We have been greatly enjoying the crackers made out of Nourishing Tradition’s, yogurt dough. The only thing that I didn’t like is that sometimes that would seem a little to crisp for Elena, our 18 month old daughter. I would under bake them slightly, and this helped, but they still didn’t have that fall apart in your mouth texture I was looking for. I wanted a cracker that would be easy for her eat. I wondered how store bought crackers could stay together so well, yet still crumble so easily in your mouth. I still don’t know all the answers to making the perfect cracker, but I was very excited about a recipe I tried out this last week!
The following recipe is very loosely based off of a recipe from Sally Fallon’s, Eat Fat, Lose Fat book. The baking powder makes it rise a little and give it a little more texture. I used whole wheat pastry flour and some millet flour (no gluten), which made less gluten build up, and made it be more light and crumbly for Elena to eat. She LOVED them and they were so easy for her to eat. I think that I have finally found my Cherrio substitute! Now, if only her dad and mom would stay out of them, she would be set! Joel and I really enjoyed eating them with a pate. Very nice.
This recipe would lend itself to many changes and substitutions. Play around with the flours, and the oil to come up with what you like. Consider using flax seeds, sesame seeds, herbs, cheese, or other flavorings to add interest. I used coconut oil, but you could use butter or palm kernel oil. I made this using the same method for mixing as my Irish Soda Bread. You can see step by step pictures there if you want a little more guidance. Remember that this recipe includes a soaking period overnight.
Homemade Crackers
3 1/2 cups of whole grain flour (I used 1 1/2 cups of millet flour, 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour for a lighter cracker)
1/4 cup of melted coconut oil
1 cup of water with two tablespoons vinegar (or you could use buttermilk)
Gently mix together the above ingredients, until combined. I used a fork at first, and then kneaded the dough gently in the bowl until it just came together into a ball. Cover and leave out overnight on the counter. The next morning, flatten your ball out on the counter, using a little white flour, if needed to prevent sticking.
Sprinkle over the top:
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
Fold in half and knead gently until salt and baking powder are evenly mixed in (if this intimidates you, you can mix these two ingredients in with the flour the night before. The salt will inhibit some of the soaking process, however. You are now ready to roll it out!
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees, and lightly flour your surface. I liked to roll out a quarter of the dough at a time, for more control. I rolled them to about 1/8 on an inch to make firmer, crisper crackers to serve with spreads and cheese. For baby, I roll them to about 1/4 of an inch, and this produced a lighter, more crumbly cracker that was very easy for her to eat. Cut into desired size with a sharp knife and gently lay out on a greased baking sheet and prick with a fork.
Bake for about 1o minutes and check. They will be done when they are browning slightly around the edges. Cool on cooling sheets and enjoy! I like to store them in a glass jar on the counter. They are so pretty!
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Thanks for joining in, Kimi!
This recipe looks wonderful. We rarely eat crackers anymore now that we don’t buy hardly any packaged food, but I must admit, I miss them. I think these would go over well in our house. Maybe I’ll try them next week!
Can you recommend a sub for the coconut oil? I’d love to make these but don’t know where to get it around here.
You can order coconut oil from Swansonvitamins.com
Mrs. Mordecai,
Butter would be an excellent choice. Besides that, I forgot to say that coconut oil, if unrefined, does leave a bit of a coconut taste that some may not like.
Thanks! I’m excited to make these. Your flour combination sounds excellent.
These sound yummy! Might just have to give them a try for my kids to try! 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
I made your crackers tonight with all whole wheat(that is what I had on hand). They are really good!! I even put some sucanat and cinnamon in one batch and it was really good, gave it just a little sweetness!! Thanks for your recipe I always look forward to reading your posts!
I have a question for you Kimi. I tried these today and they turned out very sour. I soaked with 3/4 cup yogurt and 1/4 cup water for the liquids. Have you ever had problems with sour taste after soaking in yogurt? This is the first time I have tried it. Very strange. It is funny though, I have had several people inquire about sour taste and soaking in yogurt…hmmm…maybe it’s just the yogurts fault. Any thoughts?
