Everything Crackers (Paleo, SCD, Nut-free)

Every once in a while, my body needs a break from eating nuts.  Mostly because I tend to go overboard with them.  I can’t seem to eat just a handful of pistachios….I have to eat a cereal bowl full of pistachios.  You get the point.  And while nuts aren’t nearly as inflammatory as grains, when you go overboard with them, they can cause issues.  Lately I have had a lot of neck pain that is causing headaches.  So in addition to seeing my chiropractor, icing my neck every chance I get, and getting decadent scalp massages from my husband, I am taking a break from nuts for a few weeks.

Which naturally meant that I had to invent a new nut-free snack—STAT.

These crackers are inspired by Everything Bagels.  I used to love those, but even in my bread eating days, they were a little bread-y for me.  I mostly loved the savory-ness of them, and that is what I wanted to capture in this snack.  The base of the cracker is all seeds and I was impressed with how crunchy they got in the oven.  I put all of my crackers (except the Parmesan cheese crackers) in the dehydrator because it helps them stay crunchy for days and weeks, but I really feel like these crackers would work in the oven.  They might only keep for a few days, but let’s face it…..you’re probably going to eat them all in a few days anyway 🙂

Everything Crackers

1/2 cup + 2 TBSP raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

2 TBSP sesame seeds

2 TBSP flax seeds (if you don’t have these on hand and don’t want to buy them just sub in extra sunflower seeds here)

1 TBSP poppy seeds

1 TBSP dried minced garlic**

1 TBSP coconut aminos

1 egg

1 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. onion powder

**If you also have dried minced onion on hand, try it with 1/2 TBSP minced onion, 1/2 TBSP minced garlic and omit the onion powder.  This was my intention but I didn’t have any dried minced onion.  Either way, they are delicious.  Just giving you options :)**

Preheat oven to 350.

In a food processor, pulse 1/2 cup sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds until they resemble a meal/flour.  Add all other ingredients (including the remaining 2 TBSP of pumpkin seeds) and pulse to combine.  You want there to be visible seeds in the crackers.

Spread your mixture onto a sheet of parchment paper.  Then cover with another sheet of parchment paper.  Use a rolling pin to roll the crackers out.  I talk more about rolling out crackers on my Parmesan cracker post if you are interested.

Use a pizza cutter to cut them into whatever size you prefer.  Sprinkle with a little more sea salt.

Transfer the crackers and parchment paper to a cookie sheet and bake for approximately 10-15 minutes.  The baking time will depend on the thickness of your crackers.  Just remember that crackers are very thin and can burn very, very quickly.  Watch them closely!

After my crackers began to brown around the edges, I transferred them to my dehydrator for 3-4 hours to achieve the perfect crunch.

If you don’t have a dehydrator, try baking them at 275-300 for a longer period of time.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the crunch that the oven produced on these crackers.  Please let me know if you make them and what your experience was!!