Thursday, January 26, 2012

Coconut Flour Chia Crackers (grain free/gluten free, egg free, soy free, vegan)


As I mentioned in my Easy Grain-Free Flatbread recipe post, I was attempting to make crackers when I "accidentally" made bread instead. Good accident. But- it didn't solve my cracker problem. So back to work again. Now I've become obsessed! I've made these crackers 3 times in the past week and my flatbread everyday as well with various modifications. Why? Because it's really easy. Especially when you leave your jelly roll pan, silpat, and rolling pin out :)

So for the crackers I decided to use Chia Seed meal along with the coconut flour and I made these herb crackers by throwing in some garlic powder and Italian Seasoning blend. You can leave them out or add other flavors you might like- nutritional yeast (for a "cheesy" flavor), rosemary, cinnamon, etc... If you're wondering about the wonderful nutritional benefits of chia, click HERE.




Coconut Chia Crackers
(grain free/gluten free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, nut free, paleo)

¼ cup Organic Chia seedmeal**
¾ cup Boiled Water
1/8 tsp Sea salt
1/8 tsp Granulated garlic
**For the Chia seed meal I grind whole Chia seeds in my blender or coffee grinder into a powder and just store it in the fridge in a jar.

Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF

Using a whisk or fork, mix the dry ingredients in a bowl until well incorporated.

Add the coconut oil into the bowl.

Add the hot water a little at a time, stirring as you add it in. (This will melt the coconut oil.)

Mix well with a spoon, stirring and mashing out any lumps that might still exist. Once you have a uniform dough in a ball, place it on your silpat or unbleached parchment-paper lined tray and roll out. Keep rolling your dough until it is as thin as you can get it without seeing through or tearing it. Feel free to move pieces of dough around and press it in- the dough is forgiving and easy to "cut and paste."

Mine rolled to be approximately 14.5” x 10” in measurement. Slice into squares with a pizza cutter.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes depending on your oven. 15 minutes got me a soft bread-like cracker, 20 firm but crisp, and 25 minutes extra crispy and darker.

Makes approximately 49 crackers (at 7 rows x 7 rows)



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51 comments:

  1. I'm in love! These look awesome! Great job. Can't wait to make these.

    Great recipe!!

    Hugs,
    --Amber

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  2. You are my hero! I can't do grains so all the gf /df /sf /eg recipes for bread or crackers were useless. I'm going to make these right now!

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    1. that was one of my motivations as well! let me know how it goes :)

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  3. Interesting! Have you tried making it with almond meal? Maybe that and flax? I'm trying to think of what I have (and chia meal isn't it, sadly)

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    1. Eileen, I have always used chia meal and flax meal interchangeably! But chia seeds are SO healthy, you should look into them!

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    2. I've actually been staying away from almond flour :( too much has made it not agree with me very much these days, so no- haven't. You could definitely sub the flax for the chia but the amount would be different- probably half.

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  4. fun! I'll have try these with my picky food intolerant 16 month old! You should share on our new blog hop (Allergy Free Wednesdays), gluten free crackers are a challenge, and grain free even more so! I bet many people would find this useful!


    http://tessadomesticdiva.blogspot.com/2012/01/allergy-free-wednesdays.html

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    1. Thanks Tessa- I'll take a look! I'm actually teaching a class on Monday on healthy snacks for kids and this is one of them! :) we'll see how a group of toddlers handle them... mine is 19 months and loves them but she's also used to these ingredients.

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  5. These look really good! I've made almond flour crackers, but not coconut flour cracker! Thank you!

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  6. I featured your wonderful cracker recipe on my January recipe round-up. The theme this month is homemade crackers. Thank you for your snackable inspiration. :-)

    Be Well,
    --Amber

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    1. (whoops, forgot the link): http://www.thetastyalternative.com/2012/01/monthly-round-up-january-2012.html

      :-)

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  7. My first batch is in the oven. Thank you so much. We haven't reintroduced flax yet (love chia tho) and can't do nut flours so I am so excited to taste these!

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    1. Hi Amy, did your crackers turn out? I just tried making these and it didn't hold together as a cracker at all...
      Ana

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  8. Ok, so I tried these and it didn't work for me... I used exactly the same ingredients and amounts your recipe specifies, however my crackers did not hold together. The dough ball looked just like yours, I was able to roll it out just as your pictures show, but when I took them out of the oven it was just a pan full of baked flour... what could it be?
    It looked so good in your blog, plus I tasted the dough and it was lovely. Not sure why it didn't work out for me.
    Ana

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    1. Hi Ana- thanks for letting me know, sorry that happened! I have a few thoughts...
      -did you use boiling water?
      -did it sit for a bit after you made the dough?
      -did you grind the chia seeds or use the seeds whole?
      I hope we can figure this out!

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    2. Ha, I didn't use boiling water, maybe it was that? I did use ground chia seeds!
      I didn't mix the chia with the water and let it sit though... I followed the directions on the recipe"

      "mix the dry ingredients in a bowl until well incorporated.
      Add the coconut oil into the bowl.
      Add the hot water a little at a time, stirring as you add it in. (This will melt the coconut oil.)
      Mix well with a spoon, stirring and mashing out any lumps that might still exist. Once you have a uniform dough in a ball, place it on your silpat or unbleached parchment-paper lined tray and roll out."....

      So I just did that: dry ingredients, coconut oil, warm water (didn't boil it though).
      I will try again with the boiling water then and see what happens. As I said, I tried a bit of the dough and it tasted so good, I really want this to work!! :-)
      Thank you so much for the attention and helping me out figure out what was wrong, I appreciate this, and will let you know about my second trial!
      Ana

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    3. Just in case someone else has a similar problem before you report back -- Very hot water accelerates the transformation of chia into a goopy gel, so I suspect boiling water is the key getting the right consistency.

