I’m still on a cauliflower kick and was also craving some crackers recently so put them together and what do you get? An absolutely delicious and healthy cracker that you can make gluten-free if you want, with NO sugar, preservatives or other strange ingredients. I have been avoiding eating anything processed, which includes store-bought crackers, but I love crunchy things and after eating mostly soups for 2 months I was very ready for something crispy to bite into.
Making crackers seemed like a complicated process in my mind but I was watching The Great British Baking Show (OK, I was binge-watching about 5 episodes on Netflix on a recent snowy Sunday) and they had to make assorted biscuits for one of the challenges. The British and Irish call most crackers/cookies “biscuits”, funny how that is something completely different here in the USA… Anyway, they didn’t look that difficult to make so I decided to give it a try. I read up on cracker-making and then decided to incorporate some cauliflower into mine just because I want cauliflower morning, noon and night these days. Yes, I have some very weird eating habits and cravings, what can I say?
I had a recipe for Cauliflower Crackers so I was planning to go with that but the “dough” seemed so wet and mushy I could not picture them ever getting crisp. I ended up using oat flour for one batch, then half oat flour and half unbleached white for another batch. Adding any kind of flour was the trick to getting them crisp so I think you can use whatever flour you want which means you can make gluten-free crackers. I will try rice flour next time or maybe garbanzo flour… so many possibilities!
The amazing thing about making crackers is how easy they are and how much you can adjust ingredients to your liking. You can also make them as crunchy or chewy as you like, just bake them longer for a more crisp cracker and less for a chewier texture. You can even put them back in after they cool if you want more crunch. Yes, I did that, too.
I added lots of seeds to mine: toasted sesame, flax, chia and amaranth. I also tried some different herbs and spices and every batch came out delicious. So seriously consider making crackers for yourself.
BASIC CAULIFLOWER CRACKER RECIPE (makes about 50 crackers, depending on size)
NOTE: Total time including baking is about 1 hour, once you make them a few times you can make a batch in about 45 minutes, especially if you save some of the cauliflower “rice” for next time. It freezes well.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 head cauliflower, cut into chunks then processed into cauliflower “rice” in food processor (just pulse until the cauliflower is very fine like grains of rice) – you will use 1/2 cup cauliflower rice for one batch of crackers. You will have enough for several batches.
- 1/2 cup of caulifower “rice”
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup ground flax seeds
- 2 TBSP chia seeds
- 1 TBSP amaranth seeds (optional because they are sometimes hard to find)
- 3/4 cup flour (unbleached wheat, oat, rice, garbanzo or a gluten-free blend if you want)
- 2 TBSP olive oil or melted coconut oil (I used both in different batches and they both worked great)
- 1 -2 tsp each herbs/spices of your choice: garlic powder, cumin, Mrs. Dash, smoked paprika, onion powder, thyme, oregano, etc.
- Pinch of Himalayan Pink salt (or regular salt is fine)
- 1 – 2 TBSP assorted seeds to sprinkle on top of the crackers before baking
- Olive or Coconut oil cooking spray (to spritz over uncooked crackers before adding the seeds – it helps them stick to the top)
DIRECTIONS:
- Process cauliflower in food processor until it is consistency of rice.
- Add all ingredients to a medium bowl, including 1/2 cup of cauliflower rice.
- Mix it together until it begins to form a dough. If it seems too wet add a bit more flour.
- Put dough on a lightly floured surface and roll until very thin, about 1/8 ” or even thinner if possible.
- Cut the dough with a sharp knife into squares or rectangles or shape of your choice. I used a ravioli cutter to get wavy edges, just for fun!
- Carefully move each cracker to a baking sheet, dusted very lightly with a bit of flour to keep them from sticking.
- Spray tops with cooking oil and sprinkle seeds over the tops.
- Bake for about 12 – 15 minutes until they are as fairly crisp. They will get a bit crispier as they cool. You can put them back in the oven for a few more minutes after they cool if they are too soft. These crackers are very forgiving!!
- Remove from oven, let cool on a rack for 15 – 20 minutes before eating.
