Cheezy Kale Crackers
If I don’t have a batch of raw crackers or flat bread around, I am at extreme risk of snack attacks. You know what I am talking about. The attacks that an apple or an orange can’t curb. The attacks that find me riffling through the cabinets for something crunchy and satisfying. The attacks that can lead me to less than desirable food. My cracker recipes are an important part of my raw food recipes collection.
Raw crackers are tasty and nutritious. Best of all, just a few quickly satisfy that craving and are so filling I never over-eat them. I also know that I am getting great nutrients, not just empty calories when I eat them.
For this recipe, I wanted to use incorporate kale as I am a huge kale fan. I have also been a little obsessed with making a raw cheese cracker so out came the nutritional yeast (great for a cheesy flavor).
To top it off, I decided to do an experiment. I pulled a bit of dough out and baked it in the oven. Why? Because I am often asked how to make raw recipes (that require dehydration) in the oven and I can’t answer the question. Since this is raw blog, my recipes are developed to be eaten raw. I do not test them for baking times but I decided to experiment with this one just to see what would happen. The rules for dehydration and baking are different (see the FAQ page).
The baked version.
Please know that baking raw recipes destroys a lot of nutrients. Since these recipes are made with healthy, whole, pure ingredients instead of traditional unhealthy ingredients, I realize people want to try them whether they have a dehydrator or not. Plus they are gluten free.
What happened when I baked a tray? They did bake. (Please note, some things that are intended to be dehydrated won’t bake correctly.) I baked them 25 minutes at 200 degrees on the convection setting, flipping once. The result? The taste, when compared to the dehydrated raw crackers was seriously lacking the lovely fresh, intense flavor of the dehydrated crackers.
I had friends try both versions, and the consensus was always the same. The baked crackers lost some flavor (not to mention nutrients). And the kale, instead of tasting like vibrant, fresh kale, tasted, well … baked.
It is interesting to note that I photograph food in many top restaurants. Increasingly I have been seeing dehydrators in quite a few of the kitchens. As chefs search for ways to coax the best flavors out of food, they are increasingly turning to methods like dehydrating.
It makes sense that the dehydrated crackers have more flavor. But, if you don’t have a dehydrator, and it is not important to you that the crackers are raw, you can experiment with the recipe. Just put your oven on the lowest temp (using convection helps) and keep an eye on it until it looks crisp and done. You will probably need to flip it once for proper drying. If you didn’t have the dehydrated crackers to compare them to, they are definitely passable.
For this recipe, I decided to include a little photo tutorial that covers the process of making these crackers. You will see one of my methods rolling and cutting the crackers.
“Cheezy” Kale Crackers (recipe follows pictures)
To prepare the kale, strip the leaves from the stems.
A salad spinner
Chop the almonds until fine in food processor.
Add nutritional yeast, coconut flour and spices. Stir to combine.
Finely chop kale and add to almond mixture and stir well.
Mix in the flax/water mixture. I often do this by hand. SO much easier.
Form 1/3 of the “dough” into a rectangle on a non-stick dehydrator sheet. You can also use parchment paper.
Place another non-stick sheet over the “dough” and roll out 1/4-inch thick.
Peel off the top non-stick sheet.
Cut into strips. This is my favorite cutter. You can find it here: Pastry Cutter
Trim off the excess and set aside to roll out with the next sheet.
Cheezy Almond Kale Crackers
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup ground golden flax
- 2 cups almonds, soaked over night, drained and rinsed
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 cup Raw Coconut Flour
- 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp chipotle
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Himalayan salt and pepper to taste
- Mix together ground flax and water. Set aside.
- Place almonds in food processor and process until finely chopped. Remove to large bowl.
- Finely chop kale. I do this in the food processor, also.
- Add nutritional yeast, coconut flour, smoked paprika and chipotle to the chopped almonds. Mix well.
- Stir in kale.
- Add flax/water mixture. Blend well. I use my hands at this point.
- Spread 1/4-inch thick on non-stick sheet (see above for my method). Score into cracker sized pieces and dehydrate at 145 for 30 minutes. Decrease heat to 118 and continue to dehydrate until done (approximately 8 hours*) turning once or moving to screens halfway through dehydration. You want these very dry.
*Dehydration times can vary widely due to different dehydrators and humidity. Read about why we start dehydration at 145 here: FAQ. Yes, it stays raw.
clara wrote on January 5, 2013
I made this yesterday and they are delicious! full of flavor and nice texture. My 1.5yr old loves them ! thank you!
Innessa wrote on January 1, 2013
Thanks for the inspiring recipe, i’m off to make them right now! Happy New Year~* !
Tisha Bryant wrote on December 22, 2012
Thank you Susan. I have already made your ginger orange cookies which we all LOVE and now have a batch of these in the dehydrator. I am going to wrap them up prettily and add them to my foodie Christmas gifts.
Wishing you and yours a fabulous Christmas. With gratitude. Tisha
Trudy wrote on December 19, 2012
Whenever I try a new recipe, raw or vegetarian, I bring it to work to try to teach people that healthy can taste good. I’ve turned several people on with these crackers and some even want me to make them for them since they don’t have a dehydrator. These crackers were awesome and turned out perfect on the first try. I am getting ready to make another batch now. I love your website and have shared it with other health conscious individuals.
Elnora H wrote on December 19, 2012
I’m drooling now and I must make these ASAP! One question I have that I didn’t see in the other posts, but might have missed, was regarding the chipotle – is this the dried version or the wet canned chipotles that it calls for? Thanks!
Susan wrote on December 19, 2012
It is the dried powder. Cheers!
Rhoda wrote on December 11, 2012
These are amazing. I made a batch yesterday and took some into work for people to try. Shouldn’t have done that as they’ve all gone! I’ve been struggling to find savoury raw crackers that I like but these certainly hit the spot for me. Thank you so much.
Sue Burley wrote on December 7, 2012
Thanks admin – I did what you said – almonds soaked at least 12 hours. Rinsed and processed – not dried. I rolled out the batter. I wonder if I did it too thin? I also put salt on them prior to drying because I thought it was a little bland. Kristen, how did they turn out. I may try again if yours turned out.
Erik wrote on December 7, 2012
You are quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs.
Jenna wrote on December 4, 2012
I made these and they turned out just like the picture. They were wonderful!