Sesame Caraway Crackers {Healthy Snacking}

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, I am a big-time snacker–I eat smaller meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and enjoy (mostly) healthy snacks in between. I find that this “grazing” method cuts down on major hunger pangs, the 3pm snooze, and planning in advance for healthy snacks helps me to, well, eat healthy snacks.

These crackers are really versatile. You could make them sweet, savory, or both. I use sesame and caraway in this version, but you could easily make a cinnamon-sugar cracker if you prefer a sweet-salty snack. You could use fennel or cumin in place of the caraway, and throw in some black sesame seeds for some extra color. As long as you keep the proportions relatively the same, you should be find.

You could use almond meal for this recipe, but I find that a finely ground blanched almond flour works the best (I use this one from Nuts.com).

One important thing about these crackers–try to cut the crackers into equal sized pieces because otherwise they bake a little unevenly. With my first batch, I had to put the larger crackers back in for a few extra minutes because they weren’t quite done, but the outer crackers nicely browned and crispy. You also want to bake the crackers until they really are browned around the edges because otherwise they will be stale in texture the next day.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 40-50 crackers

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 cup ground brown flax seed (flax meal)
1/4 ground golden flax seed (flax meal)
3 Tbsp sesame seeds (black or white or a combination)
1 Tbsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg white
4 Tbsp water, divided

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. On a low speed, combine almond flour, flax meal, seeds, and salt.
3. Add egg white and mix until well incorporated. Add 2 Tbsp water, then add remaining water 1 tsp at a time until the mixture comes together into a stiff dough (you may need more or less water than the recipe calls for).
4. Turn dough out onto a piece of parchment paper. Cover with another piece of parchment paper and roll out with a rolling pin until it’s about 1/8 inch thick (it will take up most of a 12×16 piece of parchment paper).
5. Remove top piece of parchment paper and slide onto a baking sheet.
6. Using a pizza cutter or a knife, slice the dough into 1×1 inch squares (try to keep them mostly the same size so they bake evenly).
7. Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes until the edges are browned. If the crackers toward the edge of the pan are browning but the inner crackers are not, remove the outer crackers to a cooling rack and return the inner crackers to the oven for an additional 3-5 minutes.
8. Remove parchment paper to a cooling rack and cool completely. Store in an airtight container.