Goin' Crackers

Today I made three different flavors of crackers.  We can’t eat potato chips, corn chips, or even pretzels.  And certainly not popcorn.  Makes for finding savory snacks for movie night a real stumper.  I don’t particularly like the veggie chips you can buy at the grocery.  They are often too sweet for me.

So, I turned to Against All Grains (http://againstallgrain.com/2012/04/20/savory-and-sweet-crackers-with-almond-flour/) and as usual, Danielle did not fail me.  I started a few weeks ago by making her crackers, but very quickly found I could change it up and make a variety of different kinds.  I can even leave them plain for use in soup and chilli.  yay!

You can make these any flavor you want.  With the variations I’ve listed below the recipe, you can see how to alter similar veggies for the garlic and similar spices.  Adjust the amount of water based on the juicyness of the veggies you use.  Play around with stuff you like and see what happens.  Always watch while they bake to make sure you are not over baking them.

Although I would never suggest trying to sneak food into a movie theatre, until they get some grain free options, we have no real choice.  However, if you get caught, I don't know you.

The kinds I made are:  Sesame Garlic, Onion Dill, and Tomato Basil.  All turned out delicious.

Sesame Garlic Crackers

1 cup almond flour

1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 or 4 good sized cloves)  If you use the pre-minced kind that comes in a jar (which I sometimes do), you will need to measure it out onto a paper towel and absorb some of the liquid.

2 tablespoons cold water

1 tablespoon raw sunflower seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place all ingredients in the food processor.  Process for about 15  seconds until thoroughly combined.  Dough will be very sticky.  Add a few more sesame seeds and pulse just a couple of times to chop.

Scrape the dough out of the food processor bowl and make it into a ball.  Flatten just a little onto a large sheet of parchment paper.  You cannot do this on a floured surface or in a pasta machine, it is too sticky.  Put another sheet of parchment paper on top and roll with a rolling pin to about 1/8 inch thickness.

Carefully remove top sheet of parchment and cut into squares with a pizza cutter.

Carefully slide the parchment with dough onto a cookie sheet and sprinkle with coarse ground salt.

Bake for 8 minutes.  Turn pan and bake 6 more minutes watching for browning.  Try not to let them get too brown or they get brittle.

Carefully slide parchment with crackers onto a cooling rack and let cool for 20 minutes or so.  Break up crackers on cuts and let cool another half hour or so.

Store in air tight container.

These freeze well and can be actually eaten frozen.

Variations:

Onion Dill

Omit garlic and put in 2 tablespoons of very finely minced onion.  If you use dehydrated onion, rehydrate first by covering 2 tablespoons of dehydrated minced onion with water and let stand for 30 minutes.  Drain on paper towel before adding to dough.

Omit Sesame seeds and put in 2 teaspoons dried dill.  If you use fresh till, probably 1 teaspoon will be enough, chop if very finely.

Everything else is the same as Garlic Sesame.

Tomato Basil

Omit garlic and put in 8 grape or cherry tomatoes cut in half.

Omit water

Omit sesame seeds and put in 2 teaspoons dried basil.  If using fresh basil, chop very finely before adding.

You can probably cut the baking time in half for these, watch them carefully.

Everything else is the same.