Gluten free seed crackers (saadkrakers)

Psyllium seed husks, which are perhaps best known as high calibre dietary fibre, turns into a gooey gel-like glue when you mix it with water, and becomes surprisingly strong when dried out in a medium-cool oven. As it turns out, flaxseeds and chia seeds also become sticky when they are mixed with water.

Which means that you can use psyllium seed husks, flax seeds, and chia seeds to make your own, completely gluten-free seed crackers.

Seed crackers are very tasty, but may need a wee bit of seasoning. Marietjie likes to add a teaspoon of soy sauce instead of salt, while Jaco prefers sprinkling the seeds with salt and some cracked black pepper before it goes into the oven.

Ingredients

  • 14 g (2 tablespoons) psyllium seed husks
  • 60 g (⅓ cup) flaxseed (also called linseeds)
  • 50 g (¼ cup) chia seeds. If you don’t have chia seeds, simply add another tablespoon of psyllium husks.
  • 300 g (about 2 cups) of your favourite seeds. We like 100 g (⅔ cup) each of pumpkin, sunflower, and sesame seeds.
  • 400 ml water
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 150°C. 
  2. Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl
  3. Mix well, leave it for 10 to 15 minutes, until it has become thick and pliable.
  4. Line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone baking mats.
  5. Spread the mixture out, as thin as possible. A quality silicone spatula might be helpful.
  6. Bake the trays for about an hour and 20 minutes at 150°C, until they are lightly browned.
  7. Cut or break into crackers, while they are still warm.

Notes

To make it easier to separate the baked seeds into individual crackers, take them out of the oven after the first 45 minutes of baking, and score breaking lines with a dough scraper. A steel ruler will work, too.

Keep a close eye on the seeds during the second half of the baking; when the pumpkin seeds around the edges start to go brown, you probably need to remove the pans from the oven.