Pecan & Pumpkin Seed Crackers
I'm a big cracker person. I love the crunch and that they are such an easy lunch or evening snack. For these crackers I've combined pecans, for their wonderfully nutty crunch, and pumpkin seeds, for their high high protein content. Both of these items are also very low in net carbs and contain plenty of other health sustaining nutrients. These crackers are bound with flaxseed meal and a small amount of psyllium husk, making them reasonably sturdy while still delicately crunchy. They're not going to crumble when picked up, but are also not likely to survive a firm spread. I've made these crackers with Herbes de Provence and herb and garlic infused oil, but feel free to leave out the herbs and use a plan oil if you prefer a more neutral flavor. Happy crunching!
Yield: 4 servings of about 5 crackers (40g) each, totaling roughly 20 crackers (160g)
Macros (per serving): 250 calories | 10g protein | 22g fat | 1.5g net carbs
Prep: 25 minutes | Bake: 1 hour and 30 minutes | Cool: 10 minutes ✎
Storage: at room temperature for 2 weeks (or longer). Note that the crackers must be fully dehydrated and fully cooled before being sealed in a container in order to last this long. ✎
Macros (per serving): 250 calories | 10g protein | 22g fat | 1.5g net carbs
Prep: 25 minutes | Bake: 1 hour and 30 minutes | Cool: 10 minutes ✎
Storage: at room temperature for 2 weeks (or longer). Note that the crackers must be fully dehydrated and fully cooled before being sealed in a container in order to last this long. ✎
Wet ingredients:
- ⅓ cup (80ml) warm water
- 2 tablespoons (15g) flaxseed meal, preferably golden
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) light olive oil or neutral-flavored oil of choice ✎
- ½ cup (58g) whole pecans
- ⅓ cup (53g) shelled pumpkin seeds
- 1 teaspoon dried herb mix (e.g. Herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning) (optional)
- 2 tablespoons (14g) plain pea or soy protein powder
- 1 tablespoon (4.5g) whole psyllium husks ✎
- 1 tablespoon (5g) nutritional yeast flakes
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Directions:
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the water and flaxseed meal. Set aside to gel.
- Put the pecans, pumpkin seeds, and dried herbs in a small or mini food processor and pulse until a portion is breadcrumb-like texture, but some smaller chunks remain. See the photo below for clarification.
- Add the remaining dry ingredients to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
- Whisk the oil into the flax/water mixture.
- Preheat the oven to 270°F (130°C).
- Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix until no dry patches remain. I use a small silicone spatula for this.
- Prepare 2 sheets of parchment. Place one sheet on the countertop and, with well-oiled hands, transfer the dough to the sheet. Press the dough out into a rectangle about ½ inch (13mm) thick. Then, top with the second sheet of parchment and roll to roughly ⅕ inch (5mm) thick. I use a rolling pin with spacers/thickness guides for this. ✎
- Remove the top sheet of parchment and, using a large kitchen knife, cut the dough into 2-inch (5cm) square crackers, or crackers of desired size/shape. The dough is sticky, so you may wish to wipe off the blade between cuts to prevent sticking.
- Transfer the sheet of parchment to a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until fully dehydrated. Crackers will not rise or spread, so they do not need to be seperated from one another before baking. ✎
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow to cool on a wire cooling rack for about 10 minutes, or until comfortable to handle. Optionally, spray with oil and sprinkle with salt and additional seasonings (I like garlic powder and more dried herbs). The oil will absorb quickly, so have opened salt and seasonings at the ready. You can also add a "top coat" of spray oil. ✎
- Once the cracker have cooled enough to handle, gently break them apart. Cool the crackers fully (30-45 minutes) before sealing in a container to store.
- Enjoy the crackers on their own as a snack or side, or topped with your favorite low-carb vegan cheese or spread.
Replace the Pecans: at the moment, I have not tried this recipe with another nut or seed in place of the pecans. However, I have no reason to beleive that some options would produce similar results. The flavor, density, and type of crunch would vary, but I suspect they would be tasty and hold together similarly. Here is the weight per half cup and the macros (per serving) for some other options I think would work. If you try any, please let us know how how they turn out.
slivered almonds (½ cup - 65g): 245 calories | 12g protein | 20g fat | 2.5g net carbs
hazelnuts (½ cup - 72g): 265 calories | 12g protein | 22g fat | 2.5g net carbs
walnuts (½ cup - 50g): 230 calories | 11g protein | 19g fat | 2g net carbs
sunflower seeds (½ cup - 70g): 250 calories | 12g protein | 20g fat | 3g net carbs
slivered almonds (½ cup - 65g): 245 calories | 12g protein | 20g fat | 2.5g net carbs
hazelnuts (½ cup - 72g): 265 calories | 12g protein | 22g fat | 2.5g net carbs
walnuts (½ cup - 50g): 230 calories | 11g protein | 19g fat | 2g net carbs
sunflower seeds (½ cup - 70g): 250 calories | 12g protein | 20g fat | 3g net carbs
✎ Notes:
- I have kept many of the keto crackers I make for weeks without them spoiling. If they've become stale, I just pop them back in the oven at a low temperature for 20-30 minutes to freshen them up. However, the crackers need to be completely dehydrated and cooled before sealing in a container to keep. Otherwise, you will have moldy crackers within a couple days and your expensive ingredients will have been wasted.
- I like to use an herb and/or garlic infused oil for these crackers if I have it available.
- If you don't have whole psyllium husks, you can use a half tablespoon of powder.
- The rolling pin I use that has a ⅕ inch (5mm) spacer/guide option is made by Super Kitchen. Many similar rolling pins on the market in North America have only a ¼ inch (6.4mm) or a ⅛ inch (3.2mm) option. I find the former a little too thick and the latter a little too thin for most crackers. Before I had the Super Kitchen one, I used the ¼ inch (6.4mm) spacers/guides and then removed the spacers/guides and rolled the dough just a little thinner.
- To check if the crackers are fully dehydrated, choose one from the center and allow it to cool slightly before testing. The crackers may not take a full hour and a half to dehydrate, or they may take longer. Dehydration time will be affected by the crackers' thickness, the accuracy of the water measurement, and the accuracy of your oven temperature. I prefer to bake crackers that contain nuts and seeds at low temperature over a long time period to prevent the acrid burnt taste that can develop if over-toasted before fully dehydrated. You may be able to bake them more quickly at a higher temperature if that's not a concern for you.
- If you want to measure and track your added spray oil and toppings, you can put the pan of crackers on a kitchen scale, tare the scale, and then add your oil/toppings and measure the weight of what's added.
- Macros for this recipes are calculated with national nutritional data (i.e. NCCDB & USDA entries in Cronometer) for all ingredients apart from the pumpkin seeds (Bob's Redmill), protein powder (Now Foods plain pea), and nutritional yeast flakes (a mixture of Bob's Redmill and Foods Alive unfortified).
- Macro numbers are rounded. Numbers equal to or greater than 10g are rounded to the nearest whole number (e.g. 10g, 11g, 12g, etc.) and numbers below 10g are rounded to the nearest 0.5g (0.5g, 1g, 1.5g ... 9g, 9.5g). Any numbers below 0.5g are given as is (e.g. 0.1g, 0.2g, etc.). Calories are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.