crackers into a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate mixing bowl whisk together the dressing mix with the dill, garlic powder, celery salt, and onion powder.
- Pour the olive oil into the herb and seasoning mix, whisking to blend together.
- Drizzle the seasoning mixture over the crackers and stir to coat well.
- Transfer the crackers to a container, cover and chill for 24 hours to allow the seasoning mixture time to soak into the crackers.
- Keep refrigerated. Let the crackers warm slightly to room temperature before serving.
