I try to buy as little preprepared food as possible. Some years ago when we were both working long hours and the girls were younger we used to eat quite differently. With school lunches it’s easy to fall into the trap of buying the little prepacked snacks and then to sit down to a frozen meal for dinner. We had never eaten that way when we were growing up so in the end it wasn’t too difficult to go back to basics and to start making things again. I will admit that significantly reducing my working hours also helped. When you have more time, cooking becomes a real pleasure rather than a chore. In the end I didn’t stop at cooking dinner – today I make a fairly large percentage of what we eat. I developed a passion for preserving, I bottle whatever is in season, I make jams and cordials, sauces and pastes. I’ve had disasters making vinegar (which I have yet to perfect) and some success making cheese. I bake bread, biscuits, cake and crackers.
This cracker recipe I came across last Christmas while we were staying in Queenstown, New Zealand. At the time I had been trying a few different cracker and crispbread recipes but was having difficulties getting the texture right. This recipe was in a magazine, the name of which I can’t remember and neither can I remember the originator of the recipe. I scribbled the recipe on a paper bag not thinking that sometime down the track I would be sharing it on my then non existent blog. This is a shame as the developer of this recipe really deserves the credit for these fabulous crackers.
I have a hard time keeping up the supply of these crispbreads, the more I make the more they get eaten. The quantities here are for double the original recipe but as they keep forever there seems to be little point in making any less.
Oat and Seed Crispbreads
- 200g oats (not quick oats)
- 100g rye flour
- 100g Sunflower seeds
- 100g linseeds
- 50g sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon salt
Line two 20 x 30cm (approximately) baking trays with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees.
Put the oats in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 3 minutes. Drain the oats and then add the remaining ingredients. Stir until well combined. Let the mixture cool for a little while.
Spread half the mixture over each baking tray. The mixture is quite gluggy and I’ve found the best way to do this is to use damp hands to spread the mixture thinly.
Bake in the oven for 1 hour. remove from the oven and peel off the baking paper. Cut or break the mixture into approximately 12 pieces. Return them to the oven with the side that had been attached to the baking paper facing upwards. Bake for another 40 minutes.
Take care not to over bake the crackers as the linseeds in particular tend to go bitter if over cooked. You could try the same recipe using buckwheat flour instead of rye. You could also add some herbs such as rosemary or thyme and some black pepper, even some chilli.
julia's pantry 