They say timing is everything.  Well, just when I almost definitely could NOT go on any longer in this cruel world without a grain-free cracker, one comes along!  True, it is more expensive to buy a box of these than it is to get a shiny new Cooper Mini (or Mini Cooper, I'm never sure which goes first), but I'm here to tell you:  I need something convenient, crunchy, and that can act as a chip substitute, a cracker substitute, and even a bread substitute for sandwich front-n-backs.  This is such an animal, and I haven't even BEGUN to think of all the possible creative uses, as I've only tried one flavor so far (they come in several flavs, both savory varieties AND sweet varieties!), and I used it as a cracker/toast/chip substitute to dip into tuna salad!  Granted, the ideal chip/toast/cracker substitute for nonnie nonnie boo boos like me is a VEGETABLE or a FRUIT, but due to being a stressed-out, time-constrained, generally wacked-out variety of human, I don't always spend the requisite time each week (which, admittedly, isn't much) to cook up and/or otherwise prepare batches of delectable veggies and fruits to take with me to work to have with my protein at lunch.  Therefore, I NEED CONVENIENCE FOODS because non does not live by protein alone!  And if someone hadn't come down the pike with SOMETHING like what I'm about to tell you about, well, let's just say that the times that I veer off into "healthy" potato chip land would continue to be way too often.  But now that I have the yet-to-be-described items to rotate with my compliant sweet potato chips and pumpkin seeds, I should be good to go!  Wait until you read the following!

I have found a cracker (the HFS I go to just started selling 'em!!!) that contains:  no wheat, no GRAINS, no gluten (obviously, if you read the first two things it doesn't have *lol*), and no avoids!  At all!  None!  Granted, I haven't made a complete study of the ingredients of ALL the flavs, but I looked at two flavs and bought one and they had NO avoids!  Did I mention:  NONE!  Do you know how RARE that is, for a cracker to have NO O nonnie avoids?  It is rarer than rare, my fine feathered buds, rarer than rare!  So, without further adeiu (sp.?), I present to you:

Glutino brand "Cracker Flax" varieties of flaxseed crackers!  Wu HUUUUUUUU!

From the box:

Glutino
Cracker Flax
Specific variety I bought is:  Tomato and Onion
Ingredients (here is the beauty part...nons, you should be sitting down for this one):  water, whole flax seeds, tomatoes, garlic, sea salt, garlic powder
website:  http://www.glutino.com

Big doings in nonnie land!!!  Christmas came a few days early!

The next flav I want to try is the banana!  Wouldn't that be da BOMB with some almond butter and 100% all-fruit jam on it?  So far, I've had the tomato and onion flav with tuna salad, but it would be great with salmon spreads, chicken salad, and I'm going to try using the crackers (which come in big enough "sheets" that one could break off pieces to use as sandwich outters) for sandwiches such as roast beef, etc., WHATEVER--the sky is the limit, imagination-wise!  You could put goat cheese on 'em, you could put compliant humus (made with aduki beans or whatever) on em, you could just go WILD!

Merry Nonnie Grain-Free Cracker Discovery Day!

P.S.  You could break these up and use as "croutons" in your salads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (Note:  pumpkin seeds and/or dried cranberries or raisins are good for that, too, as are crunched-up sweet potato chips.)

P.P.S.  Here is a pic of what the crackers look like, although the packaging of mine is completely different (a cardboard box, not a plastic container...what up with that diff?  anyhoo...).  Note:  the crackers in my box are not broken up like the ones in the photo, they come in 8 large "sheets".  I think they are just showing you that you can break 'em up.

Edited to add pic .jpg link itself versus link to page, as the latter link will not take you to specific photo:

This is awesome! I am so thankful for this, twinnie. Even though I'm not a nonnie, I still pretty much eat like one due to gluten sensitivities. This cracker will be a total goddess-send for me! Thanks so much Ms. Twist!

These look delicious!  I went and ordered all flavors!  Thank you.

Funkymuse

I make crackers exactly like this, so  easy and sooo good, you can make them with lots of other nuts as well

Laura--could you please share your recipe? I would love to make my own!

