I’m Crackers for Raw Crackers
In some circles, I am known as the raw cracker queen, okay just my husband calls me that, but it’s a start…
What I do is totally different every time. But I want to explain the basics so that you can have the confidence to make your own crackers.
Basically, you need a congealing base. For this I usually use flax seeds. I use them whole or ground up or a combination of both. I have a coffee grinder used exclusively for flax.
Before I start getting creative with veggies and spices, I soak the flax. If I’m using whole flax seeds, then I put enough water to be about 1 1/2 inches above the seeds. I use about 2-4 cups of seeds depending on how much cracker I’m making. The amount is something that you’ll learn with practice. Whole seeds soak longer; about 2-3 hours, before they make a slimy gelatinous substance. DO NOT RINSE these precious morsels. If there’s too much water over and above the flax jelly, then just pour it off, but do not strain the seeds! This is important. If you’re using just ground or even a combo of flax, then just add water to them and let soak for the duration of all the other prep work. I don’t measure, but I look for a consistency of thick cornbread batter. You can always add more water once everything is combined.
The second component is adding some veggies. By the way, you can also just do flax crackers with spices, which is amazing itself. I love to use veggie pulp from juicing and stuff from the fridge that’s gotta get used.
In my food processor, I put carrot pulp, sundried tomatoes (soak first for 30 minutes and SAVE the soak water), celery, garlic, sometimes onion, red bell pepper, to name a few. But those mentioned are pretty standard. They make for a great versatile cracker. I add enough water into the food processor to keep it going, and here is where I also add my spices. Sometimes, if I have too much veggie, I’ll do this in two batches so things get thoroughly mixed. I usually go for a themed cracker, such as Indian, Mexican, or Italian. I add Himalayan sea salt also or sometimes opt for the nama shoyu instead. Again, there is no “righter” way to do this than other ways. If you don’t have very much veggie pulp, then you’ll have a more flaxy cracker. And the converse is true.
Add your veggie mix to the big bowl of flax now. Stir well and taste a little bit. You’re going to learn how to interpret this flavor with practice. Remember, everything becomes concentrated as the cracker dehydrates. The first few times I did this, I thought it tasted way too bland and needed salt. So I added A LOT! They were way too salty. But, voila, I made a bland pate and it was marriage. But that’s another blog entry.
The consistency of your batter is thick, not runny at all. You need to be able to spread it on the dehydrator sheets. Here’s where you get to make some more choices. If you spread it on thin, you’ll get a crispy cracker, relatively quickly (4-6 hours maybe). If you spread it about 1/4 inch or so, you’ll have the potential for sort of a bread. You dehydrate it until it is pliable and soft, but not wet. This is excellent for raw pizza, sandwiches, you name it. Anyway, I usually make giant batches of thin crispy crackers, as I load up the glass jars with them and line the counter. They’re the best snacks ever.
After I spread the dough on the Teflex dehydrator sheets (I use the Excalibur dehydrator) with a wooden flat spatula (I have found that this works better than rubber for some reason), I use a pizza cutter and make my cuts at this point. I do squares or triangles, depending on how sassy I’m feeling. Now I place them in my dehydrator and set for about 115 degrees until done, which varies. By the way, usually all 5 trays are filled in the amount I do.
Please ask me questions and share your own ideas for this.
Crunch Crunch,
Shawna
