Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Seedy Crackers

Hi there!
I've been making these crackers for a good 4 months now and it seems like I ought to share them; particularly since I took them to every holiday gathering I attended. [Gluten- nut- egg-free things are always popular at parties.] People kept asking for the recipe and now, finally, I'm passing it along to the masses.*  Yes, I realize it's now past the holiday party season, but you can still make these, just for you.  They're an exceptionally flavorful snack all by themselves, but they're also great with cheeses or hummus, or tapenade.  The best thing about these pretty little crackers?  They're even easier to make than my go-to wheat crackers.

I first made them for a meat and cheese picnic because I wanted to have a second type of cracker to compliment with my usual crackers, and came across this recipe from a very nice GF website.  I wasn't actually planning to go sans gluten, but I liked the premise of the recipe.  Once I went gluten-free, though, I decided I may as well go nut-free, and once I started getting seedy, it just made sense to use flax seeds instead of eggs, which makes these babies quite vegan... but they don't taste vegan [if you know what I mean], so they're popular with just about everyone.


Gluten-free things need a little extra help holding things together, which is why the inspiration recipe used egg.  The flax seeds work as an egg substitute because they contain a good bit of mucilage, which is a clear gelling agent found in almost all plants that absorbs water and binds it into "mucilaginous gel."  [Cacti and other succulents have lots of mucilage.] Grinding the flax exposes the mucilage and mixing it with water lets it goop everything together. Fun, huh?


Recipe: Seedy Crackers