I love when something good happens out of a mistake -- this is exactly what happened here!
I was recipe creating for my book, Joyous Detox, and my pizza crust was a bit of a flop (sad face). It was crunchy and very tasty but too thin, even too thin for "thin crust" pizza.
As I was walking back from the grocery store after picking up more ingredients to recipe test again, I thought to myself ... I really don't want to waste all those ingredients, they would be really yummy crackers for the blog! Just then a message popped in on my phone, Walker texted me saying "Those crackers you made are REALLY good, I'm eating them with the pesto".
So that's how this recipe came out of an accident. Truth to be told I may have just rolled out the dough too thin, but the crackers were so good I decided to nix the pizza crust for my book and use these as crackers to share with you, my joyous reader :)
Crackers are something I usually buy and you've probably noticed on my instagram food photos that I often eat Mary's Brown Rice crackers or Lavash brand "Spelt" or Multigrain. But now that I've created this recipe, I think I will make my own crackers more often. Waaaay cheaper, ZERO additives, easy to make!
For all my nut-free friends out there, you will appreciate the fact that this recipe doesn't have any nut-ingredients.
Here's the recipe and nutritional highlights below!
Snacks
Rosemary Chia Buckwheat Crackers
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Ingredients
- ¼ cup chia seeds + 2/3 cup water*
- 3/4 cup buckwheat flour (I used "light" flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1-2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp dried rosemary
- Pinch sea salt
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Combine the chia seeds with 2/3 cup water in a bowl and let sit until it becomes gooey and gelatinous.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, garlic, rosemary, sea salt and water. Add chia seed mixture. Stir together. You may find that it's much easier to just mix it with your hands into a dough consistency -- that's what I did -- a wooden spoon doesn't do as good as a job as your hands!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out on to a pizza stone or greased baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes. The thicker your crackers the longer they will take to bake.
- Once finished, let cool and cut into squares to your desired size.
Notes
*Soak together for 10-15 minutes.
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Good source of magnesium, which helps relax blood vessels, lower blood pressure and improve blood flow.
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Rich in antioxidant flavonoids that prevent LDL from oxidizing into potentially harmful cholesterol oxides.
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Try my Gluten-free Banana Bread!
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Contains carnosic acid, which helps fight free radical damage in the brain.
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Rich in anti-inflammatory compounds.
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A good source of iron, calcium, and vitamin B6.
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Good plant-based source of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats.
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High in fiber, which helps promote digestive and cardiovascular health.
And so much more!
The pesto I made was supposed to go on top of the pizza crust as well, so instead I used it as a delicious spread! I have many pesto recipes here and in my book Joyous Health. This one was arugula, sunflower seeds, garlic, lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil.
Enjoy!
Joy
These look really yummy! Can't wait to try! Thanks, Joy :)
ReplyThanks for the recipe! They look so easy to make. Do you preheat the pizza stone in the oven as you would for a pizza?
ReplyHi Laila, No need! You can also use a greased cookie sheet to bake the crackers. Kate - Joyous Health Team
This looks great! and i'm so happy it is nut free! it is soo hard sometimes to find/ alter a recipe to make it nut free. My husband is deathly allergic to all tree nuts and peanuts so its really hard to make certain things like granola bars (i still make some but they are not as good haha) I would LOVE to see more nut friendly options :)
ReplyHello Joy: These crackers do look yummy. instead of using Chia seeds, can hound Chia be used instead minus the soaking in water and just add them as they are to the dry ingredients? I am new to Chia and gave just bought some ground seeds and am loving it.! Feel free to email me. yours in health, Rebecca :-)
ReplyHi Rebecca, We haven't tried this swap, but I'm thinking ground chia might change the texture of the crackers considerably and possibly absorb too much moisture. Kate - Joyous Health Team
I tried these and found that the dough was VERY sticky. There was no way this would ever roll out with a rolling pin. When I was mixing the dough, I thought the 1/4 of water would be to much, even without it seemed like to much with the 2/3 cup in the chia seed. I did use 1/8 cup, thinking if I was wrong I'd add the rest, but it was already a sticky gooey mess. Tried using wax paper to roll on top of it, but it really stuck to that as well. Ended up mooshing it around with a spatula. All said with that, they were tasty. Next day, a bit more on the chewy side. Thinking that although thinner is more cracker like the first day, that thicker is better for several day storage - kind of like a chewy flat bread. Skipped the garlic and went with more rosemary and cracked pink salt on the top. Would make again, but confused as to why you said it could be rolled. I'm not a novice to this type of baking, so I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.
ReplyHey Aneah! I'm not too sure where things went wrong :/ This dough does tend to be quite sticky but it shouldn't be really gooey. If the stickiness was the issue, I think the extra water would help to thin it out a bit and make it easier to spread on the baking sheet. In terms of rolling, I tend to smooth the batter out with wet hands or a wet spatula into a thin layer. It's much easier than using a rolling pin. I hope that helps and that next time goes a little more smoothly :) Heather- Joyous Health Team
Hi. I made theses crackers. I let the chia seed sit in the water for 45 minutes and then added it to the flour mixture. It was too wet so I let it sit for another 45 minutes. I decided to add another 1.25 cups of buckwheat flour as I though it was too liquid still for cracker dough. I also added some herbes de Provence with the garlic and rosemary. I spread it out on a large pizza stone using a spatula. I baked it for about 30 minutes. It turned out fine. I also used a confection oven.
ReplyHey Louise, Thanks so much for sharing! Not sure why it was too liquidy for you but I'm happy you were able to get to the bottom of it and end up with some super yummy healthy crackers :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
Just made these, I didn't add the 1/4 c of water maybe only a tablespoon. I used my hands to mix and to spread it out i covered my hands in coconut oil and it worked wonderfully :) going to dip them into the sweet potato hummus... my mouth us watering ;)
ReplyHey Shannon! Awesome! I hope you enjoyed them. They go beautifully with the Sweet Potato Hummus :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
I tried these for the first time today, and i was also confused by the comment that this could be rolled out. It was too sticky for that. I did add some extra flour and then just flattened it out with wet hands onto a greased cookie sheet and baked for about 20 minutes. They turned out like crackers on the thin parts and more bread-like on the thicker parts. I really like the taste and will experiment with the texture. I used cumin instead of rosemary and it was great. I look forward to playing with this recipe. They paired nicely with the Cashew beet dip. Thank you!
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