Seedy Crackers
I’m a snacker. I snack. I go from a cookie to a handful of almonds (slivers, toasted), and with cranberries if I’ve got them, then onto to something more salty, but not too salty because I’m trying to keep that in check. Lately this has meant the no-salt tortilla chips. As if that’s any help when I eat nearly half of a bag at one sitting.
Which is all to say that I’m always looking for a new something to snack on, especially in the not so sweet category. I like crackers. I like them a lot. But I will not allow myself to buy Wheat Thins or Triscuits because I cannot be trusted to have them around. Plus it’s more fun to try and make crackers. Or at least in my world it is. I’ve tried all sorts of cracker recipes in the last several months, and some I’m totally tossing into the pubelle, but not this one. I love these crazy, break off a piece as big as you want things.
They’re crispy, as any cracker should be, and like so many crackers aren’t, these are on the healthyish side — look, no gluten. I’m using these right now to dip into hummus, but I see so many other possibilities. It’s spring, y’all, which means party time, which means Champagne time, and now, homemade cracker time, too.
Seedy Crackers
Makes enough for 4 to 6 people
Adapted from a recipe by Anna Jones in Bon Appétit
- 2 tablespoons flax seed meal
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- ¾ cup raw pepitas
- ⅓ cup raw sunflower seeds
- ⅓ cup sesame seeds (I used white, but you may use black or a mix of the two)
- 5 tablespoons chia seeds
- 3 tablespoons hemp seed
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (fine)
- 1 tablespoon canola or grapeseed oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Put the flax seed meal into a small bowl with 1 teaspoon water. Mix and let this sit until thick.
- Put the rest of the ingredients into a medium bowl, add the flax seed meal, and 3/4 cup room temperature water. Stir to combine and let rest for 10 minutes or until the water softens the oats and the seeds.
- Pour this onto your baking sheet, gather together a bit (it doesn’t need to be a solid mass) and cover with a second piece of parchment the same size. Press down and with your rolling pin, roll this out until you have an even, thin cracker of about 1/8th of an inch. Remove the top layer of parchment and slide into the oven for 15 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
- Take the cracker out of the oven. Put a clean piece of parchment on top and — this is a little tricky, but stay with me — put a baking sheet of the same size on top and give this a flip, so the bottom is now on top. Slide this back onto the original baking sheet and remove the original piece of parchment. Bake for 10 to 12 more minutes or until the cracker is firm. Let it cool in the baking sheet and then break it into pieces for serving. Break into smallish pieces and store in an airtight container for several days to keep these crisp.
