Flax/Chia Crackers

[birdlady]

Flax Crackers

In a large glass dish add:
1 1/2 C flax seeds
1/2 Cup chia seeds
Mix and add 3 Cups of purified water and set aside to soak for 3-4 hours.
(I had these seeds soaking for 8 hours at one time and the crackers came out OK)
After soaking time, add (1) small 8oz can of Muir Glen Tomato sauce.
(Tomato paste does not work as good)

This is your base recipe for the crackers.
At this point, you can add Italian seasonings or organic taco seasonings, or what ever flavor you like, or crushed red peppers if you like a kick in your cracker!

Spoon out on Teflon sheets and smooth out to a flat sheet with a spatula. Even up the edges and shape to size of sheet.
Place in dehydrator @ 135 degrees for 10-16 hours. Separate cracker sheet from Teflon sheet and flip over after 8-9 hours for even drying. Continue drying until dry and crispy.

This recipe makes about 5 sheets of crispy crackers. Break into pieces and store in plastic bag. Keeps for weeks.

NOTE: The longer you soak the seeds, the softer they become after they are dried, making it easy to chew.

Not sure how you could do this in an oven, but I am sure parchment paper may be needed.
If anyone has suggestions about making in oven, please post.
Not everyone has a dehydrator.

I may suggest doing a "teeth check" after eating. The seeds like to hang out in between the teeth and look funny when you smile.

[wendya]

Hmmm...have convection oven and about 839 sheets of parchment paper left from the fair.
Will experiment and let you know

[wendya]

Bad girl! Got my seeds soaking...in water and a mix of the dim sum sauce I had left from the fair.
Figure if i eat it as a cracker than it doesn't have to be on pasta pot stickers

[LSue]

Bad indeed wendya!

Do I need to get our Forum wet noodle and come after ya in Hawaii?
(Hmmm..could think of worse places to go! LOL)

No more dum sum sauce for you, right!

[LSue]

Hmmm Birdlady... Great question to which I don't know the answer as I have never made flax crackers using soaked seeds. I must try your recipe as it sounds fantastic!

I would venture to say try baking them in a really slow oven (like 200-225 degrees F). I would definitely use parchment paper. As far as baking time, I'd just watch them and see how they do. Not sure they would have the same texture as those made in the dehydrator, but I think they should come out well.

Anyone else have thoughts?
Maybe our Mod. Emeritus, CSoar will see this thread and pop in...she's our Forum Flax Cracker Queen!

[birdlady]

Soaking the seeds makes the seeds softer and easier to eat.
I will look around to see if there is a recipe for oven usage.
That is the main reason why I bought a dehydrator, to make crackers and raw foods with.

[wendya]

I'll let you know how the baked crackers turn out. Getting ready to put them in shortly...then will let bake a few hours.
Well, maybe I should wait to bake them until after I get back from the water workout

Linda - I know - my bad! I've always stayed away from such things due to the msg content. So I was very surprised to read the label yesterday and realize the aloha brand is made from soy beans, water and salt. No msg. I made the dim sum sauce - shoyu, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, garlic and some sugar. Next time I make some, I'll do it with my pure fruit sweetener and see what happens. Actually, I'll mix up some without the shoyu and use it as a dressing

Can't wait to try the crackers. Love something to crunch on besides cabbage

[birdlady]

The reason for soaking the seeds is they create a gel of great enzymes that help hold the seeds together. Be creative with the seeds and use the dark seeds and golden seeds with the chia.

Here is the oven method I found:

Ingredients

2 cups whole raw flaxseed
3 cups water
3 Roma tomatoes
¼ cup fresh basil or 2 tsp dried basil
1 clove garlic
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Soak the flaxseed in the water for 30 minutes (at which point it will have become completely gelatinous.
2. While the flaxseed is soaking, place the tomatoes, basil, garlic and salt in a blender and puree. When the flaxseed is ready, add the contents of the bowl and the olive oil to the blender and give a few short bursts to combine everything.
3. Take 2 cookie sheets and cover with foil. Spray or rub olive oil on the cookie sheets—do not skip this step or your crackers will permanently adhere to the foil.
4. Drop half the mixture onto the foil on each cookie sheets. Wet your hand and then spread the mixture as flat and thin as you can, rewetting your hand as needed to make spreading the sticky mixture easier.
5. Place the cookie sheets in the oven at 170 degrees. In about 2 hours, the top of the cracker will have dried out. You should be able to loosen the edges of the flax crackers and flip the entire sheet and replace on the cookie sheet backside up. (If you can't peel the crackers off the foil, don't sweat it. Just leave it as is, or try again in another hour.) Turn the oven down to 150 degrees and leave it for about 8 hours. By then, the crackers should be completely dehydrated and stiff. Cool completely, remove from foil, break into smaller pieces, and store in a plastic bag. It should be fine for a couple of weeks. Serve with dips, tapenades, cheeses, or just by itself.

[wendya]

Oh these are wicked! What a delight to have some crunch and it's not a veggie!

Baked in conv oven at 275 and then to 200 for about 2 hours.

Wonderful!

[bad4x4girl]

This may be a dumb question, but are using milled flax seed or the whole seed? I would like to make some when I switch over to FF. Thanks!