Thursday 18 September 2014

Crispy Flax Crackers (inspired by Mary's Crackers)

I always find that texture makes a big difference to how yummy a food is.  I really appreciate the crisp and crunchy texture of a good cracker - especially Mary's Crackers. These crackers are amazingly snappy, and I also like their simple, organic, whole-foods ingredient list and abundance of omega-3-rich flaxseeds.  My sister and I had a box as a treat recently, but those crackers do get eaten quickly!  So, inspired by the cracker box and this recipe, I decided to make our own!


Crispy Flax Crackers


Ingredients:

Brown rice - 2 cups dry
Quinoa - 1/2 cup dry
Flax seeds - 1 cup
Sesame seeds - 1/2 cup*
Salt - 1 teaspoon**
Soy sauce (or tamari) - 2 teaspoons
Pepper - 1 teaspoon
Vinegar - 1 teaspoon
Canola oil - for oiling bowl and pan

Instructions:

Cook rice and quinoa according to standard directions. Once cooked, let cool and then process in a food processor until mushy. Put in a large oiled mixing bowl (the mixture should be very sticky, so I recommend you oil it well!)

Add flax seeds and sesame seeds.  Mix well to combine. Add salt, soy sauce, pepper, and vinegar, and continue mixing until thoroughly incorporated.  (You may end up using your hands to knead in the seasonings; the mixture is so sticky, a mixing spoon wouldn't cut it for me.)

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Oil a couple of baking pans. (Or use parchment paper - I didn't have it but if you do this could be a good option!) Then, it is time to flatten your crackers!  I have tried numerous ways of doing this, many of which result in a sticky mess everywhere!  In the end however, my favourite option for making round shaped crackers was to take two plastic ziplock baggies, put a ball of cracker dough between them, and then to squish them flat by putting a cutting board on top of them and pressing down on it with as much force as possible. Using plastic wrap and a rolling pin may also be a reasonable (and probably faster) option, however I had neither of these things and had to get creative.  You want your crackers to be really flat so that they will get nice and crispy.  I made large crackers this time, with about 1-2 tablespoons of dough in each, however if you want bite-sized crackers, use about a teaspoon of dough each time. Warning: you will make a lot of crackers!

These crackers are giant (I guess they are more like flatbreads in terms of size)- and this isn't even the whole batch!

Bake crackers for about 10-15 minutes, until almost hard. Then, flip them, and continue baking another 8-15 minutes, or until very crispy. (Mine took 14 minutes on one side, then about 10 on the other side, but watch them to make sure they don't burn!)  Remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack. You may need to make multiple pans, depending on how thin you can get your crackers and how large your baking pans are.

Store at room temperature and eat within a few days.  (I'm afraid I can't testify to longer term storage or freezeability - we ate them all before I even thought of testing that)


Notes:

* I think these crackers would also be nice with other types of seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower, or hempseeds - as long as you have the sticky base (i.e. the blended brown rice) - I think this recipe would lend itself well to experimentation!

** These crackers did not have a strong salty taste - you may wish to add slightly more salt to this recipe, especially if you are active and require more electrolytes, and/or have low blood pressure.

These crackers are plain and so are quite versatile - serve them with soup, hummus, nut butter, or another sweet or savoury topping!  If you want, you could also jazz them up by adding other spices or herbs.  The cracker-making process took some time, since I ended up needing to make several batches to use up all the dough.  I wouldn't recommend it if you are short of time, but if not,it is a fun evening activity, and also great for if you have other things to do around the kitchen.  These flax crackers definitely satisfied my hopes for a good crunch, and I hope they do for you as well! :)


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