My friend and co-worker Shirin loves these crackers…she asks for them all time and keeps reminding me that I haven’t brought them to work for so long so I finally decided to make a bunch of them last week just in time for me to wrap her a big pile (way more than what she usually gets) as her Christmas present. She was a happy girl!
This is recipe is simple to make. You would need a dehydrator which will cook the crackers in a much lower temperature (between 115F to 105F) than regular oven to preserve their nutrients. The process will take about 8-9 hours. However, if you don’t have one, you can definitely use your oven with the lowest setting and cook it for approximately 5-6 hours. This will depend on how soft or crispy you want them to be.
I’m making them again for the New Year’s eve party that we’re having at our home. They are great as appetizers especially when you pair them with your favourite dips (I’m making 2 varieties of hummus). The ingredients are natural…no preservatives or suspect ingredients like the commercial ones and you don’t have to guess how long they’ve seen sitting at the supermarket’s shelf! They are also nut-free and gluten-free.
My hubby took the pictures and he loves the cracker with the imperfection! A little hole, he says, shows that it’s really homemade, shot by amateur photographers like us - no food stylist to make it look too perfect and overly pretty. We also didn’t edit these pictures (one day I’ll learn that process).
Sun-dried Tomato Flavoured Crackers (Made with Wonderful Seeds)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. golden flax seeds (you can also use brown)
1/4 - 1/3 c. organic or sulfur-free sliced sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 c. water to soak the sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 c. raw pumpkin seeds
1/3 c. chia seeds
1/3 c. raw sunflower seeds
1/4 c. unhulled sesame seeds
1 clove garlic
2 Tbsp. red onions
1/4 t. Celtic sea salt or Himalayan pink salt
1 1/2 c. to 1 3/4 c. water
Method:
1. Soak the sun-dried tomatoes in water for about 20 minutes until soft. Do not discard the water but use it to blend the sun-dried tomatoes in a blender or food processor with the garlic and onions until the mixture turns into a paste.
2. Briefly grind the flax seed in a personal blender or coffee grinder making sure to just get a coarse meal not ending with a powder.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients together, stirring a few times. It may initially look watery but in 5-10 minutes as the seeds absorb the water, the mixture will thicken a little and will be easy to spread (do not wait too long or it will harden).
4. Spread the mixture in solid, non-stick dehydrating trays with the back of a spoon . I have an apartment-size Excalibur dehydrator and I used 3 of the 12” x12 ” trays. If you want thicker crackers then you can definitely use 2 trays. Alternately, you can spread it in oiled cookie sheet if you are using the oven.
5. Dehydrate at 115F for 4 hours. With a knife, score to desired sizes then flip into the dehydrating mesh trays and peel off the non-stick sheets. Lower the temperature to 104F and dehydrate 4 more hours or until desired crispiness. If you are cooking in the oven, bake at the lowest temperature between 5-6 hours until crispy, flipping the crackers halfway of the cooking time. These will store in sealed container up to 2 weeks. Enjoy with your favourite dips!
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As I write this, it’s snowing outside. We didn’t get any of this wonderful fluffy white stuff before Christmas in Toronto. It finally came 2 days ago and this weekend, we are getting a bit more! Happy New Year to all of you! Best wishes for 2013! May we all be grateful for God’s gifts in 2012 and welcome the new one with joy and great expectations! My new website is under construction, I will soon let you know when it’s complete. I would like to thank you all for the wonderful feedback especially to all my supporters at Instagram.
So as the ticking of the clock continues and we get closer to 2013, we should pause and give thanks. 2012 was a great year for me and my family. God is good and will always be.
