Ground Flaxseed Crackers – Curry Edition

As you may have noticed I have been trying to add more raw food to our diet. While I have no interest in going high raw I think that eating 50% raw is a good target. My husband liked the eggplant, mushroom and bell pepper I made as a test in the dehydrator a few weeks ago and was ready to order me a big fancy dehydrator then. However, I felt like I needed to explore the uses of the dehydrator a little more before I committed to another big kitchen gadget to take up valuable counter space. We like the kale chips quite a bit but the next thing I needed to try to make were flaxseed crackers. I have seen many recipes for the crackers that use whole flaxseeds. I chose to grind the seeds because I wanted to make certain we absorbed the omega 3 in the flaxseeds otherwise I saw no nutritional reason to eat them.

I have been doing some research about the benefits or drawbacks to eating a raw diet. It appears that while some foods are best eaten raw, the nutrition from other foods is more easily absorbed cooked since it breaks down the tough cell walls. I want to do a little more research but I will post something comprehensive on this topic in the upcoming week. Needless to say I am enjoying the research and can’t wait to share it with you all. I need to thoroughly research and source everything before I start writing.

This raw recipe is my modification of a recipe that is included in Charlie Trotter’s book “Raw”. His recipe uses whole flaxseed and a slightly different blend of spices. For my first attempt at flaxseed crackers I thought these were quite good. Here is what I did.

Ground Flaxseed Crackers – Curry Edition
Makes 10 crackers

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons golden flaxseeds, freshly ground
6 tablespoons water (or enough to make the mixture evenly smooth and spreadable)
1 teaspoon liquid aminos
1 teaspoon amber agave
1/8 teaspoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onions flakes
1/8 teaspoon sweet paprika
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients and stir to combine. Spread an even layer of the flax mixture onto the non-stick sheet (or fruit leather tray) that comes with your dehydrator. Dehydrate for 4 hours. If the crackers are firm enough, remove them from the sheet and cut the crackers into pieces and return them to the dehydrator (without the sheet) and continue to “cook” until the crackers are crisp. This will probably take 18 hours in total. The finished crackers can be store at room temperature until needed.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 24.57
Calories From Fat (59%) - 14.4

Total Fat - 1.65g
Saturated Fat - 0.16g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 34.01mg
Potassium - 3.51mg
Total Carbohydrates - 1.82g
Fiber - 1.28g
Sugar - 0.05g
Protein - 0.83g

Comments:

These crackers are much crisper than I expected. They have a nice “cracker like” snap. What they are missing is the pouf of most crackers that comes from a little leavening. From a flavor perspective these are much nicer than wheat crackers. I was quite surprised by the intensity of flavor of this cracker. I don’t mean that in a negative way. Wheat crackers are much more bland than these flaxseed crackers. Overall I was quite pleased and will exploring more flaxseed cracker recipes going forward.

I did learn some tips while making this first batch of crackers. Don’t spread the mixture too thin or it will create voids in the crackers. A little more water may have been good to thin this mixture a bit. It would have taken longer to dehydrate but would have been easier to spread. Try to spread the mixture as evenly as possible. Last I learned that you shouldn’t try to remove the crackers from the sheet until they are thoroughly dry on the bottom, but are still soft even to cut into pieces.

Nutritionally these crackers are a good source of omega 3 fatty acids and are anti-inflammatory and therefore healthy to consume in moderation. My husband and I were discussing these crackers this morning before he left for the office. We think they would be good with an appetizer plate or broken up on a salad like croutons. I also think they could be interesting put in the food processor and turn into cracker crumbs. They would need to be used raw so not to oxidize the fat to be most healthy.