Grain Free Cranberry Crackers
This Recipe Is: Free of gluten, dairy, soy, eggs and peanuts. It is also vegan and paleo.
Hi all!
I’m happy to be posting again. I only had a week off but it feels like an eternity. Last Monday we lost our power and didn’t get it back until Thursday evening. So that meant no cooking or posting. Honestly it was nice to have a little break. It was not nice to not have lights or hot water though. Thankfully I’m a nanny and they did have power at their house so I was able to shower. 🙂
Another quick little update before I get into this DELICIOUS recipe! Trevor joined the army last Friday! It was such an exciting nerve filled day, I was just waiting by the phone to get the call that he passed the meps test and got sworn in. That call actually came in the form of a text in which I responded, “no way” multiple times until he was finally able to call me. Obviously that is exciting as is and I’m so thankful for my husband and the path he is taking to provide for our little family. But the exciting part that concerns you guys, is that while he is in boot camp and training for 4 months I will be staying with my family. And basically from the time he starts boot camp in February through who knows when, I’ll no longer have a “real” job and can pour all of myself into Eat or Drink. All I can say is, God is good. When we trust in his goodness and provision, life is never boring!
Ok, on to these amazingly delicious GRAIN FREE crackers! I am soo happy with how these turned out! I really wanted to use these dried cranberries because I just think it’s very fitting for the Fall season. Why? I don’t really know. They just make sense. The itty bitty cranberry pieces add a nice pop of flavor and a little bit of chew to the texture.
The flavor of the almond meal and garbanzo bean flour are also really yummy in these! I was a little bit hesitant on using garbanzo flour. I know, I know, all gluten free people love garbanzo bean flour. But, to be honest, I’m not a huge fan. It normally has a very dusty flavor that’s just not good. So yea these are gross and you shouldn’t make them. NO! Just kidding! While I don’t NORMALLY like garbanzo bean flour, I gave it a shot and I’m happy I did! The garbanzo bean flour and the almond meal play really well together. Especially in a savory cracker like this they add a very nice nutty almost smoky flavor. So if you are like me and don’t normally like garbanzo bean flour, trust me, it’s good here!
The overall texture of these turned out really good! I was worried, being that they were grain free, that they would just fall apart or something. I don’t know, it’s happened. But nope, they stayed together perfectly just like any other cracker. The texture is actually really good! They are a touch less crispy than my standard crackers recipe. However, the texture really makes sense with the flavors.
*If you guys don’t follow me on Instagram, be sure to get on there! I showed you exactly how to make these in my Instagram story. I will save that story and message it to whoever asks!* @eatordrink
Grain Free Cranberry Crackers
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Ingredients
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1 cup garbanzo bean flour
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt (half in recipe half for sprinkling on top)
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 7 tablespoons Earth Balance soy free spread
- 5 tablespoons shortening
- 1/4 cup cold water with ice (ice does not count in the volume)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tbs honey
Instructions
- Place 4 tablespoons Earth Balance and 5 tablespoons shortening in freezer until you are ready for them.
- Melt 3 tablespoons Earth Balance and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a food processor, pulse together almond meal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
- Drop little chunks of the cold Earth Balance and shortening into the flour. Pulse the food processor until the fats are mixed into the flour. Just until they are broken down evenly.
- Poor in the olive oil and honey and then slowly pulse in the water. Start with about a 1/4 cup of water and then add a small drizzle at a time until the dough comes together. It should be a slightly wet dough.
- Mold the dough into a big ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Put the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- After refrigerating, roll dough out until it is about a 1/4 inch thick. You can roll out by dusting surface with flour but my fool proof way (especially with gluten free dough) is to put one large piece of parchment paper on the counter and another large piece on top of the dough. Then roll out while dough is sandwiched between the two pieces of parchment paper. It’s a lot cleaner and less of sticky mess. You just might need someone to hold the parchment paper in place while you roll the dough, or else it slips and slides.
- Cut the crackers to your desired size. I usually make small crackers and I always cut them with a pizza cutter.
- Carefully lift crackers up off counter and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. My hack for this is to use a butter knife so you can scrape it under and pick them up. Don’t get frustrated if some get wonky in the moving process. The dough is soft and you’ll have no problem molding them back into a square shape. They can be close together but they should not touch.
- Poke holes in the crackers with a fork. Brush on the Earth Balance (you can go heavy with it) and sprinkle on the remaining salt.
- Bake for about 10 – 15 minutes or until light brown on the bottom. Be sure to check on them frequently, almond meal can burn quick.