Man, I am about to EXPIRE with joy. I am such a cheap date! Freaking out over crackers! *lol*  

It's the little things man......................

well I've made them several ways- if you have a food dehydrator even better

for the nut ones I've found that they are best if you add a little egg, flax is so gooey that no egg is needed-

simple basic recipe is just to grind up nuts or flax add in water and egg to a porridge like consistancy spread out on some parchment and put in oven or dehydrator, if in oven watch and turn over have way.........I have some more more specific recipes, but you can go wild from here adding what ever spices you want

just a note of preference macadamia nut crackers IMO are absolutly divine plain or with any spice added.  these are great topped with a bit of avocado and some meat-- yum yum yum.  You can also add some cinnamon to them which makes them so so sweet

Thank you Laura, thank you so much! I will be going to our local bulk foods store and HFS tomorrow to pick up some supplements and odds and ends. They both carry flaxseed, so I'll get some and some nuts and do some experimenting over the weekend. We even have some parchment paper, so all I need is the flaxseed and some nuts. Woohoooo!

Two questions:

1) If you do the crackers in the oven, what temp do you use? Just on "warm" or a little higher?

2) About how long does it take for the crackers to bake? Just a ballpark figure, I know it will be different for each person who tries it.

Thanks again, your patience is appreciated!

Wow, those crackers sound great!  I wonder if I can get them in Canada...

I've used a recipe for "Banana Spice Squares" (I think it came from Recipes4Nonsecretors) which is also really good for a quick snack without grains.  The recipe can be found here.  However, these are not crunchy.  Those who don't like veggie glycerin can substitute other sweeteners - I'm sure honey, maple syrup, molasses, etc would work great!

Here are a few more recipes  go to http://www.scdrecipe.com for even more

Here is another recipe with out eggs

2 cups nut flour1 tsp baking soda
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 tablespoons pinapple juice

Mix it up well with a fork. It gets quite sticky. Don't let it get too wet - just enough liquid to be able to mix it into a dough.

Dust it with extra nut flour, and dust a board or counter, and roll it out to cracker thickness (about 1/8 inch). You may have to add more nut flour to keep it from sticking.

Slice in both directions into about 1 inch strips (while on the board), so that it forms squares about 1 inch. Rough edges can be gathered and formed into a new piece to cut again.

Lift the squares individually and place on a non-stick baking sheet.

In a convection oven, preheat to 325 and bake until they start to turn slightly brown on the top (the bottom browns faster), about 10 - 12 minutes. I haven't tried it yet with a non-convection oven, it probably needs 350 degrees. If they brown too easily lower the temperature.

Once they cool a little on the baking sheet, take them off to cool on a rack or in a big bowl. The get more crispy as they cool.


GRAHAM CRACKERS
by Marilyn Alm (New Orleans, Louisiana, USA)
Recipe from *Louisiana SCD Lagniappe* (forthcoming)

3 cups (1 lb) pecan flour
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 extra large egg
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

 

I make flax crackers with my dehydrator.  Raw vegans live on them!

Hey Laura or Vicki,

Can you please post a recipe for flax crackers using a dehydrator?  Do you use parchment paper over the trays?  I have a plastic insert type thing for mine that you can use to make fruit leather - could I pour flax cracker mix into this?

Thanx!

sure!
that will work nicely! )

here s a great company:

http://www.goraw.com

Wow...Edna.  They sound sooooooooooo goooooood.  

Kate-If you find them in Canada, let me know please.  I will do the same.  

Will try the dehydrator ones after Christmas as I am making all kinds of jerky at the moment.  On the last batch and still have to pack up tomorrow and begone.        

Debra

Peppermint Twist, thanks so much for sharing that w/ us. I'll look for them at WF. Is that where you got yours?
Laura P-lkpetrolino, if you would   post an exact recipe that would be great!! You know for us chickens who don't experiment much but need recipes.  
Aalso thanks for the nut recipe and  the graham cracker recipe, now I have something to use for my compliant banana pudding.  
Whimsical, thanks for the banana recipe. I was wanting to make something banana-ee since I have bananas that are on their way to bad...............
LOVE THIS FORUM!!!!
Anybody know how much flax you should use in place of eggs.  Say if you need 2 eggs, how much flax seed and should you add extra water. I want to make a cake tomorrow, but my daughter has an intolerance to eggs, so I thought maybe the flax would work. Thanks

try a tblsp flax for every egg.