      Warm water is enough to melt the coconut oil, but it would probably coat the chia fragments and actually prevent it from gluing the cracker dough together.

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    4. Thanks Anon- that's exactly what I was going to say :)

      Ana- did you try again with the boiling water? I mentioned letting it sit just because it will let it gel and bind a bit more but it happens anyways during the process of making it anyways. I hope that does the trick!

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  9. I just made this! yummy! am going to try a batch with cinnamon, another batch with thyme and spices and maybe another batch with lavender....

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  10. These look flipping amazing! I'm so excited - I can't wait to try making these : )

    m.

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  11. I made these your way and then I experimented. Your way turned out awesome and my kids love them, but I wanted something more graham cracker-like, so I experimented. I left out the italian seasoning, and garlic powder and mixed in about a tbsp molasses with the oil, about 3/4 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp vanilla and used flax seed meal with both recipes(still used 1/4 cup) and I had to add a little more coconut flour after making the dough. I also added some fresh ginger, so they're kinkd of like ginger snap cookies. They are in the oven right now and smell wonderful! Hoping this will taste good with things like peanut butter or crushed over some ice cream :) Love that they're egg free. I can eat eggs, but I find that most coconut flour recipes call for a ton of eggs, and I can't buy more than I'm buying right now of local, free range eggs!

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    1. What a great idea! I love your adaptations! Thanks so much for sharing them. Did you use the flax instead of the chia, or just added it in? When I tried with the flax, it was good but wouldn't stay together.

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  12. I also added about 1/8 cup sugar. I'd like to try honey next time and just increase the flour.

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  13. Omg these look delish!!! K will LOOOOOOVE THEM! YAY!! THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

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  14. I have these in the oven right now! I am wondering is there anyway to do it without the chia - my son is on scd and chia is on the illegal list. Do you think using egg white would work? I am desperately looking for a cracker recipe for him.

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    1. i wasn't successful using flax, but someone above said that they used 1/4 cup and it worked. i imagine egg white would work or egg replacer, but haven't tried it myself! let me know if you do try it and it works!

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  15. Hey there, thank you so much for posting this! Do you think its possible to omit the chai seeds? I am really craving something crunchy, but I can't have any grains, nuts (coconut is fine) or seeds right now. I am really hoping I can make these with omitting it or a substitution?

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    1. the chia is what holds it together, so you would need some sort of binder. you can always try egg white or egg replacer, but i haven't tried that myself. hope you find something that works!

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  16. Just made these, I swapped the chia for flax cause thats what I had, and they were excellent!!! SOOO good!! I havent had a cracker in so long and not only were these easy but they taste great!! I plan on making a bunch now!! thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe!

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  17. Made these and love them. Even my 9 year old eats them they are sturdy enough to eat with guac! My new fav!

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  18. I tried these crackers twice, once with chia and the other with flax. Unfortunately they just didn't work out for me. Even though they were rolled thin, they never seemed to bake up and get "crispy" like a cracker. Just soft, crumbly, and dry as all get out! Oh well.

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    1. hi there- sorry to hear that! i would say the most likely reason is that your water wasn't hot enough and the chia didn't gel. boiling water is key to the chia acting like glue and keeping it together. hope that helps!

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  19. I made these yesterday and they worked perfectly! I ate the entire batch they were so delicious! Thank you so much! This one's a keeper!

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  20. I lined my baking sheat with coconut oil and rolled the dough very thin and they were crisp like crackers. So maybe the layer of coconut oil will do the trick.

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  21. Is it possible to try these using brown rice flour or buckwheat flour in place of coconut flour? I might try that today and see... these look SO good!

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  22. Wow.. I've seen this recipe on Nutiva brand coconut oil's website for quite a while now and have been wanting to try them. I will definitely have to try them now!

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  23. Kathleen Sept. 21,2013 8:16 My first batch is in the oven. The dough ball seems crumbly but the proof is in the results. I let the 'ball' set for 30 minutes so I hope the chia seeds gelled.

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  24. With my oven, 15 minutes is the max for these savory crackers. Great.... I will make them again and try other spices too. Thank you for this recipe.

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  25. In my oven, 15' is the max I can bake them. They turned out in crackers and able to handle them but fragile. Savory little bites..they'd be good with guac and many other toppings I am sure. I will try it later in the day!! Thank you for this recipe.

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  26. Thanks! These worked perfectly. I used your recipe with a little extra garlic and rosemary. After 15 minutes, I brushed the tops with olive oil and sprinkled parmesan cheese, and baked another 10. So good!

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  27. Great recipe! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  28. This recipe is great! Thank you so much!

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  29. these are wonderful! I pulled them from the oven after 20 mins, broke off the outside browned crackers, and then put them back in until the middle browned. I can't stop eating them :D I want to make them again with cinnamon so I can spread some homemade strawberry jam on them!

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    want to make them stylish these article will be really helpfu i like this

    post. Hulled Sesame

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  31. Thanks for the recipe. Made these today. I added a tbls of raw cacoa and 35 grams honey and left out the seasonings. They were lovely. And the kids love them which is great. I haven't quite worked out the perfect oven temp for my oven (I did maybe 15 mins at 170 celcius) with the edges burning but crackers not quite crispy. I think if I lower the temp and cook for longer they will be perfect. See how we go. Each oven is so different! Very very helpful to have an easy cracker recipe that the kids can take to school (nut free etc). I've ever greatful to amazing food bloggers like yourself! :)

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  32. I made these with half Chia half sesame. Very tasty cracker.

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    These 3 researches from large medicinal journals are sure to turn the conventional nutrition world upside down!

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  34. Hi,
    Could I make these in my dehydrator instead of oven? Many thanks.

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