food to glow

If you think wheat – or any grain for that matter – is necessary for crispy crackers, be prepared to have that belief well and truly quashed. Like flat earth theory, alchemy, and the theory of the four bodily humors, we now know that grains do not always a cracker make.

Kellie’s Theory of Healthy Cracker Happiness:

Nuts + (grinding x flavouring) + slow baking = a tray of yummy, snappable crackers.

It’s practically revolutionary!

The key to these is not to grind the nuts and seeds too heavily: there is a fine line between slightly nubbly, cohesive cracker ‘dough’ and nut butter. If you go too far just pop it in a jar and tell people it’s for spreading! Either way you gain a healthy, satisfying snack. It’s just one is the dunker and the other is the dunk-ee.

As for the flavours, keep it plain or go a bit fancy. The hint of southern France is my main suggestion here (which sounds fancy to me anyway), but the basic dough does invite experimentation: go Japanese with ground toasted nori and sesame seeds; add Korean pepper flakes; try ras al hanout, or my beloved za’atar, for a Middle Eastern treat. Loads of possibilities. Keeping them plain will make them ever so slightly more versatile. Although most of us will dip anything in hummus, including a Korean-ish nut cracker.

To whiz these up use a food processor or a good blender, like my fab Froothie. My Froothie blends really well without the need to stop and scrape down the sides, mincing everything more evenly than a food processor. A hand blender would most likely turn this into nut butter.

I’m thinking these crackers would be great additions to children’s lunch boxes, customizing to your brood’s likes and dislikes. Maybe you could get them to use cookie cutters to fashion cool shapes – squirrels and monkeys anyone?

You would be nuts not to try these crispy, protein-packed crackers.

P.S.The crimson-hued soup you see is coming soon. 🙂

Nutrition: Far from being something to limit to the occasional treat, a 2013 study from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham Woman’s Institute and Harvard School of Public Health found that people who ate a daily handful of nuts were less likely to die from any cause during the 30-year study period than those who didn’t eat nuts. They were also found to be – wait for it – slimmer. Death from cancer and heart disease were significantly reduced. Look here for a lay view of this important study. And here’s a good chart detailing the nutrients packed into a wide variety to nuts, seeds and pseudo grains. Can wheat make such claims?

Other healthy wheat-free snacks to try:

Fresh Blueberry Flapjacks from Tinned Tomatoes

Grain and Gluten-free Cream Tea {Scones} by Tabitha’s Gluten-free Dishes

Easy Homemade Crackers by Serious Eats

Savory Potato Rice Crackers {Baked Namak Paare} from Vegan Richa

Apricot and Citrus No-Bake Bars by Food To Glow

Spicy Seaweed Popcorn from Food To Glow

Crispy Middle Eastern Baked Vegetable Fries by Food To Glow

My Crispy Fennel Seed Flatbread Cracker recipe is easily adapted to use a gluten-free flour blend