My poor sourdough stater has been unused for weeks now. Needless to say I am so looking forward to baking a loaf of crusty hearty bread after I get these nasty candida yeasties under control in my system. That said, going forward I will have to seriously monitor my intake of gluten, sugars and yeast containing and yeast loving foods, so bacteria and yeast in my digestive tract stay in balance.
So crackers. Crackers luckily do not need yeast. But I’m unimpressed with the commercial gluten free crackers I’ve tried. So for tackling this homemade version they had to fit some specific criteria: 1) Have a crunchy, slightly crumbly texture, NOT cardboard in other words. 2) Be flavorful and rich tasting. 3) Be loaded with seeds and herbs.
To my happy surprise the first go round came out wonderful. A few test runs later and this recipe is definitely a keeper. My boys eat them all up before I can get a handful for myself so I recommend doubling the recipe if you have hungry appetites in your home.
Seeded Quinoa Crackers
Yield ~6 dozen 1" square crackers
I love them topped with my herbed labneh dip, pictured in the photos. To make the dip, use homemade labneh (tutorial posted here), mixed with chopped fresh herbs and scallion, a splash of extra virgin olive oil, pinch of kosher sea salt and cracked pepper, or whatever seasoning you like. A spoonful of tahini would be a nice addition too.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sprouted quinoa flour (can be substituted with buckwheat flour)
- 3/4 cup corn flour
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1 cup cold water
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup raw sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon flax seeds
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon dried herbs (I used a mix of our oregano and thyme. Chopped fresh rosemary would be an excellent choice too)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons raw sesame seeds for topping
- 2 tablespoons caraway seeds for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Cut two pieces of parchment paper to the length of your sheet pans. You'll need two sheet pans for this recipe.
- Process shredded coconut into a coarse meal, in a food processor or blender.
- In large mixing bowl whisk together dry ingredients: flours, coconut meal, seeds and seasonings. Stir in olive oil with a fork until mixture becomes crumbly. Stir in water and form dough into a ball. Dough will be sticky to the touch. Cover bowl with a tea towel and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Divide dough in half and pat each half into a rectangular shape. Place each half on the cut pieces of parchment paper. Cover with a piece of wax paper and roll out dough, trying to keep it into a rectangle as you go, to 1/8" thickness.
- Peel back the wax paper and sprinkle dough with 1 tablespoon each of the sesame seeds and caraway seeds. Replace wax paper and gently use the rolling pin to press seeds into the dough. C
- ut dough into approximately 1" wide squares with a pastry cutter, pizza cutter or knife. The sunflower seeds will catch on the blade, but this did not bother me. If you want a perfect clean cut, then you can chop seeds before adding them to the dough.
- Slide parchment with the cut dough onto baking sheet. Repeat with the second half of dough.
- Bake at 350˚F for 35-40 minutes. Switch pans halfway through bake. Done when golden brown with crisp edges. Be careful not to burn.
- Transfer pans to cooling racks and cool for 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
Break up squares and keep them in a sealed container for up to a week
If you are sensitive to coconut (it is quite rich), try replacing it with almond meal. Use 1/2 cup of corn flour and 1/2 cup of almond meal instead of the amounts listed above. Quinoa flour is expensive, so I've been making my own by grinding whole quinoa into a flour in my Vita-mix blender. But if you make your own, it is good to soak the grains or let the sprout first to ensure the naturally occurring saponin is washed off. Otherwise, the saponin coating (it's like a natural soap to deter fungus and pests) can cause you to have indigestion and create an allergy to quinoa all together. You can also substitute quinoa flour for buckwheat flour in an equal amount.
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Hi Kaity,
I found your blog thanks to these lovely crackers, which I love to make, but in a quite simpler version.
Making it with quinoa flour and dried herbs is wonderful idea, which I’ll have to try…
Hi Jasmin! Thanks for stopping by. hope you like the cracker recipe! xx Kaity
Stunning! What a lovely recipe!!
Thank you Alison! xx Kaity
Never made my own crackers before.. thanks for the inspiration, I have to make these. Love your photography too.
Thank you Thalia! I hope you like them! xx Kaity
I have been looking for a good cracker recipe like this! Can’t wait to try it! My hubby was diagnosed with Celiac Disease several months back (we’re both 100% gluten free now). We ate well already, but now I’m making everything to control our nutrition better. Thank you for your beautiful recipes 🙂
Thanks Britt! If you can find sprouted quinoa flour use that. I’ve recently learned that not all quinoa flour is washed correctly before processing the grain into flour. There is a natural saponin coating on the grain which can cause digestive irritation or an allergy to quinoa everytime you eat it thereafter, if not washed off. I ate some packaged quinoa pasta and experienced this—ahhh! Hoping it goes away becasue I love quinoa! xx Kaity
What a delicious, savory, crispy cracker! I’ve been looking for a recipe like this for quite some time, and it is perfect. I didn’t have sunflower seeds on hand, so I subbed 1 Tbsp chia seeds. I also used homemade toasted (but not sprouted) quinoa flour. Thank you, thank you!
Thank you for the feedback Hannah!!! So glad you liked them and chia seeds sound like a delicious sub-in. xx Kaity