We genuinely try, in our home, to avoid sugar. Now I know this looks hypocrital considering the post of just a few days ago showing all the sugar for the bake sales. And truthfully, we are hypocrits. We do *try* to avoid sugar. But the irony of this is that I love to bake sweets. And people seem to really like my baking. Cake and cookies and various candies seem to bless people in ways differently than flax crackers do.
Don't ask me why.
I'm not saying that we don't eat the sweets that I make on occasion. Because that would be beyond hypocritical. And a lie. But...as a general rule, I'm really blessed by a family that likes more nourishing foods as a general rule.
So even though I can dip Nutter Butters in white chocolate bark with the best of them, the flax crackers are something I make much more often. I just don't photo them as much because they're not half as cute.
**Recipe written below pictures.
This is the flax seed before it's ground. I grind it in a coffee grinder designated for stuff like this.
And this is what it looks like after about 20 seconds. I use 2 cups of whole flax seed for this recipe. My grinder is small so I have to do it 1/2 cup at a time.
I use my Blendtec blender for this recipe, but you could maybe use any quality blender if you chopped the foods a little smaller. Here I have one can of diced tomatoes and half of a medium/large onion. I then add about 1/2 cup Braggs. You could certainly substitute soy sauce I'm sure.
Here I've added about half a cup of extra virgin olive oil and a LOT of garlic. I buy it prechopped in those huge containers at Sams and I probably used 5 or so Tablespoons. I also added about a cup of water. And a whole jalapeno from the garden.
Here is 2 big handfulls of raw, organic spinach and a handful of shredded cheddar cheese. I also added about a heaping tablespoon of coarse ground pepper.
Here it is blended.
Now most of the flax cracker recipes that I've seen say to add the water to the ground flax first. I have issues with this. It "gels" and then I have a really tough time incorporating the blended vegetables. YMMV.
When you first add it to this smallish amount of ground flax, it seems awfully thin. You're gonna want to add less of the liquid vegetables. Don't. Because as you can see in the photo below...
...it thickens up. Here I'm spreading it on my Excalibur Dehydrator paraflexx sheet. One batch of flax paste makes 4 full sheets of crackers. Approximately 200 crackers.
I spread it as thin as I can get it to go which varies depending on how thick the concoction has become. The thinner pieces have a texture more like chips. The thicker pieces, more like crackers. It's a win/win. And then I score the paste to make it easier to break into bite sized pieces when it's dry.
I then barely salt and heavily pepper the paste and pop it in the dehydrator for a couple of days at 115 degrees. After several hours, asap, I remove the crackers from the paraflexx sheets to dry them evenly on both sides.
And this is what they look like when they're done. I literally cannot keep enough of these made to satisfy everyone here. I usually make a batch ever single day. They are really very, very good. And spicy.
Dehydrator Olive Oil and Black Pepper Flax Crackers
2 Cups whole flax seed, ground
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 large onion
1 whole jalapeno pepper with seeds (optional)
1/2 cup Braggs liquid aminos (could probably substitute soy sauce)
Lots of garlic, I use appr. 5 tablespoons diced (to taste)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1-2 tablespoons of coarse black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
2 handfulls raw spinach
Grind flax seed and put in a large bowl. Set aside. Add other ingredients to a good blender (or possibly a food processor but realize that the mixture will be moderately thin and may leak) and process until it's all liquid. Pour over flax meal and mix well. Spread thinly on dehydrator sheets (I set my dehydrator at 115 degrees)and very lightly salt and pepper (to taste) and dehydrate for several hours. As soon as possible, peel the sheets off the crackers and continue to dry for 48 or so hours total.
This is a tease of my homemade protein bars. When I make them again I'll try to get some pictures and post a recipe. 
9 comments:
I'm going to have to try these. Thanks for that recipe.
The baking used to be a big thing for us, every week as a family, now that my hubby and I are trying to get thinner we have given it up but it has been sorely missed... especially with the kids, who don't have a weight problem, but will if they keep up with our old bad habits.
I don't want to totally deprive them, I want them to learn balance. They do eat nutritional meals but we had to cut back on that weekly baking thing; we've tried doing recipes that call for fruit instead of sugar or cut back on sugar at least just to enjoy it once in a while though. Have to try these.
If you think to, come back and let me know what you thought. I realize this is not a recipe for everyone. But my family really likes them. Thanks for stopping by! :)
Hi there... I won a little award and wanted to pass it on to you because I really love your blog.
The award is:
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The 3 rules for it are
1) thank the person that gave it to you
2) describe in 10 words your blogging philosophy, motivation, experience, etc..
3) Pass it on to 10 blogs you love
I know these things can be a little bothersome to do, so if you don't want to display it or pass it on, no hard feelings... just wanted you to know you were in my top 10, and whether you do it or not, you deserve it.
Thanks
~bloojay
You crackers look really yummy. And healthy is always a bonus!
I can't believe I missed this post! These look so yummy!! And, I can't wait to see the protein bar recipe. :)
I just stumbled across your site and was so pleased to find your flaxseed recipe. I've been looking for a good recipe and I'm going to try this one. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Jennifer. Let me know how you like them. I still can't keep enough made to satisfy the family. :)
These look great! Do you know how I might make them in my oven without a dehydrator? What's the mesh that you used?
Hey Karen, thanks for stopping by my rarely updated blog! The mesh is a sheet that comes with the Excalibur dehydrator. I really do not know about making these in an oven. I would think you could, just by turning the oven down as low as it will allow and watching carefully. But honestly I just don't know. If you try it and it works, let me know! I'll update my post with the info.
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