Saturday, July 10, 2010

Grain-free Organic Basil Crackers




My mom is the cracker fiend. She loves crunchy things. She loves bready things. Not a very good combination for someone who is gluten free! I also love the idea of crackers, but sometimes I prefer not to eat any grains. Last summer I came up with a delicious cracker recipe and I've been making them for my mom ever since. These past few days I've been inspired (and urged by my mom) to make some more crackers, and I knew that I wanted to have a new and even easier cracker option. Today I bought another basil plant, and so I made some crackers.

I adapted Elana's easy rosemary cracker recipe. These crackers really are delicious! They are a perfect snack option when paired with some beautiful raw milk cheese, cold crispy cucumbers, homemade nutella or dipped in some goat cheese. Because they are made with almond flour, they are also relatively high in protein, which I love.

Basil Crackers
adapted from Elana's Pantry

1 cup blanched almond flour
3/4 cup unblanched almond flour (Or you can use 1 3/4 cup unblanched or blanched - does not really matter)
2 Tbsp freshly chopped basil
1 Tbsp Tuscan olive oil (olive oil infused with herbed spices)
1/2 tsp: celtic sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder
1 real egg

To make your crackers:
1. In a medium sized bowl, combine almond flour, spices, olive oil and egg. Fold together with a spatula until combined into a paste.
2. On a 13x17 baking sheet, move your cracker "dough" to the sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and roll to desired cracker-like thickness. Peel away the plastic wrap. I used a silicon baking sheet cover, so if you do not have one of these be sure to grease the pan or use parchment paper.
3. When the "dough" is all rolled out, take a pizza roller to cut the unbaked dough into squares. Make lines longitudinally and then across. You can add little fork holes for decoration, but that is optional. 
4. Bake in a 325 degree convection oven for 10-15 minutes or until crackers come together and are golden brown. Enjoy! Keep in the fridge for longer than 3 days or risk annoying mold!

I thought that the recipe didn't make much cracker, but it did fill up my cracker jar nicely. We will just have to see how fast they disappear! I ate some crackers tonight with my stir fried veggies, dipping them in the sauce; they hold up really well.

I gave them to my mom and dad to taste test and my mom loved them. My dad, who has the blandest taste buds ever (he can't handle any different taste or spicy food) declared that they were "strong." My mom and I died laughing!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting on my blog! I always love finding new blogs to read and enjoy, but it's so nice to find another gluten-free, soy-free blogger out there! :D

I'm adding you to my blogroll and I look forward to reading your future posts! =)

Those crackers look AMAZING. I still crave the crunch, but hate paying ridiculous prices for crackers at the grocery store. Thanks for the recipe! Hah, love how your dad called them "strong". My fella loves 'bland' food, too, and doesn't care for the seasonings I use in my cooking, either. :D

Beth @ DiningAndDishing said...

Never made my own crackers before...that combo sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing :)

Cheese Cube said...

They see to be really amazing . Looks delicious. Gonna try. Good post and good job !

ThE MidLiFe CrUiSeR said...

I've made these crackers :) I used the parchment paper, and rolled them out really thin! The edges burned in my mother in law's oven, and her fire alarm went off!! LOL! I broke off the burned pieces, and the rest was awesome! I'm Italian, so a love of strong tastes is genetic :) :)

Anonymous said...

Um, why is almond flour listed twice in the ingredients? How much should there really be in the recipe?

Kelsey said...

Do you score the dough or anything before you bake these? How do you cut them out when they're done - do you just kind of break them apart? Thanks for this recipe!!

Meagan said...

Kelsey - great questions! You don't have to score the tops. Adding fork holes would be a nice touch :) but it is unnecessary for these. To cut them, after you roll out the dough before baking, slice them into squares with a knife or a pizza roller and then bake them. When they come out of the oven all you have to do is gently break them apart into the squares you've already made :) Hope this helps!

Sandra said...

These are incredible! One of the best recipes I have made since I went grain free.
I was out of fresh basil so I used a half teaspoon of dried crushed rosemary and some crushed pepper.....Fabulous!