The Best Crackers to Serve With a Cheese Tray

Thin, brittle crackers, such as white soda crackers, don't work with spreadable cream cheese blends or soft cheeses. For those typees, choose among these sturdy crackers:

• Crackers with dried figs, dates, nuts or fennel seeds embedded in them go well with Brie or Camembert. Find crackers like these at specialty grocery stores or make your own.
• Pepper-flavored crackers go especially well with goat cheese.
• Unsweetened, thick oat or wheat crackers give you a sturdy base for spreading any cheese.
• Woven wheat crackers go with all spreadable or soft cheeses.

Monterey Jack, fontina and havarti cheeses retain their shapes when you cut them, so you have a choice of either small or large crackers -- you don't need a large platform to contain cheese crumbles. Choose fun butterfly or triangle shapes in addition to round and square crackers. Flavor combinations that work well include:

• Butter-flavored crackers for any semi-soft cheese
• Crackers with walnuts for fontina cheese
• Crackers with fennel or caraway seeds for havarti or Muenster cheese
• Crackers with blends of spices and seeds for mild processed American cheese
• Rice crackers for a crunchy contrast with any smooth semi-soft cheese.

Some cheeses have a tendency to crumble when you slice them, so you need a large cracker to contain all the tasty bits. Or use a small cracker with just one chunk of cheese that your guests can pop into their mouths in one bite. Try these pairings for hard and semi-hard cheeses:

• Butter-flavored crackers for single chunks of any hard cheese
• Crackers that incorporate dried fruit for cheddar, Gouda or other Swiss cheeses and hard Manchego cheese
  
• Spicy crackers with black pepper or paprika for cheddar cheese
• Olive oil crackers for Parmesan cheese.