Cathy Katin-Grazzini
Cathy’s Kitchen Prescription LLC
www.cathyskitchenprescriptin.com
 
Gluten-Free Crackers
 
Rolled thick or thin, these gluten-free crackers are a tasty alternative to bread and a whole lot faster to bake. Serve them with appetizers, soups or salads, or as a platform for canapes. They are also fun to make, and a great way to engage kids and build happy kitchen memories with them. Cut them out with cookie cutters and dress them with seeds, herbs, spices, and chili flakes for pizzazz. 
Most commercial crackers rank among the unhealthiest of ultra-processed foods. Using refined, white flour, fat, sugar and salt, they are calorie dense but nutrient poor, and not especially environmentally-friendly. These crackers, however, are whole grain and oil-free. They feature anti-inflammatory, gut-pleasing legume and whole grain flours that are loaded with fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, and healthy omega-3s fats. The typical American diet is so wheat-heavy, these healthy crackers are also a great way to diversify and explore other worthy whole grains.
 
Prep 10 minutes                                
Bake 10 minutes                         
Makes 2 to 3 dozen, depending on size 
 
1 cup chickpea or your favorite lentil flour 
1 cup buckwheat flour, millet, teff, or amaranth flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
½ cup sweet potato pulp, microwaved
3 tablespoons arrowroot powder
5 tablespoons golden flaxseed, freshly ground, 3 tablespoons for cracker dough, 2 tablespoons for a eggless pastry wash
1 teaspoon granulated onion 
1 teaspoon granulated garlic 
3/4 teaspoon no-sodium baking soda
1/8 teaspoon white pepper, freshly ground
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon fermented apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon shiro (mild, white) miso paste
Garnish options: dried herbs like thyme, chopped rosemary, or oregano; spices like ground coriander seed, fennel seed, aniseed, poppy seeds, sesame seeds; seasonings like Chesapeake Old Bay Spice Blend (see page   ), Parmigiano Perfetto (see page  ), onion flakes, mild or hotter chili flakes as you prefer. 
 
Preheat the oven to 300°F and insert a baking stone if you have one.
If making your own legume flour, roast dried chickpeas, split peas, or lentils, and buckwheat groats for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice as the roast. Cool. Then separately mill them into flour at a medium-fine setting.
Microwave a sweet potato for 5 minutes and test for doneness. It is cooked when a fork easily penetrates its flesh. Peel, mash, and measure out ½ cup.
Use a coffee grinder to mill the golden flaxseed into a powder. Reserve 3 tablespoons for the dough. Dilute the remaining 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed 3 tablespoons water to make a wash. 
Raise the oven temperature to 425°F.
Add the chickpea and buckwheat flour, the arrowroot, freshly ground flaxseed, nutritional yeast, granulated onion and garlic, and baking soda to the bowl of a food processor. Grind white pepper directly into the bowl. Pulse several times to mix the dry ingredients. 
Add the sweet potato pulp, apple sauce, cider vinegar, and shiro miso paste. Run for 1-2 minutes or until the dough develops and gathers into a ball. The dough’s texture should be soft and pliant.  Adjust with a bit more flour or apple sauce if it is too wet or dry.  
Sprinkle a little buckwheat flour on a large board and roll out the dough into a large circle about ¼-inch thick for soft, puffy crackers, or 1/8-inch for thin and crispy ones.  As the dough begins to adhere to the board, lightly flour the surface, flip it over, flour the other side, and continue rolling the dough. 
Use cookie cutters to punch out crackers, rerolling the scraps until all the dough is used.
Use a pastry brush to apply a thin coating of the flax-water wash to the cut-outs and decorate the tops with seeds, spices, and/or chili flakes. 
Bake on a baking stone or on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper for about 5 minutes for thin crackers, and about 10 minutes for thicker ones. Keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven when the crackers are lightly golden with slightly darkened edges.
Store the crackers when they have cooled in the fridge or freezer.  Over time the ambient humidity may cause them to soften. If that occurs, just pop them in a 250°F oven for a few minutes to crisp up.