Quoted from lola

try a tblsp flax for every egg.

Dry ground flax seed?  And what about extra water?

add those to the liquid asked for in the recipe.

check the consistency, and add a few more TBSPs of water, if necessary.

I hope this isn't too late to help, italybound, but I have used this method for muffins in the past when I ran out of eggs.  

Put 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed into a small bowl & add 3 Tablespoons water and stir.  Let the mixture thicken for about 3 minutes.  This will take the place of 1 egg in a recipe that you bake.  Of course, this method dirties an extra bowl and utensil than Lola's does  

I would love to hear how your cake did or does turn out...!

The Glutino crackers are available here  in Canada at all HFS and larger grocery stores. The company is actually based in Montreal.

italybound

you can also use this as egg replacer

EGG REPLACER

1 1/2 TBL water
1 1/2 TBL oil
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vinegar (optional)

Whisk above ingredients together in a cup and pour into mixture that calls for an egg.

Note: this only works as a substitute in baking items like cakes, muffins, etc.- things that need to rise.
It gives the chemical components needed for rising, but no flavor whatsoever. It would not work in a cheesecake because you need the egg yolk/flavor for that.
Adding the vinegar should provide a bit more rising power.


or you can use some sort of complient fruit or veggie, for example here is a recipe for muffins

ANNA'S MUFFINS
by David and Marisol

1 cup walnut flour
1 cup pecan flour
1 cup baked flesh of pumpkin, pureed OR:2 eggs
1/2 cup melted coconut butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
honey to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350
Combine all ingredients and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Form batter into balls and drop into lightly greased cupcake tin (use (olive oil or coconut butter) Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool, put tin in the freezer until muffins are firm, solid, and nearly frozen. Transfer to refrigerator.

Tip: Bakes better if the batter has been sitting covered in the refrigerator for a few hours. Other nut flours can be used instead of almond flour if desired.

marianne, I used your flax recipe for the eggs and replaced the oil w/ applesauce.  So far, it's been in the oven a LONG time. I turned the heat way down after about 20 minutes and  have been checking it every 5. Yep, it's got lots of knife holes in it. I think it will be okay tho. Will let you know tomorrow.
Laura P-lkpetrolino, thanks for the additional recipes.

I am thinking that that cake must be in the cooling stage already!

Hope it comes out well!

& since my chances of getting to taste a slice are hovering around absolute zero, I had better get busy in my kitchen.

I've been planning a deep dish apple pie and since the oven will be hot I try my hand at making some flax crackers, too

There was a time that I reacted to eggs, so I came up with a recipe that uses gelatin in place of eggs. The result, very crunchy cookies/crackers. I used fish gelatin, as regular gelatin is a no no for Bs.

Pecan Cookies
(makes about 10 small cookies)

They can be made with almond flour instead

1 pear, cored and peeled
1 tsp gelatin, 3 Tbs boiling water
1/8 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
pinch of nutmeg or cloves or cinnamon (optional)
1 1/2 c pecan flour ( I make my own using rotary cheese grater)

1. Peel and core a pear.  Put in fine strainer and mash with the back of the spoon. You want to get rid of as much liquid as you can. You
should end up with about 1/3 c of pear pulp

2. In a small bowl dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Put in the freezer to
slightly gel for about 4-5 min. Bring out of the freezer and beat like an egg
(till frothy)

3. Combine gelatin mixture, pear, b.soda, salt, and spices and mix well.
Add pecan flour and mix till combined.

4. Shape the cookies into small balls and press and flatten with the fork.

5. Bake at 325F for about 45 min ona cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

They are just slightly sweet, you can add 1 tsp honey if you want, but I like
them like this

Enjoy!!!

Monika