Lindsay,
I have always used buttermilk, so that hasn’t been a problem for me. But the funny thing is that I would expect buttermilk to be more sour than yogurt. What’s with that?
Hmmmm……maybe it depends on the brand? I found, when soaking oatmeal, that yogurt would make it the least sour for me (though it would still be sour)
How long did you soak it? Could that be a factor?
You could always just use two tablespoon of yogurt per cup of water. I know that some like to add about 1/4 cup of rapadura to cracker recipes too. That could at least help counteract the sourness.
But it really is puzzling to me, that that happened to you. I wonder if anyone else making this cracker recipe or the Nourishing Tradition recipe for yogurt dough (shared earlier on this blog) has had that problem. I don’t know if I have ever had crackers, muffins, or other baked goods turn out sour before using the soaking method!
Sorry it turned out sour for you! That is disappointing(especially since crackers are a little more work!).
Hi Kimi,
Is it possible to use only millet flour for gluten free crackers?
Thanks,
Mary J.
How long do these crackers keep? I’d love to make a bunch but am afraid we won’t eat them fast enough.
Cindy,
I think they last one to two weeks. I haven’t made them for a little while, but that’s what I am remembering. 🙂 Just keep them in a closed container.
Hi Kimi,
Your site is awesome. I have been following Sally Fallon’s book for about 3 years (baby steps :o) ). After reading your recipe recommendation about the crackers, I pulled out her book and tried them with teff flour. My kids (who no longer get any store-bought cookies or crackers at home) were in heaven. They thought they tasted like a combination between a Cheezit and a Wheat Thin. I can’t keep them around for more than a couple days. Thank you!!!
Have you tried to soak quinoa flour? (I am GF)
Deanna,
Thanks! And Baby steps are good. 🙂 I am so glad that the recipe worked with teff flour! That’s great to know, so thanks for sharing. I haven’t tried quinoa flour, just because I was worried that it would be bitter without being able to rinse the grains (and it’s expensive to use, when you don’t have to be gluten free!). But I would love to hear how it goes for you, if you try it. 🙂
I’m making these crackers now and I have a question. Last night I did the first step and let that sit overnight, today the dough had a hard “crust like” coating to it. Did I do something wrong? I continuted on with adding the salt and baking powder and rolling it out and baking them. I hope they turn out ok despite the “crust like” top to the dough.
Hi Karen,
That has happened once or twice to me when I have done different projects. To prevent it, I have often found it necessary to tightly cover the top of my bowl with plastic wrap, so that it is air tight. However, I do think that your crackers will be fine. 🙂 Sometimes I will pick off any tough parts before rolling, but I think you will be okay.
I made these last night and after reading the directions again I saw that I was supposed to soak the grains? Or is this not needed? Mine turned out more bread like then cracker like, do you think this is because I used 2 c. whole what pastry flour and 1 1/2 c. white flour? Should I try all whole wheat flour next time? Thanks.
These are excellent! Following another commentor’s suggestion, I sprinkled the dough with cinnamon and sucanat before slicing into squares. I also added a teaspoon of vanilla to the dough. It’s like a very subtly sweet kind of graham cracker. They are yummy dipped in milk or hot tea!
I am very excited about this recipe. I hate buying boxed crackers so I just don’t BUT my two toddlers always beg me, so thanks for the recipe!
I do have a question. Coconut oil usually says on the jar what temp to heat at, 425 is way over the suggestion, does that harm the oil?
thanks!
jacquelyn
You don’t want to fry things in coconut oil over 425, but the oil in the crackers won’t reach that temperature. 🙂
aha!! thank you for clarifying! (:
This is very strange, because all day to day I have been looking for a good cracker recipe; one that I could make quite soon, and one where I had all the ingredients on hand. I think my day has led me up to this–I just needed to stay up a bit longer ;).