Serve them with a Hummus Spread (see my recipe for Homemade Hummus in February 4, 2017 post) or your favorite dip. These are very sturdy crackers so they can scoop up thick spreads without breaking 😋
the pollen count 
Love this recipe. Can’t wait to try it!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
They are really good and once you make a batch they are very easy. You can adjust the recipe, too. Very forgiving! I can’t stop eating them!
LikeLike
Thanks for the cracker recipe. They look delicious. I’m on a cauliflower kick myself and am wanting to learn more things to make with cauliflower. Also the dip looked delicious but I don’t know how to look up past recipes. You said to look up your hummus recipe in 2017. Can you help me? Thanks, Karen
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Karen! Thanks for checking out my blog. To find older recipes you scroll to the very bottom of my page and there should be a section with a black background that lists each month. Look for February 2017. That’s where the hummus recipe should be. Let me know if you can’t find it. I just have the free site so not all the fancy navigating options😬!
LikeLike
Yummy! These look delicious, especially with the houmous 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you! They are really good, very hearty and yes, great with hummus! also with avocado 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on #THEGUYWHOSAIDALWAYSNO.
LikeLike
These sound really good, thanks for sharing.
LikeLike
THANK YOU!! I’ve been looking for a really easy recipe that doesn’t incorporate cheese/ cheese alternatives so that way I can play around with batches and determine spice/ herb/seed combinations and which works best for me! I’m in the process of trying it except ended up putting in 2 eggs and used coconut flower. But my next batch I’m going to solely use what you included in the ingredients!
Practice makes perfect right?
LikeLike
Yes! I made several batches before anything came out. The first ones the dough was too wet. I love that you are experimenting with the recipe. That’s exactly how I cook, too! Let me know how yours turn out!
LikeLike
This was my post from this evening on Facebook (keep in mind the recipe I came across towards the end is yours 🙂 ):
“Trying out Cauliflower Cracker recipes. I cross referenced a few that seem to be along the lines of what I am seeking in a recipe. This is only the first batch. And I already have learned a lesson or two.
There is a recipe I came across when I was 3/4 done with this one that I wish I came across first.
That said, don’t shake your head with better recommendations for my next batches. Let’s just say this first batch is a very rough first go.
I used cauliflower rice, ground flax seed, ground chia seed, ground quinoa, whole egg, baking powder, and coconut flour, and foil because I haven’t used parchment paper enough to justify giving it real estate in my kitchen.
Next batch will be greatly altered. No expectations on this one.
Practice makes perfect!”
…update…
“NOTED: One of these ingredients will make crackers, fluffy. I suspect the culprit to be the eggs? On the plus side, this tastes and feels like matzo brei!”
———–
I’m a big cook of things super clean (make my own beet and sweet potato chips from scratch, and dip them into cauliflower tabbouleh ) but I have a habit of late night binge eating (working on that… situaion..) but I get bored of my beet chips !
—–
LikeLike
This said, is there a reason for nutritional yeast? I just keep reading about it as having a cheesy flavor. If I want to make a super plain, bland cracker (but with the grains obviously), what could I omit from the recipe? I ask because I want to start with the super super basic, and then add from there.. when I have friends over, some are salt free, some are grain free, etc. so I want to minimize what additional ingredients I can and then slowly build the recipe up!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Also, and apologies for the novel responses, but are eggs the culprit for the rising of my “crackers”? I’m a big cook like I mentioned, but I am getting into baking more, which requires directions to be followed at first especially when it calls for ingredients such as “baking soda” and “eggs”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Eggs are indeed the culprit for the fluffiness! For crispy crackers you don’t want much leavening ingredients like eggs😃. Like I said I did lots of experimenting too. I’d love to hear from you when you “perfect” your version😋
LikeLike
What is the oven temp ? I had to add a LOT of water and extra olive oil to make it dough like
LikeLike
I can’t believe I forgot to put the oven temp😬 350-375 depending on how hot your oven gets. Check them often so they don’t burn around the edges. If they are not getting crisp. Turn it down to 300 and bake a bit longer. I hope that helps and sorry for that omission!
LikeLike
Every time I make these the liquid amount is a bit different for some reason. Might be the type of flour? The main thing is to get a dough that will roll out and bake up crisp. I hope yours turned out!
LikeLike