Ritz Crackers are a universal favorite. They’ve been a comforting fixture in grocery stores for well over 80 years. Ritz are the perfect balance of salty, crispy, and buttery.
When Ritz crackers were released in 1934, the name was associated with the epitome of luxury. Anything calling itself Ritz in the 1930s was advertising itself as high-class. Many people think that Nabisco invented vintage ‘mock apple pie’. Nabisco was obviously not the creator, as mock apple pie recipes have been found as far back as the 19th century, when they were usually made with saltines or water crackers, but definitely played a huge part in the popularity of the creation. The buttery cracker rounds appeared on the market in 1934 and they were an instant hit. By 1935, the National Biscuit Company (or Nabisco) had sold 5 billion units of crackers. Shortly thereafter, the recipe for mock apple pie appeared on the back of the boxes. The recipe came at the perfect time due to apples being expensive during the Great Depression.
Ritz taste buttery, toasty, and salty. Apples taste sweet, sour, and juicy. You wouldn’t think that you could make a convincing fake apple pie filling with Ritz crackers, but it actually works. The secret is the cream of tartar, a powdered acid that’s produced as part of the winemaking process. Since cream of tartar comes from grapes, it has a fruity flavor that infuses the crackers and makes them taste vaguely like apples.
While they are great to eat them on their own, it seems there are many ways to use them in recipes, so we can enjoy them for whole meals and even as leftovers the next day, instead of for the mere 10 seconds it takes to get through a whole cracker sleeve. Crumbled Ritz make amazing toppings for casseroles, main courses, side dishes and desserts. Ritz can bring buttery flavor and a slightly flaky but ultimately crunchy texture to just about anything, so the real question is, why wouldn’t you want to make good use of them?
This sweet onion pie is a great way to showcase sweet onions. It’s salty, a little sweet & cheesy.
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- 2 Tbsp butter,
- 454 gm (about 2 cups) sweet onions, roughly chopped
- 1 1/4 cups Ritz cracker crumbs
- 5 Tbsp butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
- 50 gm aged cheddar cheese, grated
- 3/4 tsp smoked paprika
Ingredients
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- Place 2 Tbsp butter in a large pan & cook onions over a medium heat until starting to soften. You want the onion to still have a little bite so be careful not to overcook. Remove from heat.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Combine cracker crumbs with 5 Tbsp melted butter & press into bottom & up the sides of a lightly greased 9-inch pie pan. Spoon onions on top of crust.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt, pepper & Tabasco sauce. Pour mixture over onions. Sprinkle with cheese & paprika.
- Bake for 30 minutes.