Lately I’ve been trying to limit my intake of white starch. Most whole grain crackers seem to be 1% whole grain and 99% white flour. But the other day at Whole Foods I found a yummy little package of flaxseed crackers. They were crispy, flavorful, they held up well to cheese, and were otherwise nearly perfect. The only problem was that they cost something like $6 for a tiny little package.
So I figured out how to make them myself.
I searched the net for a while, but most of the recipes I found use a combination of whole flax seeds and flax meal. The purist in me, once he knew that crackers with whole flaxseed were possible, would settle for nothing less. So here’s how to do it.
Ingredients:
-some flax seeds (try between a 1/2 cup and a cup for your first batch)
-some water
-a couple of teaspoons of salt.
Put the flax seeds in a big bowl and add fresh water until they’re just about covered. Leave them alone for 15 to 20 minutes. When you come back, most of the water will have been absorbed. Add more water (about the same amount as you did the first time) and stir. Go away for another 20 minutes. When you come back, the flaxseeds should be thoroughly slimy, covered in a substance that looks and feels just like eggwhites.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Cover a pan with parchment paper. Dump the mixture out on the pan and spread it out with a spatula. You want a “thickness” of about 3 flax seeds or so. Precision is not critical here. Put the pan in the oven and ignore it for 45 minutes or so. When it comes out, it should be mostly dry. Peel the mixture off and rip it into manageable chunks on a plate (they will still be somewhat soft, but shouldn’t actually be wet — if they’re still wet, put them back in the oven, and possibly turn up the heat). Leave the chunks out to air-dry.
Congratulations. You now have yummy flaxseed crackers, with no gluten, very few carbohydrates, and a better taste than most of what you’ll buy at the store.
But… carbohydrates are so yummy
I can’t live without carbohydrates 
Are these cheaper to make than buy? (that part wasn’t covered)
-Chris
Yes. Flax seeds are, effectively, free.
And you can grow them yourself, in Egypt! (sorry)
I will have to try that. Nabisco 100% whole wheat crackers have way too much salt. You have to examine each one, determine which side has the salt on it, and make sure when you put it in your mouth the salt side is not on your tongue.
try trader joe’s
i saw some of these there the other day much cheaper. and bags of flax seeds too
So the salt in your list of ingredients is there for its magical properties of protection?
Does it matter when you add it to the crackers, before drying or after they are dried?
I love it when you diet, Tea Leaves.
Trin: I add the salt to the flax/water slurry. It’s just for flavor. Various other recipes I’ve seen use things like garlic salt or other flavorings, but since my main use for these crackers is as a Cheese Vehicle, I skipped that.
R: I’ll look for them.
zp: You should see us when we’re drunk.
I’m never drunk. Well, except that once.
Well I have made 2 batches of crackers. The first were whole flax seed, the second were mostly whole seed, with some flax meal and buckwheat flour. The small bit of flour helped a lot, but they both suffered from a couple of deficiencies. They got soft fast. I think this is because the parchment held some moisture against the bottom of the cracker which got back into it. I think if at some point I flipped them and pulled off the parchment paper that may be fixed. I also need to add some flavor because these crackers are for snacking on at work. A was going to try adding random spices and cheeses. Any other ideas?
I’m on kind of a flax kick. I can admit that.
Whole flax rulez. However, you get more nutritional goodness if you grind whole flax a little. It makes all those great nutrients and fatty acids available to be absorbed by the bod. Whole, they are a fantastic fiber that just passes thru and helps your erm, colonic happiness and such. Freshly ground, they do that… and more!
(What is it about being a certain age makes discussing your colon not absurdly unthinkable??) You can buy them whole ( keep them refrigerated) and grind them in a spice /coffe grinder just before use. I find that it also inhances the unique, nuttty flavor. I can’t imagine it would change the result of any recipe to do this.
Boom Shanka
Elise
Doug,
I’m experimenting with different combinations of raw and roasted flax seed. The summary seems to be that the raw flax seed slimes better, but the roasted seeds taste a little better. I’m trying a combination tonight.
I mostly use the crackers as a vehicle for stinky cheese, so I don’t flavor them that much.
Garlic and rosemary is pretty good, but it doesn’t take much garlic. I put two cloves in a batch that was probably 1 cup’s worth and it was very strong. I’ll try the roasted seeds, that sounds good.
Had some fantastic homemade flaxseed (linseed) crackers today made by an acquaintance. She made with whole seeds, sundried tomatoes, chilli, salt and does them in her food dehydrator. Absolutely delicious, really really good.
I am making these flax cracker in my dehydrator, mixing anything into them I can find, such as grated carrots, grated red peppers sundried tomatoes, juice from a whole lime…or to taste, fresh herbs..whatever i can get, I also make them sweet, using either cocoa powder or carob powder with xylatol or stevia, add a pinch od nutmeg some ground cinnamon and a touch of cloves with a teaspoon of vanila or use the pod(cut into mall pieces) use some orange rind and cayenne for an extra kick, all these recipes I just experiments that turn out to be delicious!