First I was looking for a “Cheeze It” like cracker, one that was gluten free, and then grain free. Ingredients on hand? No; missing almonds. Will sunflower seeds work? Maybe, but I don’t want to try a full out experiment just yet! I don’t really crave Cheeze It’s at all, but I thought it might be fun trying them out at home, anyway.
I decided on this recipe right here and now, and am soaking the flour right now, with about a TBPS or so of whey from homemade yogurt. I’m thinking of making them into rounds, perhaps like Ritz (sorry about mentioning all these processed foods–just giving you visuals).
Perhaps I can experiment with the recipe and add 8 oz of cheese? I have seen the Cheeze It and Goldfish recipes that have similar quantities of ingredients, so I might try that with this recipe. I will have to factor in moisture content, more fat, perhaps, etc.
Thank you for the recipe!
Hey Brandon,
This is a pretty low fat cracker, so I am would assume you wouldn’t have any problem adding cheese into it. 🙂 Sounds yummy!
I was looking for a good cheese cracker recipe and thought of adding cheese to this one too. Brandon, have you tried it with cheese? If so, did you need to alter the recipe at all?
Thanks!
When I made sourdough crackers in the past I would add grated cheese to the dough before rolling it out. I went by ‘feel’. Not sure just how much I actually added. Be sure to mix it in thoroughly.
I forgot to mention that I have made sprouted buckwheat crackers before. They were quite good! I’ll have to share them with you sometime, if you like. 🙂
I make my own bread/grind my own wheat and I have on hand hard red, hard white and soft white wheat berries, which would give me “whole wheat pastry flour”? Can I buy millet whole – I think I’ve seen it in the bulk bins at Wegmans, sm yellow ball? Do you know if I can grind it myself in my Nutrimill? Or is it an oily seed/grain?
So excited to get a cracker recipe, my kids miss them as an ok snack.
they are soaking on my counter
I made them with grapeseed oil and barley flour.
do you think they will still come out ok?
thanks!
I would think so!
Hi
I have seen several recipes that say to leave out on the counter overnight, but I am concerned that if I use butter and buttermilk, it will spoil. Will it be ok to put it in the refrigerator?
Linda
I rolled mine out in the pasta maker to get them nice and thin. They were great!
I noticed that one person said her crackers turned out more like bread than crackers. She used whole wheat and white flour. I used all whole wheat flour, but my crackers are like bread too. Does anyone have any idea why this might have occured?
Hi! I just discovered your website, and am so delighted! I just tried these crackers out, and they came out fabulously! I ended up making some major modifications due to an unexpected baking powder shortage. Here’s what ended up going into them:
3 1/2 cups teff flour
1/4 cup melted butter
1 1/4 (ish) water (The teff seemed to want some more water)
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup unsulphered molasses
3/8 tsp baking soda
1 1/2-2 tsp salt
1/2 cup(+) almond meal
I got it all set up, and discovered that I had no baking powder! I looked up alternatives, and discovered you can use baking soda and molasses. They ended up being pretty gooey, so I added some almond meal until the dough was dry enough to work with. (I was out of flour when I turned it out of the bowl, so I buttered a wooden bread board, and used a wooden spatula to help me work it). They ended up coming out fabulously, and we’ve been munching on the crackers and some amazing chicken liver/red onion pate that my partner made. Thanks for the recipe!
I made mine today and they came our super chewy. They almost taste like a pretzel. Not bad, but not like a cracker 🙂 Any idea what might have happened? I know I rolled the first batch out too thick, but I did the rest much thinner and still had pretty much the same result. Thanks! I’ll definitely try it again!
I love the idea of fresh healthy crackers! I have flour from spelt that I sprouted and then ground. How can I adapt this recipe for dry flour?
THANK YOU!!!
Caitlin, I would say you could have left them in the oven longer and maybe lowered the heat. That’s what I do, as I love crunchy stuff. Mine are in the oven now, can’t wait to try them, I’ll keep you posted.
I too am making these for baby to (hopefully) eliminate the Cheerios. I was wondering, though, about making them sweeter. Could I perhaps soak them in apple juice or applesauce?