With the indulgence of Christmas over I was determined that my first post of 2015 would be a super healthy recipe. I decided it had to contain flax seeds because I’d bought them in bulk months ago (every time I opened the pantry they looked at me begging to be used). At the same time I probably consumed my own body weight in Ryvita crackers in 2014 – most days I have a couple with ricotta, eggs, avocado or tuna. So I wanted an equally nutritious home-made alternative.

I landed on these flax seed crackers. This recipe is a slightly amended version of one I found at mayihavethatrecipe.com – I changed it to remove the date syrup and to include optional nuts. I’ve also suggested dukkah as an alternative to za’atar.

These crackers are vegan, gluten free and packed with fibre to help you kick start your 2015 detox.

Ingredients

• 1 cup flax seeds
• 9 tbsp mixed seeds – ideally 50% chia seeds plus sunflower, sesame and/or pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp za’atar (a middle eastern spice mix) or dukkah (an Egyptian nutty spice mix)
• 1-2 tsp salt
• Optional – replace some of the seeds with lightly crushed almonds or other nuts

Steps to prepare

1. Soak flax seeds and chia seeds in a bowl with one cup of water for at least 15 minutes.
2. Add all of the other ingredients and ensure everything is evenly mixed.
3. Line a roasting tray with baking paper and pre-heat the oven to 100 C (around 200 F).
4. Tip the mixture on the baking sheet and spread it out evenly using the back of a spoon (the thinner you can spread the mix without leaving holes the crunchier the end result will be).
5. Bake for 30 minutes then remove from the oven.
6. Place another sheet of baking paper on top – then carefully flip over the cracker so the underside is exposed (peel away the original baking paper).
7. Bake for another 30 minutes and then add to a wire rack to cool.
8. Once cooled break into pieces of your desired size using your hands or a knife. Store in an airtight container.

Tips 

• Make your own za’atar with 1/4 cup sumac, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds, and 2 tbsp each of thyme, marjoram and oregano.
• Dukkah can also be easily made at home – here is a recipe from taste.com.au
• You want the crackers to be as crunchy as possible – so make sure you soak the ingredients at step 1 for long enough for the water to be absorbed (and do cook them for long enough).

By Feast Wisely

Other recipes you might like:

• Healthy banana and oat cookies
• No added sugar chocolate nutty-oat cookies