Healthy Homemade Crackers
The other day, I spent some time reorganizing my collection of loose recipes. You know … those recipes that I’ve torn out of magazines, received as promotional material, clipped out of newspapers (does anyone else still do this?), or printed from a friend’s email. This sorting process serves as inspiration for new meals to try and old recipes to work into the rotation. In this pile, I found a recipe from a cooking class I took several years ago for these healthy homemade crackers. Just looking at the recipe triggered a memory of how delicious they were. So good, in fact, that I had to share!
Healthy Homemade Crackers
The flavor of these crackers comes from the nuttiness of almond flour, the tanginess of Greek yogurt, and the savory notes of garlic and chipotle. Chia seeds bump up the nutritional benefits of the crackers but also add visual appeal. If you don’t have chipotle powder, consider substituting a combination of chili powder and cumin. Feel free to experiment with other flavor variations like Everything Bagel Seasoning, Parmesan cheese, nutritional yeast, or Ranch seasoning.
Holiday Crackers
The easiest way to make these crackers is to roll out the dough and cut into squares. If, however, you want to get your fancy on, break out the cookie cutters! Roll out the dough as directed and gently transfer the cut-outs to a cookie sheet. Because there is space between these crackers, they will take less time to bake. Keep a close eye on them and remove from oven when they are golden brown and no longer soft.
The dough leftover after the first cutting can be rolled out again for another round … or two!
Kids in the Kitchen
This is a great recipe to get kids involved in baking. The dough can be divided into smaller portions which will make the rolling process easier. Seasonal cookie cutters make fun shapes and can be used to cut lunch meat and cheese to go with the crackers.
The Thinner The Better
It is important to roll the dough out as thin as possible (1/8″ or less). The dough in the picture above is a good example. The crackers in the picture below were not rolled as thin (closer to 1/4″). They taste great but they took longer to bake and were not as crisp as desired.
Also, many times the rolled out edges will be thinner than the middle. The crackers from the edges may need to be removed from the oven before the middle crackers are fully baked. Transfer the edge pieces to a cooling rack and return the pan to the oven to finish baking the others.
Original Recipe Credit
The credit for this recipe goes to Holly Houg. Holly teaches healthy cooking classes in her home in Urbandale, Iowa. She is a wealth of nutritional knowledge and a bundle of energy. You can learn more about her classes at Happiness in the Kitchen with Holly.
Healthy Homemade Crackers
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp chipotle powder
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 5 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, salt, garlic powder, chipotle powder and chia seeds.
- Gently fold in Greek yogurt. Dough will be a bit crumbly.
- Transfer dough to one side of a large piece of parchment paper.
- Press dough into an even thickness. Place another piece of parchment on top of the dough. Use a rolling pin to roll dough out evenly to a 1/8" thickness. Remove top piece of parchment.
- Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into small squares.
- Transfer parchment and dough to a cookie sheet. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until crackers are golden brown on top and firm to the touch. Thinner crackers will not take as long to bake. Start checking on the crackers after the first 30 minutes to avoid over-baking.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Notes
