I recently picked up the October/November 2012 issue of Living Without magazine because it had information about making a Thanksgiving Feast that was wheat and dairy free. In particular, I’m trying to figure out a GF pie crust that works and tastes good.
In addition, this issue has five recipes for GF crackers. Since we eat a lot of hummus, I’m always looking for something crunchy to go along with it.
I decided to try the Seeded Quinoa and Millet Crackers. I liked the idea of a cracker with a buttery taste, and these didn’t look like they would be all that hard to make.
Here’s my setup.
I did alter the recipe slightly, because I don’t like fennel, or anything else with a licorice kind of flavor. I also didn’t have the flax seeds called for in the recipe. Instead, I used chia seeds. Here’s my version of the ingredients.
Equipment
food processor
two rimmed baking sheets
rolling pin
Ingredients
1/2 cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cups quinoa flour, more for rolling
1/4 cups millet flour
1 cup cornstarch
6 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dry Bouquet garni mix
6 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
1-1/2 teaspoon chia seeds
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the two baking sheets with non-stick spray and set aside.
Put the sunflower seeds and the quinoa flour in the food processor.
Process until the seeds are finely ground.
Add the millet flour, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, baking powder, xanthan gum, sea salt, and garlic powder.
Pulse a few times until everything is mixed together.
Add the oil and bouquet garni to the mix.
Pulse until everything is well combined.
Turn the mixture out into a bowl.
Add the milk.
Stir until the dough comes together. This mixture will start out a little sticky, but after you knead it a few times, it should start to smooth out. Knead dough until the mixture is smooth and stays together.
Dust your rolling surface with a little quinoa flour. Roll the rolling pin through it so that there’s some on it, too.
Roll out the dough as thin as you can. About 1/16th of an inch is recommended in the magazine. The dough will have some cracks or look weird, but it should smooth out as you roll. You can also push any bigger cracks together with your fingers and roll over them some more.
When you are happy with the rolled out dough, mix the sesame seeds and the chia seeds together and sprinkle over the surface. Roll across them gently to push them into the dough.
With a thin, stiff spatula, cut the dough into rectangles.
Using your spatula, carefully pick up the crackers and place them on the baking sheets. They can be close together, they’re not going to spread while baking.
Bake until golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. Rotate the sheets in the oven half way through the baking time to brown them evenly.
Cool baked crackers on a rack, so the bottoms stay crispy.
These can be stored in an air-tight container for up to a week.
Notes
I think you can easily change the topping and bouquet garni in this to whatever flavors you like. But don’t swap out the sunflower seeds because they contain oil and lecithin (an emulsifier) which helps everything mix well and keeps the crackers from sticking to the baking sheet.
I got that nice big rectangle by rolling out the dough, cutting off the ragged edge and flipping it over, then rolling again. In other words, I trimmed the edge and used it to fill in the gaps.
If this is too large of an amount for the size of your rolling pin, divide the dough into smaller amounts and work with them individually.
Conclusion
I liked these! I wish I could have gotten them just a little thinner, but they were crispy and crunchy and held up well to things being spread on them. They were a bit too brittle to “dip” with. I liked the flavor of them with hummus, the buttery taste was a nice complement. I also tried them with mushroom pate, and they were great with it!
I will make these again!
Enjoy!
Equipment Required
Ingredients1⁄2 cup sunflower seeds, raw, unsalted 1⁄4 cups quinoa flour, more for rolling 1⁄4 cups millet flour 1 cup cornstarch 6 tablespoons nutritional yeast 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon sea salt 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon Bouquet garni 6 tablespoons olive oil 3⁄4 cup coconut milk 2 teaspoons sesame seeds 1-1⁄2 teaspoon chia seeds |
DirectionsPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the two baking sheets with non-stick spray and set aside. Put the sunflower seeds and the quinoa flour in the food processor. Process until the seeds are finely ground. Add the millet flour, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, baking powder, xanthan gum, sea salt, and garlic powder. Pulse a few times until everything is mixed together. Add the oil and bouquet garni to the mix. Pulse until everything is well combined. Turn the mixture out into a bowl. Add the milk. Stir until the dough comes together. Knead dough until the mixture is smooth and stays together. Dust your rolling surface with a little quinoa flour. Roll the dough to about 1/16th of an inch. Mix the sesame seeds and the chia seeds together and sprinkle over the surface. Roll across them gently to push them into the dough. With a thin, stiff spatula, cut the dough into rectangles. Using your spatula, carefully pick up the crackers and place them on the baking sheets. They can be close together, they’re not going to spread while baking. Bake until golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. Rotate the sheets in the oven half way through the baking time to brown them evenly. |
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